As submitted to the Universal Periodic Review Secretariat on 8 January 2024

1. China stated in paragraph seven of its 2013 National Report and paragraph 14 of its 2018 National Report that China was continuing efforts to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In its last UPR, China accepted recommendations to ratify the ICCPR by the earliest possible date
   • What date has China set for ratification of the ICCPR?
2. Australia opposes the death penalty in all circumstances for all people. We urge all countries that carry out capital punishment to cease executions and to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to abolition. We urge all countries that retain the death penalty to increase transparency around its application by releasing comprehensive and disaggregated statistics on their use of the death penalty and death penalty eligible offences. China states in paragraph 38 of its 2018 National Report that it abolished the death penalty for nine more crimes
   • Will China publish national statistics on death penalty sentences and executions, including information on gender, location, ethnicity and other relevant characteristics?
3. China stated in paragraph 39 of its 2023 National Report that it was “committed to giving the people a sense of fairness and justice in every judicial case… and preventing torture and coercion of confessions”. Australia is deeply concerned about the increasing prevalence of arbitrary detention in China, including through the use of Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), and the use of techniques and processes to secure confessions and the denial of access to legal counsel during RSDL
   • How will the practice of RSDL, including denial of access to legal counsel and the extraction of coerced confessions, change in light of paragraph 39?
4. Australia remains deeply concerned about ongoing restrictions on religious freedom, freedom of movement and the suppression of linguistic freedoms in Xinjiang and Tibet. Australia is deeply concerned about reports detailing China’s assimilationist policies, including forced labour transfer programs and the coerced separation of Tibetan children from their families through state-run boarding schools
   • What is China doing to address these concerns and will China allow meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent human rights observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Procedures mandate holders?
5. China stated in paragraph 16 of its 2023 National Report that it “actively protects citizens’ freedom of association”. Australia is a strong supporter of freedom of expression, including through a vibrant civil society, independent media, and robust institutions underpinned by the rule of law
   • How is China ensuring that lawyers, activists, journalists and human rights defenders are protected from harassment, mistreatment and discrimination and that those detained for merely exercising their constitutional rights are released without delay?
6. China stated in paragraph 16 of its 2023 National Report that “the Law on the Administration of Activities of Overseas Non-Governmental Organizations within the Territory of China provides legal safeguards for the activities for foreign non-governmental organizations in China”
   • What steps is China taking to reduce restrictions, including those put in place through the Foreign NGO laws, on domestic and international NGOs in China, in order to allow them to play a full and active role in promoting and protecting the full range of human rights in China and Hong Kong (including but not limited to LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s rights and disability rights)?