[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE PRESERVATION OF MEMORY: COMBATING
THE CCP'S HISTORICAL REVISIONISM
AND ERASURE OF CULTURE
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
DECEMBER 5, 2024
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Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available at www.cecc.gov or www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
57-950 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
House Senate
CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey, JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon, Co-chair
Chair STEVE DAINES, Montana
JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts MARCO RUBIO, Florida
BRIAN MAST, Florida TOM COTTON, Arkansas
JENNIFER WEXTON, Virginia ANGUS KING, Maine
MICHELLE STEEL, California TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
ANDREA SALINAS, Oregon LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California
ZACHARY NUNN, Iowa SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
RYAN ZINKE, Montana
EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
DANIEL K. KRITENBRINK, Department of State
MARISA LAGO, Department of Commerce
THEA MEI LEE, Department of Labor
UZRA ZEYA, Department of State
DAFNA H. RAND, Department of State
Piero Tozzi, Staff Director
Todd Stein, Deputy Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Statements
Opening Statement of Hon. Chris Smith, a U.S. Representative from
New Jersey; Chair, Congressional-Executive Commission on China. 1
Statement of Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State for Civilian
Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.......................... 3
Statement of Hon. James P. McGovern, a U.S. Representative from
Massachusetts.................................................. 5
Statement of Ryan K. Zinke, a U.S. Representative from Montana... 6
Statement of Andrea Salinas, a U.S. Representative from Oregon... 6
Statement of Rowena He, Senior Research Fellow, University of
Texas at Austin and author, ``Tiananmen Exiles: Voices for the
Struggle for Democracy in China''.............................. 9
Statement of Julian Ku, Faculty Director of International
Programs and Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of
Constitutional Law, Hofstra University......................... 13
Statement of Rishat Abbas, President, Uyghur Academy
International.................................................. 15
Statement of Geshe Lobsang Monlam, ordained Tibetan monk and
founder, Monlam Tibetan IT Research Center..................... 17
Statement of Temulun Togochog, U.S.-born Southern Mongolian
activist and freshman, Mercer County Community College (Honors
Program)....................................................... 19
Statement of Jennifer Wexton, a Representative from Virginia..... 25
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements
Ku, Julian....................................................... 39
Abbas, Rishat.................................................... 43
Geshe Lobsang Monlam............................................. 45
Togochog, Temulun................................................ 47
Smith, Hon. Chris................................................ 48
Merkley, Hon. Jeff............................................... 49
McGovern, Hon. James P........................................... 50
Zeya, Hon. Uzra.................................................. 51
Submissions for the Record
Submission of the Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc. and Global
Heritage Alliance.............................................. 53
CECC Truth in Testimony Disclosure Form.......................... 58
Witness Biographies.............................................. 59
(iii)
THE PRESERVATION OF MEMORY:
COMBATING THE CCP'S HISTORICAL
REVISIONISM AND ERASURE OF CULTURE
----------
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024
Congressional-Executive
Commission on China,
Washington, DC.
The hearing was held from 10:34 a.m. to 12:42 p.m., in Room
2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC,
Representative Chris Smith, Chair, Congressional-Executive
Commission on China, presiding.
Also present: Senator Jeff Merkley, Co-chair, Under
Secretary Zeya, and Representatives McGovern, Zinke, Wexton,
Salinas, and Nunn.
STATEMENT OF HON. CHRIS SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW
JERSEY; CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
The Commission will come to order, and good morning to
everyone. Thank you for being here, especially our very
distinguished witnesses, for taking the time, for your
leadership, which has been extraordinary, but also for being
here to give us the benefit of your wisdom and knowledge,
particularly at this crucial time. So thank you very much.
Today's hearing is on the preservation of memory. Combating
the CCP's historical revisionism and erasure of culture serves
as a capstone or a coda on the work of this Commission during
the 118th Congress. I want to begin by posing a handful of
questions. Why is it that so much of our Commission staff time
is dedicated to producing a statutorily mandated annual report
that tracks, exposes, and seeks to end the human rights abuse
committed by the Chinese Communist Party? Why do we report upon
efforts to sinicize religious belief and erase the identity of
distinct ethnicities, such as the Uyghurs, the Tibetans, and
the Mongolians? Why do we record the names of individuals who
have been disappeared into the penal archipelago, the laogai
system, or have been detained in concentration camps in
Xinjiang in our political prisoner database, which is really a
database that's second to none in the world?
We are engaged in a grand project that seeks not only to
protect the innocent from the cruelty of the Chinese Communist
Party--and you here testifying know more than anyone else how
cruel Xi Jinping and his henchmen have been--but it's also to
preserve memory--the memory of the Chinese people writ large,
undistorted by the propaganda narratives of the CCP. The memory
of ethnic groups, whose unique cultural, linguistic, and
religious identities are under threat of erasure. And above
all, the memory of individuals whom the party would blot out
into oblivion.
