UN rights experts criticize Chinese law on foreign NGOs

BERLIN – U.N. human rights experts have called on China to repeal a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations by subjecting them to close police supervision.

The U.N. experts said in a statement released in Geneva on Tuesday that they fear the law “can be wielded as tools to intimidate, and even suppress, dissenting views and opinions in the country.”

Chinese officials have said that it will help the groups, but critics charge that it’s the latest attempt by authorities to clamp down on perceived threats to the ruling Communist Party’s control.

The law, adopted by the national legislature, states that foreign NGOs mustn’t endanger China’s national security and ethnic unity.

It grants police the power to question NGO administrators, search residences and facilities and seize files and equipment.