Human rights activists and Uyghur organization leaders staged a protest in Paris on Monday, denouncing President Emmanuel Macron’s warm welcome to China’s genocidal dictator Xi Jinping.
Xi arrived in Paris on Sunday for a European tour that also included stops in Russia-friendly Serbia and Hungary, one of China’s most enthusiastic partners in the predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Xi held a tripartite meeting with Macron and European Union President Ursula von der Leyen in France on Monday, mainly focusing on economic cooperation. According to the conference report, both Macron and von der Leyen spoke out about the rampant human rights abuses that Xi has ordered the Chinese Communist Party to commit in China, most notably the deliberate extermination of the Uyghur people in occupied East Turkestan. is not mentioned.
Groups representing the Uyghur people criticized Macron for praising relations between France and China and failing to mention the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs. Groups representing the Tibetan community, which has also faced decades of occupation and ethnic cleansing, held a “Free Tibet” rally on Paris’s Boulevard Périphérique, where President Xi’s motorcade passed on the way to his meeting with President Macron. They unfurled a banner that read.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the Elysée Palace in Paris, France, on May 6, 2024. (Umit Donmez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
For decades, China has grappled with rampant human rights abuses against Uyghurs in East Turkestan, a former republic occupied by communist mass murderer Mao Zedong and now ruled as a colony by the Chinese government. . The Chinese government calls the region the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” (XUAR). . But under Xi, that abuse has escalated into a systematic genocide, with millions of people sent to concentration camps, tens of thousands of women forced to undergo sterilization, and the state forcing Uyghurs into Western countries. built a network of slaves who sold to factories that supplied their products. Companies where people are forced to work in terrible conditions.
Massive protests against Macron took place in Paris on Monday. protest Organized by the East Turkestan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the French Uyghur Association at Place de la Madeleine.
Milkedir Mirzat, deputy prime minister of ETGE and president of the French Uyghur Association, issued a statement calling on President Macron to “unequivocally condemn” the genocide.
“Even as we speak, these camps are being turned into formal prisons, an ominous sign that China has no intention of ending its genocidal policies,” Mirzat said. insisted.
“Recognizing that the occupation and colonization of East Turkistan is a core issue, France must insist on East Turkestan’s right to external self-determination, while respecting its historical commitment to the principle of self-determination,” Mirzat said. he concluded.
Ahead of Sunday’s meeting between Macron and Xi, the World Uyghur Congress issued a statement calling on Macron to acknowledge the genocide committed during the Xi era.
“France has an obligation to call out the Chinese regime’s continued human rights violations, not only in East Turkestan, Tibet and Hong Kong, but also across Europe, where China’s cross-border repression is increasing,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the group. There is,” he said. claimed. “President Macron should publicly address the Uyghur genocide and urge Xi Jinping to end the ongoing annihilation of the people, reflecting the resolution adopted by the National Assembly recognizing the Uyghur genocide.”
Groups supporting Tibet, a country in the south of East Turkestan that faces decades of policies erasing its local language, religion and culture, unfurled banners condemning Mr. Xi in Paris on Monday.
Tenzin Yangzom, Campaign Coordinator of the International Tibet Network, said: “Today, we want to thank President Xi for forcing him to drive under our flag and the Tibetan flag. “The message is that time is up and Tibet will be free.” Said According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the protest is a protest. “President Macron and European leaders should not roll out the red carpet for someone guilty of genocide.”
Yesterday, we confronted Mr. Xi with the flag he is seeking to eradicate. Waving the national flag in Tibet can lead to arrest and torture. In France, it was boldly displayed before the architects of the Tibetan occupation.
Supporting SFT efforts against Xi in Europe ▶️ https://t.co/aF33YQZ2gc pic.twitter.com/xYHtn3ZLJP
— Students for Tibetan Freedom (@SFTHQ) May 6, 2024
No official statement from the Elysée Palace indicates that Mr. Macron acknowledged the genocide or Mr. Xi’s deplorable human rights record. Mr Macron himself shared various photos of himself alongside Mr Xi on social media, celebrating decades of diplomatic relations with China and calling for stronger economic ties with Beijing.
“Trade and market access, fair competition and investment, the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, relations between China and Europe, our cooperation are of critical importance,” President Macron posted in Chinese on his Twitter account on Monday. .
Human rights experts say it is impossible to expand trade ties with China without exposing the market to human rights abuses, particularly slavery, because the Communist Party does not allow due diligence in supply chain audits. .
In addition to the meeting with Mr. von der Leyen, Mr. Macron hosted a lavish dinner for Mr. Xi on Monday night. The French government also prepared an elaborate equestrian display to honor Mr. Xi at the presidential palace.
President Xi Jinping will be escorted to the Elysée Palace by a ceremonial cavalry unit consisting of 148 cavalrymen and a motorcycle squad. #Xi Jinping pic.twitter.com/fwHOWCzmOY
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) May 7, 2024
President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan will serve as a cavalry and motorcycle escort for the Paris Elysée. pic.twitter.com/URzh0fxPHt
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) May 6, 2024
French-Uyghur sociologist Dilnour Reyhan slams Macron in a scathing column. published by Tuesday Le Mondedeclared indifference to unimaginable human suffering.
“France, in the name of its declared post-war national reopening, [Wuhan coronavirus] “Due to our long-standing policy of closeness with China, the architects and main instigators of the genocide targeting my people and ruthlessly destroying them remain in residence,” Rayhan wrote, continuing: Ta.
So our nightmarish nights, confused family tree, helplessness and fear of being erased from human history are meaningless to Macron. Inviting the demon of genocide to the Elysée Palace and sharing a “more personal” time with him, all to improve trade relations between the two countries and celebrate 60 years of “diplomatic and friendly relations”, a unique Ash Wednesday banquet.
Reyhan pointed out that Macron’s silence goes against the will of the French people who elected the French National Assembly, which in 2022 recognized the persecution of the Uyghurs as genocide.