This last point is very important, because behind all the
statistics we collect and catalog lie individuals. Each born to
a mom and dad. Each a precious human life bearing an inherent
God-given dignity. Above all, our CECC preservation project
gives testament to the notion that truth does exist, that it is
objective and not subjective, and that while it cannot be
extinguished, we must still do our part to preserve it.
Today, there are custodians of memory within China who were
forced to leave China who seek to preserve truth, and who often
suffered for it, and suffered immensely. These include
independent historians who researched and recorded what the
Communist Party considered taboo subjects, such as Yang
Jisheng, who wrote ``Tombstone,'' the definitive catalog of the
great famine of 1958 to 1962. Yang was a journalist with a news
agency, though instead of being content with writing canned
news reports to advance the party's propaganda narratives, he
used his separate time to assess archives and to conduct
independent research with regard to the famine caused by
misguided Mao Zedong policies, killing an estimated 36 million
people. Some have put that estimate much higher. Yang's work--
great work--remains banned in China, while he himself has been
banned from leaving China to receive the accolades which he
deserves. Or our witness today, Rowena He, who ``taught the
taboo'' because she wrote and lectured on subjects such as the
Tiananmen Square massacre. She was driven out of her job at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, presumably at the behest of
Beijing. Now, the people that Yang Jisheng and Rowena He wrote
about, who perished in the great famine or were mowed down at
Tiananmen Square, are blood martyrs, also known as ``red
martyrs.'' But there is another kind of martyr--what
traditionally is called the white martyr. These are those who
are stripped of position and prestige, who suffer because they
are unbowed in their commitment to the truth, regardless of the
consequences. They are willing to do whatever it takes to
advance the truth.
Such is the lot of the independent historian who shuns
ideological narratives and lies. A few weeks ago, Pope Francis
came out with a letter which focused on the study of church
history; he also has insight on the study of history more
generally. While I'm not prone to quote Pope Francis--I prefer
Benedict or the sainted Saint Paul--John Paul II--his statement
on the present state of historical inquiry has true relevance
to why we are here today. He said there is an ``urgent need for
a greater sense of history at this moment, when we see a
tendency to dismiss the memory of the past or to invent one
suited to the requirements of dominant ideologies. Faced with
cancellation of past history or with clearly biased historical
narratives, the work of historians, together with knowledge and
dissemination of their work, can act as a curb on
misrepresentations, partisan efforts at revisionism, and their
use to justify wars, persecutions, the utilization of weapons,
with any number of other evils.''
I think that is a fitting reminder of the proper role of
the historian to give testimony to truth and memory while
rejecting the ersatz manipulation of ideology that masquerades
as history. With that, I want to turn to my colleague, and he
will be joining us shortly, Co-chair Jeff Merkley. He is on his
way, but obviously the Senate schedule is packed so he will be
here shortly. But we are delighted to welcome Under Secretary
Uzra Zeya, who's here today to give some comments and insight.
And we welcome her with great affection.
STATEMENT OF UZRA ZEYA, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CIVILIAN
SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, for your powerful opening
remarks. And good morning, everyone. I'm grateful to join this
important discussion of the PRC's efforts to control and
distort historical narratives and repress marginalized
religious and ethnic communities. As we gather this morning,
the PRC continues its genocide and crimes against humanity in
Xinjiang, the erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,
suppression of Tibetans' unique cultural, religious and
linguistic identity, and other persistent human rights abuses
throughout the country. As Secretary Blinken has noted, under
President Xi the Chinese Communist Party has become more
repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.
In this troubling context, the U.S. Government has been
steadfast in raising human rights concerns at the highest
levels with the PRC. Our administration prioritizes shining a
light on, and takes action against, the PRC's abuses. Let me
elaborate on some of the key ways we've done so. First, we've
led the way in multilateral fora, including the PRC's fourth
Universal Periodic Review in January at the Human Rights
Council. We submitted 15 advance questions--more than any other
country--to the PRC, covering a number of core human rights
concerns. The January 23rd U.S. statement at the UPR contained
a series of specific recommendations specifically calling on
the PRC to cease discrimination against individuals' culture,
language, and religion or belief, and end forcible assimilation
policies. We again raised these concerns in July at the UPR's
formal adoption.
We've also worked in common cause with allies and partners
since 2021, leading joint statements with dozens of governments
on the human rights situation in Xinjiang at the Human Rights
Council and U.N. General Assembly, commending the efforts of
human rights defenders, and the courage shown by survivors of
forced labor and detention camps. Just this past October, we
joined 14 other countries in an Australian-led statement
condemning the human rights situation in Xinjiang and Tibet at
the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee. In August,
the State Department released a statement to mark the second
anniversary of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights'
assessment on the human rights situation in Xinjiang. We
expressed our grave concern about the PRC's ongoing repression
of Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious
minority groups in Xinjiang, and urged the PRC to take
immediate action to end these ongoing atrocities.
