--- title: Human rights in China during COVID-19 date: 2020-04-24T11:42:00+01:00 author: Danny Webster canonical_url: "https://staging.eauk.org/news-and-views/human-rights-in-china-during-covid-19" section: Articles --- Share [ ](https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=1769260916495219&href=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) [ ](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Human%20rights%20in%20China%20during%20COVID-19&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/dialog/send?app_id=1769260916495219&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19&link=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19&display=popup) [ ](mailto:?subject=Shared%20from%20Evangelical%20Alliance&body=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) Copy link to this article Share this article Human rights in China during COVID-19 2 min read Contents Share [ ](https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=1769260916495219&href=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) [ ](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Human%20rights%20in%20China%20during%20COVID-19&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) [ ](mailto:?subject=Shared%20from%20Evangelical%20Alliance&body=https%3A%2F%2Fstaging.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fhuman-rights-in-china-during-covid-19) Copy link to this article Share this article Back to top In this article #### If there is one positive outcome from the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to community spirit, it is the increasing demand for a rethink of our relationship with the Chinese Communist Party regime. Let’s be clear: we do not mean China as a country or the Chinese people, who are the primary victims of the brutal régime led by Xi Jinping, and we should at all times make that distinction. We believe we should continue to find ways to strengthen people-to-people relations, and to support the ordinary Chinese people, in particular Christians and other persecuted religious groups. But the time has come when Western foreign policy needs a values pivot. We need to stop kowtowing to Xi Jinping’s régime. Few governments can escape criticism – for failure to plan, false promises, misjudgments. Yet one government above all others must be held primarily responsible for causing this pandemic: the Chinese régime. It lied about the coronavirus, silenced whistleblowers, repressed the truth and arrested doctors who tried to warn the world. This régime has also launched the biggest crackdown on human rights since the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989, and the most severe assault on religious freedom since the Cultural Revolution. As a [new report by CSW shows](https://www.csw.org.uk/2020-china-report), Christians face severe persecution, and Uyghur Muslims endure what is arguably one of the 21st century’s most serious and underreported mass atrocities. The régime is accused by a [tribunal](http://www.chinatribunal.com) led by the man who prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, and it is tearing [up its promises to the people of Hong Kong](https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-hands-around-hong-kongs-throat/87783) by taking advantage of the pandemic to further [crackdown on the freedoms](https://www.hongkongwatch.org/all-posts/2020/4/22/press-release-four-un-special-procedures-express-serious-concern-at-the-harassment-intimidation-and-arrest-of-healthcare-workers-in-hong-kong) of what was until recently termed ​‘Asia’s world city’. These are issues with which we must engage without delay. There are growing [calls to bring the Chinese régime to account](https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-chinese-regime-and-its-moral-culpability-for-covid-19/87609). In any re-evaluation of relations with China, its conduct over the coronavirus may be the litmus test, but it should not be the only consideration. Its atrocious violations of religious freedom, trampling over Hong Kong’s liberties and crimes against humanity more generally must be considered. It is time to engage with what amount to some of the worst atrocities of recent times, to pray for China, to consider ways to support Chinese political and religious dissidents and activists, and to hold the communist régime to account. Your reading Count on · turn off 0 You’ve read 0 articles in the last year. Behind what you’re reading is a movement of churches, organisations and individuals standing together. Join us and add your voice to the church being heard where it matters most. [Become a member](/membership/become-a-member/individuals/join-us) Privacy settings *›* Your article count is off. Nothing is being recorded on this device. Turn it back on --- [@benedictrogers](https://x.com/benedictrogers) ### About Benedict Rogers ![]() *Benedict Rogers is East Asia Team Leader at* [*CSW*](http://www.csw.org.uk)*, founder and Chair of* [*Hong Kong Watch*](http://www.hongkongwatch.org) *and co-founder and Deputy Chair of the* [*Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.*](http://www.conservativepartyhumanrightscommission.co.uk) [See more from Benedict Rogers](/author/ben-rogers) ## Read next [ All news & views ](/news-and-views) - [ ![Could you be someone's Alison?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27360%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Could you be someone's Alison?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) The Navigators UK Could you be someone's Alison? 26 October 2026 ](https://staging.eauk.org/news-and-views/could-you-be-someones-alison) - [ ![Where do you find belonging in a land far from home?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27360%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Where do you find belonging in a land far from home?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) Chinese Overseas Christian Mission Where do you find belonging in a land far from home? 22 October 2026 ](https://staging.eauk.org/news-and-views/where-do-you-find-belonging-in-a-land-far-from-home) - [ ![Making sense of the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27360%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Making sense of the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) Making sense of the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill 19 October 2026 ](https://staging.eauk.org/news-and-views/making-sense-of-the-governments-immigration-and-asylum-bill)