'China uses NGOs to suppress criticism within UN'





"Gabi Hide

East Asia Correspondent”

Human rights activists and lawyers in China are being intimidated at and around United Nations meetings via Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), according to research by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

NGOs have become influential players within the United Nations (UN). The number of Chinese NGOs with consultative status has almost doubled in seven years. This status gives access to UN meetings. The condition of this consultative status is that the organization acts free from government interference.

However, ICIJ research shows that 59 of the 106 Chinese and Taiwanese NGOs with consultative status do indeed have strong ties to the Chinese government. In at least 46 of these organizations, a high-ranking organizational member also holds a position within the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the ICIJ report, Chinese delegates are flocking to Geneva to stifle criticism of China by intimidating people at and around the UN Human Rights Council meeting and promoting their own government's narrative.

More aggressive against Tibetans

Courtney Fung, an expert on China's role within the UN, also sees that China is supporting its own government story. "China fills the speaker's booths with organizations that speak positively about China's human rights record. Once the speakers have finished speaking, there is often no time left for critical questions."

ICIJ's investigation also shows that Chinese NGOs are trying to stifle critical voices, as confirmed by Mélanie Blondelle, advocacy director for the International Campaign for Tibet .

"China has in recent years made increasingly aggressive attempts to silence Tibetans and other people critical of the country's human rights record," she says. "China blocks or delays the process for NGOs critical of China to gain consultative status within the UN. Also at side events of the Human Rights Council, Tibetan speakers in particular are regularly treated in a very hostile and aggressive manner, clearly intended to intimidate."

More speaking time

Since Xi Jinping came to power, the NGO sector in China has changed dramatically, with new regulations, more organizations and more activities abroad.

The ICIJ uses three criteria to determine whether a Chinese NGO has strong ties to the government: if the organization is largely funded by the Chinese government, if its leadership has strong ties to the government or the Communist Party, or if the NGO takes pro-China positions at UN meetings.

The number of Chinese NGOs at the UN has not only grown significantly in recent years, they have also become much more vocal. While the NGOs spoke 13 times in 2018, this had increased to almost 300 times in 2024. This is also intended to silence other speakers, according to Blondelle.

"NGOs with ties to the Chinese government are registering en masse for the limited speaking time during Human Rights Council sessions, which means that other voices hardly get a chance to be heard. The NGOs that, according to ICIJ, have ties to the Chinese government have not criticized their own government once in all their speeches over the past 7 years.

Powerful Member State

China has gained power and influence in the UN in recent years. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second largest donor after the US. Fung's research shows that countries that vote with China at the UN General Assembly are increasingly given leadership positions in UN bodies.

Now that the US under Trump has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement, there is a good chance that China will try to fill those gaps.





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