Second, we are robustly implementing the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act, including via additions to the UFLPA
entity list. Last month, the multiagency Forced Labor
Enforcement Task Force added 29 companies to the entity list,
bringing the total to more than 100. We are unwavering in our
work to prevent the importation of goods made with forced labor
into the United States and to ending forced labor of Uyghurs
and other ethnic and religious minorities, both inside and
outside Xinjiang. In December 2023, we released a report under
the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to promote accountability,
which identified two PRC government officials connected to
ongoing serious human rights abuse in Xinjiang, whom Treasury
concurrently sanctioned.
Third, we continue to voice deep concerns over democratic
erosion in Hong Kong as the PRC attempts to silence those
peacefully expressing their political views. In September, we
worked with 22 partners in the Media Freedom Coalition to
release a joint statement condemning the conviction of the
former chief editors of Stand News for sedition, which is a
direct attack against media freedom. In November, we strongly
condemned the sentences of 45 defendants in Hong Kong's
national security law trial of pro-democracy advocates.
Throughout the year we took steps to impose new visa
restrictions on multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for
implementation of the NSL.
And meanwhile, in my dual-hat role as the U.S. special
coordinator for Tibetan issues, I see all too clearly that the
CCP aims to subsume Tibet's rich traditions into its one-party
framework. This manifests itself through forced relocation, the
requirement of monks and nuns to pledge loyalty to the state,
co-optation of the traditional succession processes of Tibetan
Buddhist lamas, including the Dalai Lama, and restriction on
religious practices central to Tibetan culture and identity.
We've taken multiple actions in response, including, for the
first time, designating two PRC officials under Global
Magnitsky sanctions in connection with serious human rights
abuses in Tibet, imposing visa restrictions against PRC
officials involved in the forced assimilation of over 1 million
Tibetan children in government-run boarding schools, and most
recently, in July, imposing visa restrictions on PRC officials
for their involvement in repression of individuals in
marginalized religious and ethnic communities.
In conclusion, we will continue to promote accountability
in defense of these and other human rights in China. Beyond the
work that we do, I want to recognize our witnesses today and
their civil society compatriots, both in the PRC and in
diaspora communities around the world, who are fighting every
day to protect these integral parts of identity. I thank these
brave individuals and will continue to do everything I can to
make sure your voices are heard and heeded, despite the PRC's
efforts to silence them. Thank you.
Chair Smith. Secretary Zeya, thank you very much for that
very eloquent statement, and for your great work that you have
been doing for so long. I appreciate it so much. We all do.
I'd now like to recognize the ranking member, James
McGovern from Massachusetts.
STATEMENT OF JAMES P. McGOVERN,
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Secretary Zeya, for
your remarks and for all that you have done. I join with
Chairman Smith in welcoming everybody to today's China
Commission hearing on preserving the memory of ethnic peoples
facing systemic discrimination and erasure in the People's
Republic of China.
I'm glad that this Commission is taking up the role of
preservation of memory as a human rights issue. Memory, both
individual and collective, is essential to identity and to the
realization of the right to culture for all peoples. The
stories that we tell, the songs we sing, our writing, our
music, all of these are expressions of ourselves. They are also
ways that we record our shared history and pass on our
knowledge and understanding of the world to those who follow
us. Without memory and the narratives it informs, it is much
harder to locate ourselves in this world.
The essential role that memory plays in our lives is the
reason that international humanitarian law prohibits attacks
against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art,
science, or charitable purposes, and historic monuments. It is
the reason that Article Seven of the Rome Statute defines
crimes against humanity as including the persecution of an
identifiable group or collectivity on cultural grounds. It is
the reason that preserving memory is at the heart of
transitional justice processes. Without memory, the rights of
victims to truth, justice, reparation, and the guarantee of
non-reoccurrence cannot be realized.
The existential importance of memory is the reason it is so
contested, as we will hear today. Any government or state that
seeks to repress the language of minority ethnic people, or
rename their symbolic places, or prohibit their traditional
practices, or forcibly assimilate them, is violating their
basic human rights. The People's Republic of China is not the
only state engaged in these practices. In the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission, which I co-chair with Chairman Smith, we
recently examined cultural erasure in Ukraine at the hands of
the Russian Federation.
But the PRC's sinicization policies are explicitly designed
to erode the history and identity of several minority ethnic
communities in favor of Han Chinese culture and core socialist
values. As one of our witnesses will say today, Chinese
officials promote patriotic education in an attempt to
encourage all ethnic groups to accept the great mother country,
Chinese nationality, Chinese culture, and the Chinese Communist
Party. Tibetans, Uyghurs, ethnic Mongolians, all are at risk.
