China is hardening against dissent, rights groups say as they mark International Human Rights Day

By SYLVIA HUI and HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Rights groups say that Beijing’s crackdown on dissent is becoming increasingly harsh, both within China and beyond. As the groups mark the 75th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Sunday, they fear that the situation is getting worse, not better, in the world’s second most populous country. They add that Western governments are failing to press China hard enough and an increasingly powerful China under President Xi Jinping has become more impervious to international pressure. A new report by the Rome-based rights group Safeguard Defenders alleges that China’s government has stepped up its use of “collective punishment” against the loved ones of human rights advocates in recent years.