EU leaders have an opportunity to stop treating repression as a side issue and instead make human rights more central to their engagement with China.

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*Opinion piece by Hélène de Rengervé, a senior advocate on corporate accountability at Human Rights Watch; and Maya Wang, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. *

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The truth is that China’s economy and industry are intertwined with the Chinese government’s human rights abuses. State-imposed forced labor, forced labor transfers of Uyghur workers, the prohibition on independent unions, forced land seizures or coerced relocations have all featured in industries key to China’s relationship with Europe, from electric battery production, to solar and renewable energy supply chains, to technology.

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Meanwhile, vague criminal offenses, mass surveillance, and pervasive repression allow Chinese authorities not only to silence critics, but also to reshape communities and entire industries with little resistance.

European governments have, in effect, turned a blind eye to these human rights violations as some of Europe’s most important industries sought access to Chinese markets and Chinese suppliers. These include strategic sectors such as automotive or critical raw materials needed for electronic products and batteries.

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The Chinese government’s human rights abuses should not be isolated from Europe’s interests. EU leaders have an opportunity to stop treating repression as a side issue and instead make human rights more central to their engagement with China. They should work jointly to harmonize their policies, so that together, they can resist the Chinese government’s retaliation and foster a more human-rights aligned trade ecosystem.

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