Congress has taken some steps to counter this erasure with
strong bipartisan support. It has authorized and funded
programs for Tibetan and Uyghur cultural and linguistic
preservation. The recently introduced Southern Mongolian Human
Rights Policy Act would extend similar programming to Southern
Mongolians. The Smithsonian Institution, also with
congressional support, is doing groundbreaking work to promote
cultural diversity and preserve endangered languages. The
Library of Congress, which has an excellent collection of
Tibetan language works, has just received a donation of the
223-volume Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary, an impressive
initiative that we will hear more about in testimony today.
The Resolve Tibet Act, which became law last summer, takes
a complementary approach. It empowers the State Department to
counter disinformation about Tibetan history and institutions
put forth by the People's Republic of China and the Chinese
Communist Party, including disinformation about the Dalai Lama.
Ensuring that the U.S. Government is insisting on the truth
about the history of ethnic peoples inside China is critically
important. The question for us today is, What more can we do to
build on these existing initiatives, especially working hand in
hand with the diaspora communities? And so I look forward to
the witnesses' recommendations. And I thank all of you for
being here. I yield back.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much.
I'd now like to yield to Commissioner Zinke.
STATEMENT OF RYAN ZINKE,
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM MONTANA
I appreciate all the witnesses being here. And I appreciate
your commitment, and it does not go unheard. I think we can all
agree that China is trying to erase your glorious history and
suppress your values, which you hold dear. And that's a concern
to us all. I'll make this brief, because I'm interested to hear
from you. You've probably heard from us a lot. But I'm
interested to hear, from your perspective, what we can do
specifically. So I'll yield back to the Chair and I'll ask
questions when the time is appropriate.
Chair Smith. Commissioner Salinas.
STATEMENT OF ANDREA SALINAS,
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM OREGON
Thank you, Chair Smith and Chair Merkley, for holding this
important hearing today, and to our esteemed witnesses for
taking the time to be here to share your stories and
experiences with us. And I know that all of our witnesses are
doing important and oftentimes life-threatening work--work to
preserve language, and culture, and speaking out against the
CCP's oppression. And you have done so at great personal cost
and sacrificed a great deal. We are deeply grateful for the
opportunity to hear from you.
This past year, our Commission has held hearings on
preserving the memory of Tiananmen Square, despite intense
censorship efforts by the CCP. We've also held a hearing on the
abhorrent mistreatment of ethnic minorities and the CCP's
attempt to sanitize these actions within the halls of the
United Nations. And finally, we held a hearing on the
transnational repression by the PRC against those who dare to
speak out, both within and beyond China's borders. This
hearing, our last of 2024, ties together the previous work of
this Commission and sheds light on the common theme of erasure,
and the lengths to which the CCP will go to silence anyone who
challenges their dominance.
Maintaining one's language, culture, and traditions is a
crucial part of what it means to be human. These are not things
that anyone should be forced to hide, or change, or ignore.
Rather, they should be celebrated and protected. And I commend
our witnesses for doing this critical work, even under the
oppressive thumb of the CCP. So with that, I look forward to
hearing from all of you about your experiences, the challenges
you have faced, and potential solutions you have to offer the
Commission. Thank you.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much, Commissioner.
I'd now like to welcome and recognize our very
distinguished panel. I have longer introductions which I'll put
into the record.
Rowena He is a China specialist and historian of modern
China and currently a research fellow at the University of
Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the nexus of history,
memory, and power, and their implications for the relationship
between intellectual freedom and public opinion, human rights
and democratization, and youth values and nationalism. Born and
raised in China, she received her Ph.D. from the University of
Toronto.
It was her participation in the 1989 student movement that
set in motion her life's work. Her first book, ``Tiananmen
Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China,'' was
named one of the top five books in 2014 by the Asian Society's
ChinaFile. And she was designated among the top 100 Chinese
public intellectuals of 2016. Dr. He's op-eds have appeared
everywhere, including in the Washington Post, The Guardian, The
Globe, the Wall Street Journal, among many other publications.
Perhaps most significantly from our point of view, this is her
third time testifying before this Commission. Above all, she is
passionate about teaching. She received the Harvard University
certificate of teaching excellence for three consecutive years.
She's been featured both on campus outlets and, again, in the
New York Times. Everyone has covered her, and done so
extensively.
It is perhaps that passion for teaching and the impact that
she has on her students' lives that led to one of the most
fateful episodes of her personal career. Doctor He joined the
Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019 and received the
Faculty of Arts Outstanding Teaching Award in 2020 and 2021. In
2023 however, she was denied a work visa to return to her
position as an associate professor of history because of her
commitment to a truthful telling of history and a refusal to
conform to politicized narratives. In sum--she lives what she
speaks. So welcome back, Rowena.
