ICT monitors the dialogue process between individual countries and China, working with governments prior to negotiations and submitting information so that governments may fully address their human rights concerns with China.
In the early 1990s a number of Western countries, including France, Australia, UK, Switzerland and the United States, sent high level delegations to China. These formal contacts evolved in many cases into bilateral dialogues on human rights. The current generation of bilateral dialogues resumed or was initiated in 1997, at a time when many nations were reviewing their relationship with China and the recent failure of the UN Commission for Human Rights to pass resolutions on China.
Generally there are no publicly stated benchmarks and an irregular or non-existent programme of evaluation. There is also very little transparency of process. Partners are more open about claiming positive results, although it is often hard to link these directly to the dialogues. Some governments try to involve NGOs and report back to NGOs, and a number publish limited information about the content and outcomes of the dialogue process on Ministry websites; others merely state that a process is taking place. The general theme is of a process "behind closed doors."
In the late 1990s, what became known as the "Berne Process" was initiated. Through this process, representatives from governments from around the world have agreed to convene in Berne, Switzerland in order to coordinate their individual negotiations with China. Through this process, governments coordinate on what human rights concerns each country would raise during negotiations with Chinese officials.
The Berne Process originally started with representatives from individual governments. However, ICT was part of a successful campaign effort to have Non-Governmental Organizations admitted to the talks in Berne and had a representative present during the talks this past year.
