China deepened nationwide repression in 2025: Human Rights Watch report

The Chinese government significantly intensified repression across the country in 2025, tightening ideological control and curbing fundamental freedoms under President Xi Jinping, according to the World Report 2026 released by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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As noted in the HRW report, President Xi mobilised state machinery to enforce strict ideological conformity and loyalty to himself and the Chinese Communist Party. Communities with distinct religious, ethnic, or cultural identities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, members of unofficial Christian churches, and other minority groups, faced the harshest rights violations. The report also highlighted a sharp escalation of repression in Hong Kong.

“The Chinese government under Xi Jinping has amassed an increasingly disastrous human rights record, expanding and deepening its crackdown on fundamental freedoms,” said Maya Wang, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, as cited in the report. She added that foreign governments have largely failed to counter Beijing’s growing threats to the international human rights system.