We'll then hear from Julian Ku, who's a faculty director of
international programs and the Maurice A. Deane Distinguished
Professor of Constitutional Law at Hofstra University. His
research has focused on the interplay between international
law, foreign law, and domestic U.S. law. His writings cover a
wide range of topics, including international dispute
resolution, international criminal law, and China's
relationship with international law. He's coauthor with John
Yoo of ``Taming Globalization: International Law, the U.S.
Constitution, and the New World Order'' from Oxford University
Press of 2012. He also has published more than 40 law review
articles, books, chapters, and symposia, contributions, and
essays. He cofounded the international law blog Opinio Juris,
and is a contributing editor of Lawfare, a leading blog
analyzing national security issues, and one very germane to his
testimony today.
His essays and op-eds have been published in major news
publications like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal,
and the L.A. Times. He has served as an interim dean of the
Maurice A. Deane Law School at Hofstra, as well as vice dean
for academic affairs. Professor Ku has been a visiting
professor at Columbia University School of Law, as well as the
College of William and Mary and the Marshall Wythe School of
Law in Williamsburg, Virginia, a Fulbright distinguished
lecturer in law at East China University in political science
and law in Shanghai, China, and a Taiwan fellow at National
Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. He's a member of the New
York Bar and a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School. We
welcome Dr. Ku.
We then will hear from Rishat Abbas, who is a senior
clinical research leader and scientist with 30 years of
experience in the United States. He has contributed to clinical
research and approval of several innovative new medicines in
oncology and other therapeutic areas. He has a proven track
record in medical research, having authored over 150 peer-
reviewed scientific publications and received several
prestigious awards for his achievements. He received his Ph.D.
from Ohio State University in 1994. Beyond his scientific
career, Dr. Abbas is a prominent advocate for human rights and
democratic freedom for the Uyghur people, who are suffering
from human rights abuses, cultural destruction, and repression
under the Chinese Communist Party regime.
In 1998, he played a crucial role in advocating for the
establishment of the Uyghur Program at Radio Free Asia. Dr.
Abbas played a pivotal role as well in establishing the Global
Uyghur Academy Network, which has seven branches and four
institutes in the diaspora. He also serves as senior advisor
for the World Uyghur Congress and Campaign for Uyghurs. He and
his sister, Ms. Rushan Abbas, their advocacy has come at a
profound personal cost, with their sister, Gulshan Abbas,
unjustly imprisoned since 2018--a glaring example of the
regime's attempts to silence dissent. Our hearts go out to both
of you and our hearts go out for your sister, and my prayers as
well, as your fight for truth has entailed such significant
personal sacrifice.
Well, then we'll be hearing from Dr. Lobsang Monlam, who is
an ordained Tibetan monk, traditional Tibetan painter, and
contemporary artist, Buddhist scholar, and founder of the
Monlam Tibetan IT Research Center. Ordained at Sera Mey
Monastic University, Dr. Monlam pursued rigorous traditional
Buddhist studies, including advanced meditation training, for
more than 18 years, before recognizing the urgent need to
preserve the Tibetan language in the digital area. In 2003, he
began developing Tibetan fonts and digital tools, including the
widely used Monlam Dictionary and the Monlam Tibetan keyboard,
which have become essential resources for Tibetan language
users worldwide.
In 2012, he established the Monlam Tibetan IT Research
Center to promote Tibetan language and culture through
technology, building 37 open-source software applications to
date, and amassing a vast library of digitized text. In 2023 he
launched Monlam AI, a pioneering initiative using artificial
intelligence to enhance Tibetan language learning, cultural
preservation, and linguistic research with his latest
innovation. Dr. Monlam's relentless efforts reflect the broader
commitment to the Tibetan diaspora to preserve its linguistic
and cultural legacy, as well as empowering a new generation to
access and safeguard their cultural heritage, as seen in
projects like the Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary and the
forthcoming Tibetan Digital Library. Thank you for that
enormous contribution and for being here today.
We will then hear from Temulun Togochog, who was born in a
Southern Mongolian exile family and raised in New York City. In
June 2024, Temulun graduated from the LaGuardia High School of
Music and Performing Arts with a 4.0 GPA--congratulations for
that and currently is attending the Honors Program at the
Mercer County Community College in New Jersey--my home state
and it used to be, like, a half a mile away from our home for
many, many years--where she is majoring in sociology.
At a very tender age, Temulun has been actively promoting
the human rights of the Mongolian people in Southern Mongolia,
also known as Inner Mongolia. This includes twice testifying
for the U.N. Permanent Forum on indigenous issues in New York
City, on China's gross human rights violations in Southern
Mongolia, and the erasure of culture, language, and identity of
the Mongolian people in Southern Mongolia, as well as speaking
at the briefing of the U.N. member states at the U.N. General
Assembly on the deteriorating human rights conditions in
Southern Mongolia.
