The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has released a report on their review of China, which included two days of hearings last month. The report raised concerns about human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, lack of transparency, corruption and “unsustainable debt levels”, carbon emissions and the need to transfer wealth from coastal regions to poorer western inland regions. The committee also put forward a number of recommendations to the Chinese government, including improving the independence of the courts, sharing data on COVID-19, suspending construction of coal-fired power plants and “immediately” ending human rights violations.
The Chinese government has responded to the recommendations, denying some of the findings and expressing disagreement with the observations made. The government has also defended their record on human rights, insisting that discrimination is prohibited under their constitution and laws and that the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has “strictly implemented” the law.
The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has made a number of recommendations to the Chinese government. It is now up to the Chinese government to decide how to respond, and the international community will be watching with interest.