Federal government should advocate for more freedom of the Internet and freedom of religion in China – Criticism of the German-Chinese Year of Language

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) asked Chancellor Angela Merkel to advocate for more freedom of the Internet and freedom of religion in China during the talks with the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Berlin on Sunday. "The freedom of the Internet and freedom of religion are being more and more restricted, especially for the Uyghurs and the Tibetans", said the STP's expert on questions regarding Asia, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Friday. "Even the Christian churches are seriously affected by the increasing repression. It is in Germany's interests that China guarantees religious freedom and that the tensions in the nationalitiy areas are not fueled any further, for this might jeopardize the relationship with China."

The STP criticized arbitrary arrests of webmasters, bloggers and critical writers, the registration of subscribers of mobile communications offers and the increasing censorship regaridin the search engines. Just recently, at the end of April 2013, the regional government of Xinjiang had decided that mobile subscribers will only be able to purchase SIM-cards by their actual names in future. This measure, which is only applicable for Xinjiang, is meant to prevent information on human rights violations in the region – which was originally inhabited by a Uyghur majority – from being sent abroad by use of mobile phones. Also, it is inacceptable that websites supporting Tibetan or Uighur human rights activists are being attacked by Chinese hackers and computer viruses. Even organizations based in Germany are affected, such as the World Uyghur Congress.

According to Delius, the German-Chinese Year of Language 2013 – which Li Keqiang and the German Chancellor will celebrate in Berlin – is a "sham". "The Language Year gives the false impression that Chinas leadership is interested in cultural exchange. However, no travel documents were issued for Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols and Chinese democrats who wanted to travel abroad to report on their culture and their living conditions. Worse still, there are prison sentences for keeping up contacts abroad." At the beginning of May 2013, eight Uighur students were arrested in the south of Xinjiang for alleged contacts to foreigners. For this, dozens of Tibetans are serving long prison sentences.