Symposium on the following question: “China, Shrinking Space for Civil Society?” With amongst others, Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia Director of Amnesty International in Hong Kong and prof. dr. Frank Pieke, academic director and professor of Modern Chinese Studies at Leiden University. The symposium will be moderated by Garrie van Pinxteren, journalist and sinologist.
Amnesty international would like to invite you to the Symposium “China: Shrinking Space for Civil Society?” that will take place on the 2nd of November at 15.00 at the Amnesty office in Amsterdam.
Human rights organisations like Amnesty International report that the human rights situation in China has deteriorated substantially since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013. The Chinese government ratcheted up its censorship of the Internet, clamped down on civil society and increased its ideological controls over the media and academia. New laws were enacted that highly restrict civil society to stand up and speak out against current government policies. Large-scale crackdowns on lawyers, bloggers, journalists, and community organizers are leaving the international community wondering about the true aspirations of Xi Jinping to abide to international human rights conventions and rights enshrined in the Chinese Constitution. How does the Chinese government perceive its own civil society? How do we deal with a rights discussion when it comes to China? Are you curious? Feel welcome to join the discussion between:
- Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia Director at Amnesty International in Hong Kong
- Prof. dr. Frank Pieke, academic director and professor Modern China Studies at Leiden University and executive director at the LeidenAsiaCentre
- Arjen van den Berg, deputy director Asia and Oceania Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The symposium will be moderated by drs. Garrie van Pinxteren, journalist and sinologist.
Program
15:00 Welcome
15:30 Start of the discussion
17:00 Drinks
This is a public event. Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you think might be interested.
Registration
You can register for this symposium via the following link.
Costs
Free public event