She spoke at the Conference for Empowering Youth for
Democracy, Peace, and Justice, hosted by the Asia Freedom
Institute, in August 2023. And she was invited to speak on the
genocide of the Mongolian Steppe, inner Mongolian indigenous
peoples of China, hosted by the United States Institute of
Peace. In December 2023, she was interviewed by Mr. Roland
Walters, a British documentary filmmaker, for his upcoming new
documentary entitled ``The Mongol Khan,'' regarding her
personal experience as a youth activist born to an exile family
in the United States. Just tremendous work.
I'd now like to thank you and turn to Dr. He.
STATEMENT OF ROWENA HE, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF
TEXAS, AUSTIN, AND AUTHOR, ``TIANANMEN EXILES: VOICES FOR THE
STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN CHINA''
Good morning, Congressmen and Commissioners. I'm humbled to
be here today. I want to say hi to our friends in this room and
those listening to us online, in particular, my students in
Hong Kong--many of them texted me this morning. They are
watching us now. I know that I'm banned from Hong Kong. I
cannot return to the classroom to talk to you anymore, but I'm
so happy that in this space--even though I cannot see your
faces, dear students--I know that you're all there with me this
morning.
It's very difficult not to be emotional to be in this room
again. Ten years ago when I was first invited to testify to
Congress, I was extremely hesitant because I was very concerned
about my family members--I was so worried. I've lived with fear
ever since the day I started teaching and researching
Tiananmen, the taboo, as they call it. For my generation, I was
born in Mao's China, and grew up during Deng's Opening and
Reform era. We were told that China would be different, and we
were going to live with hope.
The day after the Tiananmen Massacre, the turning point for
so many of us, as Congressman Smith mentioned earlier, I went
back to my campus wearing the black armband--the Chinese way of
mourning. My teacher came over to me and said that: if you do
not take that off, no one can protect you from now on. I
reluctantly removed that black armband. At that moment, I
thought of the time when Mao died in 1976. My parents were
celebrating--they closed the doors and windows of our little
apartment. They seemed so happy; they were drinking wine. The
next morning, they took me to the public memorial, and everyone
was crying. As a little girl, I was confused by the contrasting
expressions of the adults. The night before they looked so
happy, and the next morning in public they were so sad.
In 1989, I had to remove the black armband as my teacher
requested. For two generations, we were not allowed to express
the basic human feelings of sorrow and joy. Days after the
Massacre, we lit candles secretly in our small private space,
but we had to hide in public how we felt. Soon after, I had to
keep my mouth shut. At the age of 17, I had two options--to
tell the truth or to survive. I chose to lie, otherwise I
wouldn't be speaking to you here today. Ten years ago, when I
was given the opportunity to speak here before a congressional
hearing, my dear grandmother was still alive. I was worried
that I would never have a chance to see her again after the
hearing, together with the publication of my book.
My grandmother was like my mother during the Cultural
Revolution when my parents were sent away. As I had feared,
after the hearing I was not able to return home to see my
grandmother again. She died without me touching her one more
time, as she had told my parents that that was what she'd been
longing for all those years.
The reason for me and many of those of my generation, as
well as those of multiple generations, both inside and outside
China, to carry on the task of memory against forgetting, was
rooted in the watershed events of 1989. Sometimes people refer
to these invisible groups as underground historians. I do not
like the term ``underground.'' We are the historians. We are
preserving the voices of the people that have been silenced and
whose memories have been erased.
I am grateful that Congressman Smith mentioned Mr. Yang
Jisheng and his important work Tombstone. Mr. Yang spent over
20 years conducting archival research, documenting the Great
Famine that had led to a death toll of thirty-six million
people, almost the population of California. Mr. Yang mentioned
in the introduction of Tombstone, 1989 was a ``personal
awakening'' for him, a turning point when he determined to
conduct research about the lies of the Great Famine. During the
Great Famine, China--actually--the CCP, was still exporting
food when 36 million people were starving to death. The regime
has been hiding this lie under the disguise of a three-year
``natural disaster.'' But it was a manmade disaster, and the
CCP was exporting food when people were starving to death. Mr.
Yang Jisheng documented details of such historical truths.The
biggest distortion of history was the CCP's hijack of the name
China. They have been trying to tell the world that the CCP,
the Chinese Communist Party, is China. But they are not China.
And they do not represent the Chinese people. They hijacked
China and the Chinese people. I hope from now on when we refer
to the CCP we won't say China. It's the Chinese Communist
Party, not China.
Mr. Yang's Tombstone was not just about one individual's
efforts to keep history alive. It was a collective labor of
love. The book's co-translator, Professor Guo Jian, told me
many years ago after reading the book, ``I have to translate
this no matter what.'' Throughout the process, he kept his
mouth shut and remained low profile because of the fear of
losing access to visit his parents in Beijing. Now his parents
have both passed away.
