Uyghurs, Tibetans urge France to tackle human rights with Chinese president
Activists are protesting in Paris this weekend to highlight what they say are grave human rights abuses by the Chinese government ahead of a state visit by President Xi Jinping.
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Uyghur and Tibetan groups held marches in central Paris on Sunday, the day that Xi arrived in Europe for the first time since 2019.
Campaigners have vowed to protest throughout his two-day visit to draw attention to government oppression in Tibet and the mass detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the northern region of Xinjiang.
Dilnur Reyhan, the founder of the European Uyghur Institute and a French national, said she and other activists were "angry" the Chinese leader was visiting.
"For the Uyghur people – and in particular for French Uyghurs – it's a slap from our president, Emmanuel Macron," she said at a press conference in Paris on Friday.
The group Students for a Free Tibet staged a protest next to the Arc de Triomphe on Saturday, climbing lampposts and waving banners to denounce "increasingly brutal" Chinese rule.
RELÂCHEZ TSELA IMMÉDIATEMENT!
— Students for a Free Tibet (@SFTHQ) May 4, 2024
Release Tsela now! pic.twitter.com/Bycgj688sc
Tsela Zoksang, one of two activists briefly detained by French police, said the situation in Tibet had deteriorated under Xi.
"But rather than treating Xi like the dictator he is, President Macron is rolling out the red carpet for him," she said.
'Consequences'
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which also held rallies this weekend, have both urged Macron to broach the subject of human rights in his talks with Xi.
"President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing's crimes against humanity come with consequences for China's relations with France," said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.
In a statement, the watchdog urged the French government not just to denounce abuses, but also set out concrete repercussions for trade between China, France and the broader EU.
Amnesty called on Paris to demand the release of people arbitrarily detained by China, and warned that Beijing had a track record of seeking to intimidate its critics in other countries, including France.
Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based NGO that monitors disappearances in China, told Le Monde newspaper that it had heard from Chinese activists based in France who said their relatives in China were visited by authorities this week in an apparent bid to discourage them from disrupting Xi's visit.
Macron's office said that the talks between the French and Chinese presidents would focus on "international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sporting cooperation".
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