UN Authority Figures

UN Commission for Social Development: China

Since President Xi Jinping's rise to power, China has carried out a fierce crackdown on dissent, covering civil society groups, bloggers and even academics, with many human rights and advocacy groups calling it the worst clampdown since the period after government troops opened fire on Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989.
Source: The Washington Post, March 26, 2015

Mission of the Commission for Social Development: "...the Commission has been the key United Nations body in charge of the follow-up and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action... Since 2006, the Commission has taken up key social development themes as part of its follow up to the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit." (Commission for Social Development website)

China's Term of office: 2017-2021

China's Record on Social Development:
"Repression and coercion were routine, particularly against organizations and individuals involved in civil and political rights advocacy and public interest issues, ethnic minorities, and law firms that took on sensitive cases. Officials continued to employ harassment, intimidation, and prosecution of family members and associates to retaliate against rights advocates and defenders. Individuals and groups regarded as politically sensitive by authorities continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, practice religion, and travel. Authorities resorted to extralegal measures such as enforced disappearance and strict house arrest, including house arrest of family members, to prevent public expression of independent opinions. Authorities continued to censor and tightly control public discourse on the internet. Public-interest law firms continued to face harassment, disbarment of legal staff, and closure. There was severe official repression of the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and assembly of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and of Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas. These minorities also faced severe restrictions on movement."
(U.S. State Department Country Report of Human Rights Practices 2014, China)