Brussels, 10 December: Marking the International Human Rights Day, the Delegation of the European Union in China issued a statement reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In the statement, the EU reviewed its ongoing engagement with China over the past year and reiterated concerns about the overall human rights situation in the country.

A significant portion of the statement was dedicated to the situation in Tibet. The EU described the human rights conditions in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu provinces as “equally alarming” to other regions of concern. The statement noted ongoing patterns of intensified state control over religious life, including surveillance of monasteries, and the expansion of mandatory boarding schools where Tibetan children are separated from their families and predominantly taught in Mandarin.

The EU also reiterated its deep concern over the longstanding enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, whose whereabouts have remained unknown since 1995. The statement called on China to respect religious freedoms without government interference and stressed that the selection of religious leaders, including in connection with the succession of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, should follow religious norms free from state control.

Through its International Human Rights Day statement, the EU underscored its expectation that PRC uphold not only civil and political rights but also cultural and linguistic rights of ethnic minorities, warning that current policies risk eroding Tibetan language and cultural identity.