China: Secret documents concerning Communist party's propaganda campaign published

"The propaganda campaign started in 2011 by the Communist party in China is being felt in Europe and within human rights panels in the United Nations as well," warned the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) on Tuesday in Göttingen. "The STP, for example, in its position on the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva has been explicitly prevented by Chinese diplomats from presenting reports that are critical of China," criticized Ulrich Delius of the STP's Asia section. Moreover Chinese espionage activity in Germany, tracking the movements of exiles and human rights groups, has increased significantly. The People's Republic is making systematic efforts to restrict the freedom of movement of regime critics living abroad. At the same time, they are attempting to create a positive image of China in other countries. "The rulers in Beijing are exploiting the "2012 - Year of Chinese Culture," officially approved by Germany, as well as the many new Confucius Institutes opened around the world, for their policy of disinformation."

The reports today in the "Frankfurter Rundschau" and the "Berliner Zeitung" newspapers concerning secret Chinese documents in which the Chinese leadership calls for stricter censorship and greater manipulation of public opinion in other countries. "That this propaganda campaign should come to light just three days before the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party on June 30, 2001, is like a public declaration of moral bankruptcy. What are we to think of a party that can only maintain its hold on power through lies, censorship and repression?" asks Delius.

"For 18 years the STP has been a recognized non-governmental organization (NGO) on human rights panels of the United Nations in Geneva and draws attention to human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities worldwide," asserted Delius. "But what we have been seeing since the beginning of 2011 eclipses all of China's previous criticism of our reports on the human rights situation in the People's Republic. Since early this year, whenever STP staff members attempt to present their reports in the UN Human Rights Council, they are systematically interrupted by Chinese diplomats with accusations of supposed violations of rules, and effectively silenced." Only after intervention by European or US members have they been able to make their reports. Beijing is also trying to have the UN revoke the STP's NGO status.

Regime critics living in exile are also affected by the propaganda campaign. The World Uighur Congress, based in Munich, and the Falun Gong movement have been the latest victims of Chinese espionage, and their staff members' freedom of movement has been severely restricted. The German Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has initiated a criminal investigation into the espionage.