Organizers of a canceled human rights conference in Zambia say China intervened

"More than 2,500 people had visas and tickets to fly to Zambia for RightsCon this month. That's an annual gathering of digital rights and human rights advocates. And then in late April, the team of RightsCon director Nikki Gladstone got a call from a Zambian official. NIKKI GLADSTONE: In that call, they let us know that diplomats from the People's Republic of China were putting pressure on the government of Zambia because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person."

"Participants from Taiwan - that's the Democratic island China one day wants to control. For decades, Beijing has tried to exclude officials from Taiwan from international events and meetings. China's embassy in the U.S. said it was unaware of what happened when asked for comment. Zambia's presidential office said in a statement to NPR that it was postponing RightsCon because it needed more disclosure of what it called critical information. Gladstone says RightsCon was told the entire event was off."

"That has left prospective participants like Hong Kong political activist Samuel Chu scrambling. SAMUEL CHU: You're not just canceling the travel. You are disrupting a global civic space and network. FENG: Chinese pressure on Taiwan is not new. In just the past month, China has leaned on three countries to revoke airspace permissions to Taiwan's president, forcing him to delay a big trip abroad to Africa."

RightsCon, an annual digital rights and human rights gathering, was scheduled to begin in Zambia but was abruptly canceled. More than 2,500 people had visas and tickets to travel for the event. RightsCon organizers received a call from a Zambian official in late April indicating that diplomats from the People’s Republic of China were pressuring the Zambian government because Taiwanese civil society participants planned to attend in person. Zambia’s presidential office stated the event was being postponed to obtain more disclosure of what it called critical information. Organizers say they were told the entire event was off. Prospective participants described the cancellation as disrupting global civic space and networks.

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