“My heart is with the people of Ukraine”

11 Mar 22 | Opinion, Russia, Ruth's blog, Ukraine

Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA Images

I had planned to write this week on International Women’s Day. I wanted to feature the female war journalists who are on the frontline as the artillery falls in Ukraine. The brave protesters in Russia who have made their views on the war clear, in spite of the fear of detention. The Russian female scientists who added their names to a joint letter in the academic periodical Trinity Option – causing the publication to be blocked by the Russian state censor. I wanted to write of the amazing women in Myanmar and Hong Kong and Afghanistan and Belarus who keep the dream of democracy alive.

Thankfully these brave women are still fighting the good fight. Inspiring us every day.

And as important as their stories are – and we will keep covering them at Index both in the magazine and on our website, it’s the faces on our media which are dominating my thoughts.

I feel shell-shocked, unable to turn off the news, unable to look away from the devastation being wrought by the Russian military on innocent civilians. Of course, we only know what is happening in Ukraine because we are lucky enough to have independent journalism and media plurality. And as much as I keep holding onto that – it’s the images of the shelled hospital in Mariupol, the pregnant women stumbling from the wreckage, the children sobbing as they looked for help, that I cannot move on from.

War is ugly and the innocent are always caught up in the horror. This has been true since the beginning of time. But there are some images we never thought we would see again on the streets of Europe. Children dying of starvation, residential areas targeted, Holocaust survivors once again exposed to war and fleeing their homes. War crimes happening less than 1,750 miles from where I type.

For those of us who have followed closely the war in Syria, none of this should come as a surprise. And it doesn’t but that does not make the realities on our screens any easier. Russian misinformation, propaganda and lies is adding insult to injury – I won’t share their appalling statements on the events in Mariupol, as their lies need no audience but never have I been more grateful for a free press and to live in a democratic society.

So, as we mark International Women’s Day this week my heart is with the people of Ukraine. I am inspired by their collective bravery in the face of Putin’s tyranny and violence.  I grieve with them as they face the reality of war and I stand with them against the lies and deceit of the Russian Federation.

Beijing Olympics: Support the sport but remember the persecuted

04 Feb 22 | China, Hong Kong, Opinion, Ruth's blog, Tibet, Uncategorized

]Today the Beijing Winter Olympics begins, and I am angry.

While the world enjoys extraordinary sport and the emotional rollercoaster of a global competition – checking their countries medal table on a daily, if not hourly, basis we know, beyond doubt, that the CCP government of China is persecuting its citizens. It is using every page in the authoritarian leader’s playbook to silence opposition, whether that be in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland or even beyond its borders, as it tries to prevent those who seek to live freely and true to themselves and their beliefs. And in Xinjiang province their documented acts of genocide against the Uyghur people are just devastating.

I cannot and will not in all good conscience turn the other way and pretend that Beijing is an acceptable place to host the Winter Olympics. To give credibility to a regime that is murdering its citizens because of their faith and detaining others because they engage in democratic protest or dare to document events as journalists.

This is not a regime that warrants global celebration – it deserves unified condemnation.

But…

The participants in the Winter Olympics didn’t get to choose where they were being held. They have trained for the past four years to participate in the Olympics – not the CCP Olympics. It is for this reason that I am a little torn.

Index doesn’t support boycotts – we fight for freedom of expression around the world. We may not agree with the views of the those who are expressing themselves and we may not agree with their creative output but we campaign every day for people to have the right to express themselves freely and without fear or favour. And athletes taking part have done nothing to deserve our censure.

But Index was also established to be a voice for those that were being persecuted by repressive and totalitarian regimes. To campaign against these regimes. To make the case, daily, for freedom of expression as a liberal democratic value.

So, it is in this tradition that Index will be using the days ahead as the Beijing Olympics continues to highlight the CCP’s tactics against both its population and outside its borders. Next week we launch our new Banned by Beijing report – on how the CCP Government is seeking to use every resource at its disposal to silence the Uyghur community that have managed to escape China to the seeming safety of Europe; details of our launch event can be found here.

Every day of the Games, we will also be sharing a story from our archive on social media highlighting how the CCP have been persecuting their people. So, watch the Olympics – enjoy your favourite sport, cheer on your side – but don’t forget what the CCP are doing to their own people – and share the stories of the persecuted every day.

Keeping watch on China

14 Jan 22 | BannedByBeijing, China, Hong Kong, Opinion, Ruth's blog

Xi Jinping. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

Last year Index launched a new workstream – Banned by Beijing.  This project was a significant step for Index as it seeks to explore not the actions of a repressive regime against its own citizenry but rather how they are seeking to exert influence abroad which is undermining our collective right to free expression.

The need for this step came in light of increasing anecdotes and news stories about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was seeking to leverage its soft power outside Chinese borders and the introduction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong and its impact across the world. We have therefore begun this project to document the reality.

This is not designed to be an anti-Chinese piece of work, but rather anti-authoritarian.  Many of our team are Sinophiles and we are all anti-racist.  But there is a difference between the people of China and the actions of their government.

As we have seen in the news this week in the UK, where a British Parliamentarian has reportedly accepted over £400,000 in donations from someone MI5 consider to be a Chinese asset, there seem to be few limitations on how the CCP seeks to exert influence.

It has become increasingly clear that the CCP has a clear strategy to use every resource at its disposal, beyond even its economic might, to shape a narrative about its aspirations and goals. An attempt to both promote a One China approach and to re-write its history and current actions on human rights and persecution – especially with regards to non-Han Chinese and specifically treatment of the Uighurs.

At the end of last year Index released its first report under the Banned by Beijing banner – exploring the way the Confucius Institutes across Europe are being used to drive a pro-CCP line on campus.

And as we head into February, when China hosts the Winter Olympics, Index will launch its second report – this time exploring how the CCP are seeking to systematically intimidate Uighurs living in Europe and attempting to dismiss and undermine reports of what is happening in Xinjiang province.

Every country has the right to advocate around the world, but that isn’t what the CCP are doing.  They are seeking to leverage their economic might and political power to restrict the rights of people who live outside their borders.  They are seeking to restrict our rights to free expression if they don’t align with the CCP preferred narrative.  Which is why Index will keep analysing and will shine a light on their actions.