China censors Swiss embassy’s Weibo post on missing human rights lawyer

The was censored about 24 hours after it was published on Weibo. Keystone / Adrian Bradshaw

The Chinese authorities have deleted a message on the Chinese social network Weibo that referred to disappearance of Tang Jitian.

The Swiss representation in China had asked for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of the human rights lawyer who has been missing for two months. Tang Jitian had wanted to attend a ceremony in Beijing to mark Human Rights Day.

The post on Weibo was censored about 24 hours after it was published on February 10, the embassy wrote on its Twitter account on Thursday. The Swiss embassy requested that Tang’s family and legal representation be allowed to meet him.

UPDATE: our Weibo post with this same content was censured roughly 24 hours after publication. https://t.co/4gwcHkzFlUExternal link

— Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing (@SwissEmbChina) February 17, 2022External link

The Swiss foreign ministry told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA that Switzerland is committed to human rights everywhere, including in China. Respect for basic individual rights is a fundamental element of bilateral relations, including in the area of public communication, it added.

Tang Jitian has been arrested several times in China and claims to have been tortured. According to Amnesty International, he and other lawyers are investigating alleged confessions obtained under torture. He is not the only human rights activist to have disappeared or been arrested in China before the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Swiss government decided not to attend the Olympics or Paralympics. However, unlike some other countries, it said it was not a diplomatic boycott of the Games as a protest over human rights issues but a decision made for pandemic reasons.