On Wednesday the 15th of May 2024 China Watch and Tibet Watch organised a joint meeting in the House of Commons focusing on Freedom of Religion in China.
The host and chair of the meeting was the Rt Hon Fiona Bruce MP the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief.
The panellists were: Sonam Tsering Frasi, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the UK. Rahima Mahmut, UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress. Jenna Zhang, Falun Gong practitioner. Benedict Rogers, Co-founder, Hong Kong Watch. The meeting was well attended by around 40 guests and media representatives.
Rahima Mahmut the Executive Director of World Uyghur Congress UK, made a passionate speech recalling the persecution of Uyghurs in her homeland East Turkestan by the Chinese government. “Religious freedom is non-existent in my homeland” she said.
Sonam Frasi, the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in UK pointed to the timeliness of today’s event as he noted that in a few days (on 17 May) Tibetans & supporters would be commemorating the 29th anniversary of China’s abduction of Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama.
Jenna Zhang, a Falun Gong practitioner read out a statement explaining her mother’s experience in China as a persecuted Falun Gong practitioner. Electric batons were used on her mother while in detention and the family were relentlessly persecuted by the police. Her message to the meeting was “We hope the U.K. government can speak up for justice and an end to Falun Gong persecution.”
Benedict Rogers, Co-founder of Hongkong Watch described the persecution of Christians in mainland China and the threats to religion and freedom of belief in Hong Kong. He referred to increasing Sinicization of religion in China and concluded that CCP ‘s war on faith will never succeed.
David Hardingham, co-founder of China Watch added “All four speakers are champions for liberty and freedom and for their respective causes. It would be good to have more events like this where the groups can collaborate effectively to bring more awareness and ultimately put more pressure on the CCP.”
Mr. Huang Hua, co-founder of China Watch, asked two questions to the hearing host: 1. Does the British government really care about human rights in China? 2. China has a population of 1.4 billion, of which Han people account for 91%, while ethnic minorities only account for 9%. Without the support of Han people, how will you solve China’s ethnic minority problems?
After the meeting, Mr. Huang Hua and one of the co-founders, David Hardingham, had a private meeting with the host of the meeting to discuss further cooperation issues.
The Co-founders of China Watch: Wang Guanru, Jiang Yushan, and Geng Feng all attended the meeting. Due to limited seating in the conference room, the door and corridors were filled with guests.
