Territorial disputes

Main article: Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China

See also: List of wars involving the People's Republic of China and Cross-Strait
relations

Map depicting territorial disputes between the PRC

and neighboring states. For a larger map, see here.
Ever since its establishment, the PRC has claimed the territories governed by
the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity today commonly known as
Taiwan, as a part of its territory. It regards the island of Taiwan as its Taiwan
Province, Kinmen and Matsu as a part of Fujian Province and islands the ROC
controls in the South China Sea as a part of Hainan Province and Guangdong
Province. These claims are controversial because of the complicated Cross-Strait
relations.[223]

China has resolved its land borders with 12 out of 14 neighboring countries, having
pursued substantial compromises in most of them.[261][262][263] China currently has a
disputed land border with India[264] and Bhutan.[265] China is additionally involved in
maritime disputes with multiple countries over the ownership of islands in the East
and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the entirety of South China
Sea Islands,[266][267] along with the EEZ disputes over East China Sea.

Sociopolitical issues and human rights

See also: Human rights in China, Hukou, Social welfare in China, Elections in
China, Censorship in China, and Uyghur genocide
March in memory of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo who died of
organ failure while in government custody in 2017
The situation of human rights in China has attracted significant criticism from foreign
governments, foreign press agencies, and non-governmental organizations, alleging
widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced confessions,
torture, restrictions of fundamental rights, and excessive use of the death penalty.[197]
[268]
Since its inception, Freedom House has ranked China as "not free" in its Freedom
in the World survey,[197] while Amnesty International has documented significant
human rights abuses.[268] The Chinese constitution states that the "fundamental rights"
of citizens include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to a fair
trial, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, in practice,
these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by
the state.[269][270] China has limited protections regarding LGBT rights.[271]
Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling CCP are tolerated,
censorship of political speech and information are amongst the harshest in the world
and routinely used to prevent collective action.[272] China also has the most
comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship regime in the world, with
numerous websites being blocked.[273] The government suppresses popular protests
and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability", as was the
case with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[274] China additionally
uses a massive espionage network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors,
and surveillance of personal technology as a means of social control of persons living
in the country.[275]

In Xinjiang, China has been accused of

committing genocide against Uyghurs and detaining more than one
million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in camps. [276]

China is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses

in Tibet and Xinjiang,[277][278][279] where significant numbers of ethnic minorities reside,
including violent police crackdowns and religious suppression.[280][281] In Xinjiang,
repression has significantly escalated since 2016, after which at least one
million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religion minorities have been detained
in internment camps aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their
identities, and their religious beliefs.[137] According to western reports, political
indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, forced sterilization, sexual
abuse, and forced labor are common in these facilities.[282] According to a 2020 report,
China's treatment of Uyghurs meets the UN definition of genocide,[283] while a
separate UN Human Rights Office report said they could potentially meet the
definitions for crimes against humanity.[284]

2019–20 Hong Kong protests

Global studies from Pew Research Center in 2014 and 2017 ranked the Chinese
government's restrictions on religion as among the highest in the world, despite low
to moderate rankings for religious-related social hostilities in the country.[285]
[286]
The Global Slavery Index estimated that in 2016 more than 3.8 million people
(0.25% of the population) were living in "conditions of modern slavery", including
victims of human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, and state-
imposed forced labor. The state-imposed re-education through labor (laojiao) system
was formally abolished in 2013, but it is not clear to what extent its practices have
stopped.[287] The much larger reform through labor (laogai) system includes labor
prison factories, detention centers, and re-education camps; the Laogai Research
Foundation has estimated in June 2008 that there were nearly 1,422 of these
facilities, though it cautioned that this number was likely an underestimate.[288]