The youth wings of Norway’s main political parties have signed a letter asking the country to revoke its normalization agreement with China and to suspend free trade negotiations due to China’s human rights violations.
The whole picture: Amid growing global awareness that close economic ties with China could have a devastating effect on free speech, opposition to the Uyghur genocide is gaining momentum in Norway, where some politicians are afraid to jeopardize ties with Beijing .
Be smart: sign up for FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.
Send the news: In a letter dated February 9, a coalition of four advocacy groups – the Norwegian Uyghur Committee, the Hong Kong Committee in Norway, the Norwegian Tibet Committee and the Norwegian Taiwanese Friendship Association – highlighted the human rights violations in Beijing in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet summarized. accuses the Norwegian government of compromising democratic values to negotiate a free trade agreement.
What they say: “If we do not oppose dictatorships, we will help to legitimize and strengthen them,” the letter reads.
-
“Never before in world history has a dictatorship had as much economic and political power as it does today. Through a free trade agreement, we are not only contributing to the strengthening of this dictatorship, but also to Norwegian democracy and the Norwegian space for further undermine expression. “
Background: China froze diplomatic ties with Norway in 2010, after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
-
In 2016, the two countries signed a normalization agreement to end the diplomatic freeze, with the issuance of a joint statement in which the Norwegian government stated that it “attaches the main importance of China’s core interests and major concerns” and “will not take action”. support what undermines them. “
-
With the restoration of diplomatic ties, the two countries resumed free trade talks.
-
In September 2020, the Norwegian Minister of Industry said he was hopeful that a free trade agreement with China could be signed by the end of the year, although an agreement has yet to materialize.
The letter of 6 February calls for an end to trade talks and that the 2016 Normalization Agreement be canceled, stating that, “With this agreement, Norway renounces the right to criticize the Chinese authorities, while at the same time undermining the freedom of expression of Norwegian civil society.”
-
“This is a question about our future, about the values we stand for,” Adiljan Abdurihim, secretary of the Norwegian Uighur Non-Profit Committee, one of the non-profit groups that organized the letter, told Axios. “What we are proposing to the government is good for economic relations with China, but it must be on Norway’s terms.”
Go deeper: The extent of forced labor in Xinjiang is greater than we knew
Get smarter, faster with the news that CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up here for Axios newsletters.