While official Chinese spokespeople were busy slamming the United Nations for drawing attention to rights abuses in the country, Chinese people did not find a great deal to criticize. Even though they were sometimes in the minority—a great deal of other users, an unknown number of which appeared to be regime-funded commentators—many flocked to the social media page of the United Nations online to show their support.
The controversy began on Feb. 16, when Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, described how the Chinese authorities arrest lawyers and intimidate dissidents and NGO workers. She called it “a very worrying pattern.”
“Civil society actors, from lawyers and journalists to NGO workers, have the right to carry out their work, and it is the states’ duty to support and protect them,” said Al Hussein in a statement.
