On World Health Day, Tuesday 7 April 2020, a panel of Chinese, Tibetan, and Uyghur rights leaders joined by Chinese-focused human rights experts conducted an online media briefing on the People’s Republic of China’s escalating repressive agenda in the age of the novel coronavirus.

The panel discusses the repressive security and surveillance measures that have been put in place to prevent the spread of information and opinions that challenge China’s constructed narrative around the origination of the coronavirus and its handling of what has unfolded into a global crisis. The domestic and international propaganda efforts being rolled out by China, including its rush to declare victory in its struggle against the coronavirus, will also be addressed, and how this affects Tibetans and Uyghurs, in particular, as extremely repressed people, as well as any Chinese citizen who is seen by the Chinese Communist Party to challenge their absolute control at this time.

Panel:
Dorjee Tseten, Executive Director, Students for a Free Tibet
Kyinzom Dhongdue, Executive Director, Australia Tibet Council
Lobsang Gyatso, Digital Security Program Director for Tibet Action Institute
Dr. Teng Biao, Chinese human rights lawyer, and scholar
Yaqiu Wang, China researcher, Human Rights Watch
Zumretay Arkin, Program and Advocacy Manager, World Uyghur Congress
John Jones, Campaigns and Advocacy Manager, Free Tibet

The panel has been convened by the International Tibet Network.

International Tibet Network is a global coalition of nearly 200 Tibet related organisations campaigning for freedom in Tibet.