Editing China (section)

=== Sociopolitical issues and human rights ===
{{See also|Human rights in China|Hukou|Social welfare in China|Elections in China|Censorship in China|Persecution of Uyghurs in China}}The situation of [[human rights in China]] has attracted significant criticism from foreign governments, foreign press agencies, and non-governmental organizations, alleging widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, restrictions of fundamental rights, and [[Capital punishment in China|excessive use of the death penalty]].<ref name="freedomhouse" /><ref name="Amnesty-2023">{{Cite web |title=China |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515180810/https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china |archive-date=15 May 2023 |access-date=15 May 2023 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]]}}</ref> Since its inception, [[Freedom House]] has ranked China as "not free" in its ''[[Freedom in the World]]'' survey,<ref name="freedomhouse" /> while [[Amnesty International]] has documented significant human rights abuses.<ref name="Amnesty-2023" /> The Chinese constitution states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include [[freedom of speech]], [[freedom of the press]], the [[right to a fair trial]], [[freedom of religion]], [[universal suffrage]], and [[property|property rights]]. However, in practice, these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by the state.<ref name="books.google">{{Cite book |last=Sorman |first=Guy |title=Empire of Lies: The Truth About China in the Twenty-First Century |date=2008 |publisher=[[Encounter Books]] |isbn=978-1-5940-3284-4 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aRaLevXMZf4C&pg=PA46 46, 152]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=World Report 2022: China |date=2 December 2021 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |chapter=China: Events of 2021 |access-date=15 May 2023 |chapter-url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/china-and-tibet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517074437/https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/china-and-tibet |archive-date=17 May 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> China has limited protections regarding [[LGBT rights in China|LGBT rights]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 June 2023 |title=For China's LGBTQ community, safe spaces are becoming harder to find |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-beijing-lgbt-center-rcna85528 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119214528/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-beijing-lgbt-center-rcna85528 |archive-date=19 January 2024 |access-date=8 August 2023 |publisher=NBC News}}</ref>

[[File:Xinjiang Internment Map, US-Aus Gov Assessment.jpg|thumb|In [[Xinjiang]], China has been accused of committing genocide against Uyghurs and detaining more than one million [[Uyghurs]] and other ethnic minorities in camps.<ref name="BBC News-2021">{{Cite news |date=8 February 2021 |title=Uighurs: 'Credible case' China carrying out genocide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210208184814/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |access-date=8 February 2021 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>]]Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling CCP are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information are amongst the harshest in the world and routinely used to prevent collective action.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=King |first1=Gary |last2=Pan |first2=Jennifer |last3=Roberts |first3=Margaret E. |date=May 2013 |title=How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression |url=http://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/censored.pdf |url-status=live |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=326–343 |doi=10.1017/S0003055413000014 |s2cid=53577293 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://gking.harvard.edu/files/gking/files/censored.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=6 March 2015 |quote=Our central theoretical finding is that, contrary to much research and commentary, the purpose of the censorship program is not to suppress criticism of the state or the Communist Party.}}</ref> China also has the most comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship regime in the world, with numerous websites being blocked.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Freedom on the Net: 2022 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123114002/https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2022 |archive-date=23 January 2023 |access-date=15 May 2023 |website=[[Freedom House]]}}</ref> The government suppresses popular protests and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability".<ref>Christian Göbel and Lynette H. Ong, [https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Asia/1012ecran_gobelong.pdf "Social unrest in China." ''Long Briefing, Europe China Research and Academic Network (ECRAN)'' (2012) p 18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116150236/https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Asia/1012ecran_gobelong.pdf |date=16 January 2021}}. [[Chatham House]]</ref> China additionally uses a massive surveillance network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors, and surveillance of personal technology as a means of social control of persons living in the country.<ref name="Isabelle"/>