Professor Guo co-translated the book so that it would be
read by the world. Mr. Yang Jisheng shared the same mission of
truth telling. As mentioned in the introduction, the reason
that he named the book Tombstone was because he wanted to set
up a tombstone for his dad who died during the Famine. He also
wanted a tombstone for the 36 million people who died from the
Famine. In addition, he thought that after publishing this
book, his career would come to an end and he was going to lose
many opportunities. So that's a tombstone for himself.
Mr. Yang said that lots of people tried to erect tombstones
for their family members after they became successful in their
political career. He said that even though he was not as
successful as those people, he also wanted to erect a tombstone
for his dad--it would not be a physical tombstone, but one
carved with historical facts. ``A tombstone in the heart could
never be demolished or trampled under foot. I did indeed erect
a tombstone for my father in my heart. This book is made up of
the words I carved into that tombstone. Even after I leave this
world, the heartfelt expression in these words will remain
behind in libraries throughout the world.'' And he did it. That
was the determination, not only of Mr. Yang Jisheng, but also
the determination of so many of us who were forced into silence
after 1989, in the face of state-imposed amnesia.
Now I would like to give you a brief summary of what the
CCP did to erase history in 1989 immediately after the military
crackdown, after the nationwide purge and arrests. An elaborate
Patriotic Education Campaign was launched. History textbooks
were significantly revised to intensify themes of China's
victimhood at the hands of the West and Japan. A narrative--not
the truth--was constructed, describing the military crackdown
as necessary for stability and China's rise. In other words,
the regime was basically saying, ``We did this for you. We
killed for you. We killed these people so that China can rise,
and China can have stability.''
The concept of a ``rising China'' was created and imposed
through revised textbooks, through centrally state-controlled
media and education, and through museums and popular culture.
First, China's record of suffering and humiliation as a victim
at the hands of foreign powers, who now use universal values to
weaken and divide China. Second, the CCP tried to create the
impression--domestically and internationally--of the necessity
of authoritarian governance that despite moral and political
drawbacks, guarantees the country's unity and prosperity.
Third, they've created this narrative of pride in a China
whose economic and military ``rise'' enables its people, for
the first time since the Opium Wars, to ``raise their heads'';
and finally, a China that glories in its cultural traditions
and status as the world's only civilization with an unbroken
history. The CCP has been extremely successful in twisting the
historical past through selective commemoration of national
glories, its traumas, humiliations, covering up all the
atrocities such as the Great Famine that the regime was
responsible for.
Despite the top-down state-imposed amnesia, the past 35
years have witnessed a war of memory against forgetting. We
witnessed an unequal contest between the state manipulation of
history and the bottom-up resistance, both inside and outside
China, to preserve China's forbidden past. So here, history is
not just a subject matter or discipline; the preservation of
memory and commemoration have become a form of resistance, the
power of the powerless. It saddens me to think about the fact
that ten years ago when I testified in this building, I still
had Hong Kong people lighting candles every June 4th in
Victoria Park remembering and commemorating victims of
Tiananmen.
But now the candles are gone. Victoria Park has been
swallowed in darkness. The recent trial of the 47 group, the
best of the Hong Kong people, is a trial of humanity. It's a
trial of civil society. It's a trial of the hope of future
generations. History repeated itself again and again and again.
The reason that we took to the streets in 1989 was not because
of anger, not because of frustration, but because of our hope
and even our trust in the CCP that it would reform itself. The
military crackdown was a betrayal of loyalty. In many ways,
people in Hong Kong--my dear students, my colleagues, my
friends; many of those now behind bars, in jail and in exile--I
think many of them, even though they never trusted the CCP as
we did in 1989, they were still hoping, trusting that they
would be able to make a difference when they took to the
streets, when they started in 2019.
In many senses, it is another betrayal. But in the past 35
years, the war of memory against forgetting has never stopped.
For example, Dr. Song Yongyi in California has been working
with a group of Chinese scholars based in the U.S. to build a
database of Mao's period. Because of this, he himself was
detained in China in the early 1990s.
For over a decade, as a first-generation Chinese immigrant
living in Canada and the United States, I have witnessed the
impact of such historical manipulation--the different phases of
Chinese student nationalism, initially as a graduate student
and later as a scholar and faculty member. I not only observed,
but also personally experienced firsthand, the intimidation of
hyper-nationist discourse in classrooms, in public lectures, in
cyberspace, and in daily lives. However, after COVID we saw a
huge difference and change when the younger generation of China
themselves witnessed firsthand how the CCP twisted the
historical memory of COVID.
In 2020, the CCP published a white paper about the
``correct'' collective memory of COVID, a glowing account of
the CCP's efforts to combat COVID. But that was not what the
younger generation themselves experienced. About a year later,
in 2022, we witnessed the emergence of the White Paper
Generation. Shielding faces in public with white papers, in
defiance of the official ``correct memory'' imposed on them,
these young men and women collectively created an indelible
image of their generation--not as dramatic as that of the Tank
Man near Tiananmen Square, but a new image of courage--courage
amid fear, everywhere.
