Australian Senator Dean Smith calls for targeted sanctions against Chinese leaders responsible for carrying out transnational repression against Tibetans and others under Beijing’s recently enforced Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress.
Australia is home to vibrant Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Kong and other diaspora communities, who come to this country seeking freedom, democracy and the protection of the rule of law. They should never have to fear that exercising those freedoms in Australia could place them in harm or harm their families overseas. Yet evidence increasingly suggests that this is exactly what is happening.
Smitih called China’s Ethnic Unity Law a “deeply concerning development that extends well beyond the borders of the People’s Republic of China and reaches into migrant communities here in Australia”.
The Chinese Communist Party’s new ethnic unity laws, particularly article 63, have prompted serious concerns from the United Nations and human rights organisations because of the very real risks they pose for transnational repression.
The United Nations has warned that these laws allow Chinese authorities to prosecute individuals for actions undertaken outside China that are deemed to undermine national ethnic unity or create ethnic division. The problem is that these concepts are so broadly defined and so vaguely defined that they give authorities extraordinary discretion to target peaceful speech, cultural expression and political advocacy. This should concern every Australian.
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Smith urged he Australian government to:
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First, the Australian government should recognise transnational repression as a genuine national security threat and ensure that agencies responsible for countering foreign interference actively engage with communities most at risk.
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Second, Australia should consider targeted sanctions, including Magnitsky-style sanctions that freeze assets and ban travel, against individuals responsible for organising or directing overseas repression and intimidation.
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Third, the government should publicly and consistently condemn acts of transnational repression whenever credible evidence emerges and reaffirm Australia’s unwavering support for those communities seeking to exercise their democratic rights peacefully. Fourth, our law enforcement and security agencies should continue to strengthen their capability to identify, investigate and respond to foreign interference targeting diaspora communities, particularly at protests, religious gatherings and cultural events.
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