US to Host 'Democracy Summit' Next Week... "Restrict Technology That Violates Human Rights"

Use of Human Rights Violation Technologies and Export Restrictions
Taiwan Also Invited to Meeting... China Likely to Intensify Opposition

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The U.S. government announced that it will hold a virtual "Summit for Democracy" next week with over 110 countries worldwide. The U.S. government is expected to strengthen cooperation with its allies to counter China and Russia by establishing an initiative to restrict the use and export of human rights abuse technologies at this summit. Taiwan has also reportedly been invited to the meeting, raising concerns that China's backlash will intensify.

On the 2nd (local time), White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated at a press briefing, "President Joe Biden will soon host a Summit for Democracy attended by leaders from over 110 countries," emphasizing, "The purpose of this summit is to bring together all leaders to discuss how to cooperate to protect democracy worldwide."

The summit will be held virtually over two days on the 9th and 10th, with major European countries as well as U.S. allies such as South Korea and Japan expected to participate in large numbers. Although the U.S. government has not yet announced the specific list of invited countries, it is known that China, Russia, Turkey, and Hungary were not invited.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing U.S. government officials, reported that the U.S. government is preparing a plan at this summit to ban the export of surveillance equipment and technologies used by authoritarian countries like China for human rights abuses.

One official told WSJ in an interview, "At this summit, the U.S. government will establish an initiative to coordinate export licensing policies for human rights abuse technologies with friendly countries," emphasizing, "As digital surveillance is increasing worldwide, many countries are abusing surveillance like China, which is the reason the U.S. is stepping in."

China and Russia are strongly opposing the summit. On the 30th of last month, Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the U.S., and Qin Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., jointly submitted a letter of protest to the U.S. government, harshly criticizing, "The Summit for Democracy is causing ideological confrontation and global division and is clearly a product of Cold War-era thinking."