O. whereas China has set up a sprawling state architecture of digital surveillance, ranging from predictive policing to the arbitrary collection of biometric data in an environment devoid of privacy rights; P. whereas the Chinese Government has passed a slew of new laws, in particular, the State Security Law, passed on 1 July 2015, the Counterterrorism Law, the Cybersecurity Law and the Overseas NGO Management Law (ONGO Law), that designate public activism and peaceful criticism of the government as state security threats, strengthen the censorship, surveillance and control of individuals and social groups and deter individuals from campaigning for human rights; Q. whereas the ONGO Law, which came into force on 1 January 2017, is one of the biggest challenges to international NGOs (INGOs) because this law regulates all activities in China funded by INGOs and provincial security officers are primarily responsible for implementing the ONGO Law; R. whereas the new regulations on religious affairs that took effect on 1 February 2018 are more restrictive towards religious groups and activities and force them to fall more closely into line with party policies; whereas the new rules threaten persons associated with religious communities that do not have legal status in the country with the imposition of fines when they travel abroad for the purpose of religious education, in the broad sense, and even more so for pilgrimages, which are subject to fines amounting to a multiple of the lowest salary; whereas freedom of religion and conscience has reached a new low since the start of the economic reforms and the opening up of China in the late 1970s; whereas religious communities have been facing increasing repression in China, with Christians, both in underground and state-sanctioned churches, being targeted through the harassment and detention of believers, the demolition of churches and the crackdown on Christian gatherings; S. whereas the situation in Xinjiang, where 10 million Muslim Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs live, has rapidly deteriorated, in particular since President Xi’s ascension to power, as absolute control of Xinjiang has been elevated to a top priority, driven by both periodic terrorist attacks in or allegedly connected to Xinjiang by Uighurs and the strategic location of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region for the BRI; whereas an extrajudicial detention programme has been established, holding tens of thousands of people who are forced to undergo political ‘re-education’, as well as the development of a sophisticated network of invasive digital surveillance, including facial recognition technology and data collection, mass deployment of police, and strict restrictions on religious practices and the Uighur language and customs; T. whereas the situation in Tibet has deteriorated over the past few years, in spite of economic growth and infrastructure development, with the Chinese Government curtailing a wide range of human rights under the pretext of security and stability, and engaging in relentless attacks against Tibetan identity and culture; whereas the surveillance and control measures have been on the increase over the past few years as well as arbitrary detentions, acts of torture and ill-treatment; whereas the Chinese Government has created in Tibet an environment in which there are no limits to state authority, a climate of fear is pervasive, and every aspect of public and private life is tightly controlled and regulated; whereas in Tibet, any acts of non-violent dissent or criticism of state policies with regard to ethnic or religious minorities can be considered as ‘splittist’ and therefore criminalised; whereas access to the Tibet Autonomous Region today is more restricted than ever for