Freedom of assembly
China also does not guarantee the right of freedom of assembly for its citizens. “Not surprisingly, when people do gather and protest as they did in Tienanmen Square and are currently doing in Hong Kong, the Chinese response is harsh and brutal,” Smith-Cannoy explains.
According to Freedom House, restrictions on freedom of assembly intensified in China in 2005, as party leaders grew suspicious of the role that non-governmental organizations, lawyers, and labor activists might play in stirring dissent in the run-up to the 17th National Party Congress in 2007 and the Olympic Games in 2008.