[[File:Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protest (48108594957).jpg|thumb|[[2019–20 Hong Kong protests]]]]
China is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses in [[Human rights in Tibet|Tibet]] and Xinjiang,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anna Morcom |date=June 2018 |title=The Political Potency of Tibetan Identity in Pop Music and Dunglen |url=https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2348&context=himalaya |url-status=live |journal=Himalaya |publisher=[[Royal Holloway, University of London]] |volume=38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002090307/https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2348&context=himalaya |archive-date=2 October 2021 |access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 2011 |title=Dalai Lama hits out over burnings |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15617026 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103141911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15617026 |archive-date=3 November 2019 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Asat |first1=Rayhan |last2=Yonah Diamond |date=15 July 2020 |title=The World's Most Technologically Sophisticated Genocide Is Happening in Xinjiang |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/15/uighur-genocide-xinjiang-china-surveillance-sterilization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328004458/https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/15/uighur-genocide-xinjiang-china-surveillance-sterilization |archive-date=28 March 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> where significant numbers of ethnic minorities reside, including violent police crackdowns and [[religious suppression]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hatton |first=Celia |date=27 June 2013 |title=China 'moves two million Tibetans' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23081653 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229053404/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23081653 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |access-date=27 June 2013 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=29 June 2013 |title=Fresh unrest hits China's Xinjiang |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23112177 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120125125/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23112177 |archive-date=20 January 2024 |access-date=29 June 2013 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Since 2017, the Chinese government has been engaged in a harsh crackdown in Xinjiang, with around one million [[Uyghurs]] and other ethnic and religion minorities being detained in [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]] aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their identities, and their religious beliefs.<ref name="Graham-Harrison-2019">{{Cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |last2=Garside |first2=Juliette |date=24 November 2019 |title='Allow no escapes': leak exposes reality of China's vast prison camp network |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/china-cables-leak-no-escapes-reality-china-uighur-prison-camp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314114513/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/china-cables-leak-no-escapes-reality-china-uighur-prison-camp |archive-date=14 March 2024 |access-date=18 January 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> According to Western reports, political indoctrination, torture, [[Physical abuse|physical]] and [[Psychological abuse|psychological]] abuse, [[Compulsory sterilization|forced sterilization]], [[sexual abuse]], and [[Forced labour|forced labor]] are common in these facilities.<ref name="Khatchadourian-2021">{{Cite magazine |last=Khatchadourian |first=Raffi |date=5 April 2021 |title=Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210410193233/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang |archive-date=10 April 2021 |access-date=19 March 2023 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> According to a 2020 [[Foreign Policy]] report, China's treatment of Uyghurs meets the UN definition of genocide,<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 2020 |title=China Suppression Of Uighur Minorities Meets U.N. Definition Of Genocide, Report Says |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/04/887239225/china-suppression-of-uighur-minorities-meets-u-n-definition-of-genocide-report-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019141640/https://www.npr.org/2020/07/04/887239225/china-suppression-of-uighur-minorities-meets-u-n-definition-of-genocide-report-s |archive-date=19 October 2020 |access-date=28 September 2020 |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> while a separate [[UN Human Rights Office report on Xinjiang|UN Human Rights Office report]] said they could potentially meet the definitions for [[crimes against humanity]].<ref name="Cumming-Bruce-2022">{{Cite news |last1=Cumming-Bruce |first1=Nick |last2=Ramzy |first2=Austin |date=31 August 2022 |title=U.N. Says China May Have Committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Xinjiang |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901014137/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |archive-date=1 September 2022 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The Chinese authorities have also cracked down on dissent in [[Hong Kong]], especially after the passage of a [[2020 Hong Kong national security law|national security law]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 June 2022 |title=Hong Kong national security law: What is it and is it worrying? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528153554/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838 |archive-date=28 May 2020 |access-date=12 August 2022 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

In 2017 and 2020, the [[Pew Research Center]] ranked the severity of Chinese government restrictions on religion as being among the world's highest, despite ranking religious-related social hostilities in China as low in severity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 July 2019 |title=3. Middle East still home to highest levels of restrictions on religion, although levels have declined since 2016 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/07/15/middle-east-still-home-to-highest-levels-of-restrictions-on-religion-although-levels-have-declined-since-2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106181144/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/07/15/middle-east-still-home-to-highest-levels-of-restrictions-on-religion-although-levels-have-declined-since-2016 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=[[Pew Research Center]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 November 2022 |title=3. Small changes in median scores for government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion in 2020 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/29/small-changes-in-median-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106181143/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/29/small-changes-in-median-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2020 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=[[Pew Research Center]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[Global Slavery Index]] estimated that in 2016 more than 3.8 million people (0.25% of the population) were living in "conditions of modern [[Slavery in China|slavery]]", including victims of human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, and state-imposed forced labor. The state-imposed [[re-education through labor]] (''laojiao'') system was formally abolished in 2013, but it is not clear to what extent its practices have stopped.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=China |url=https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/china/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706152456/https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/china/ |archive-date=6 July 2016 |access-date=13 March 2018 |website=[[Global Slavery Index]]}}</ref> The much larger [[Laogai|reform through labor]] (''laogai'') system includes labor prison factories, detention centers, and re-education camps; the [[Laogai Research Foundation]] has estimated in June 2008 that there were nearly 1,422 of these facilities, though it cautioned that this number was likely an underestimate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Laogai Handbook: 2007–2008 |url=https://laogairesearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/33-Laogai-Handbook-2007-08.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225055906/https://laogairesearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/33-Laogai-Handbook-2007-08.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2023 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=[[Laogai Research Foundation]]}}</ref>