It is because of such courage in fear that we know that we
need to tell the historical truth, so that we will be able to
continue the fight. In 1989, when I was forced to remove the
black armband, I thought that's the end of it. They had guns,
they had tanks; they had propaganda machines. And most
important, they could erase and revise history. Professor Fang
Lizhi referred to it as the ``techniques of amnesia,'' that
could lead to generational breaks of historical memory.
But after COVID, after the White Paper movement, I saw a
reconciliation of different generations finally--in the face of
historical truth, we--different generations finally united to
understand each other. So it was not an ending after all. In
1989 the seeds were planted in the hearts of so many
generations of the Chinese people and we believed that one day
historical memory would bring us truth and justice. If we want
light, we must conquer justice. 1989 may remind us of
repression. But it also reminds us of hope, of human beings
longing for basic human rights and for truth and justice.
History will witness the Tiananmen spirit, and now the Hong
Kong spirit, as the power of the powerless, again and again.
We may lose many battles, but we are going to win the war
of historical memory. History is on our side. Thank you very
much.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr. Ku.
STATEMENT OF JULIAN KU, FACULTY DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL
PROGRAMS AND MAURICE A. DEANE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY
Congressman Smith, honorable members of this Commission,
thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. I want
to honor the panelists who are here who really have gone
through things that really put them at risk of retribution just
for speaking here today. My remarks are kind of different.
They're going to focus on the way in which the Chinese party
state has used tactics to take advantage of the weaknesses of
their own legal system and the strengths of the U.S. court
system to advance the goals that we're discussing here today,
the goals of suppressing evidence and narratives about China's
own history.
So I just want to quickly define my term here. I define
``lawfare'' as a strategic use of legal systems and
institutions to achieve military or political objectives. This
concept involves leveraging legal mechanisms to damage or
delegitimize an opponent, often by imposing legal and financial
burdens through litigation and other actions. China's People's
Liberation Army has long used the term ``lawfare'' as an
essential component of its three warfare strategic doctrines.
The instruments of lawfare include all forms of Chinese
domestic law and international law. But in recent years what's
interesting is that Chinese entities have shown lawfare can be
used within the U.S. legal system as well.
For instance, Chinese companies have filed lawsuits against
Chinese nationals residing in the U.S., purportedly involving
commercial disputes but really motivated, it appears, by
efforts to achieve Chinese government objectives, maybe against
people wanted for alleged corruption at home or against
political dissidents living in the United States. All of these
lawsuits share similar characteristics. An entity officially
unrelated to the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist
Party files a lawsuit. The Chinese plaintiff is typically
represented by maybe the best law firms in America that charge
the highest prices. And the lawsuit almost never gets past the
early stages but does impose significant costs on the
defendants.
For instance, I want to talk about one example of a lawsuit
that does touch on the goal of suppressing history--the
litigation Stanford University versus Zhang, which is a great
example of what I'm going to call asymmetric lawfare. The
litigation over the ownership of the diaries of Li Rui, a
former personal secretary to Mao Zedong, and in his later life
a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, illustrates
this kind of Chinese lawfare. It's asymmetric lawfare because
China uses its own legal system, which is much more politically
manipulable than the U.S. legal system, to gain advantages in
U.S. litigation and gain advantages in the open U.S. court
system.
Mr. Li, through his daughter, agreed to donate his personal
diaries to the Hoover Institute for War and Peace at Stanford
University. After his death in 2019 however, his widow filed a
lawsuit in Beijing court claiming ownership of the diaries. She
argued that the diaries contained deeply personal information
and that Li actually intended for her to decide how to make
those documents public. The Beijing court ruled in her favor,
awarding her ownership of the diaries and ordering Stanford
University to turn over the diaries to Ms. Zhang. Stanford
University argues that it was never given adequate judicial
notice in Beijing of the court proceeding. And when it did hear
about the case it went to court and was denied the opportunity
to make its case.
Thus, despite its best efforts, Stanford was not able to
contest its legal rights in China, and is now under a Chinese
court order to return the diaries to Ms. Zhang. To its credit,
Stanford is fighting back. It filed a quiet title claim in U.S.
Federal court to affirm its right to the diaries, arguing that
the Li donation was proper and that the Chinese court judgment
should not be enforced in the United States, due to the
unfairness of the Chinese court proceeding. Ms. Zhang has
counterclaimed, alleging copyright infringement and public
disclosure of private facts, among other issues.
So far, the U.S. trial court has dismissed some of Ms.
Zhang's claims but allowed others to proceed, and is currently
considering their trial briefs and will issue a judgment pretty
much any day now. So maybe even today. But whatever the result
of that case, the litigation illustrates the effectiveness of
what I'm calling asymmetric lawfare by the Chinese party state.
The key to their strategy is to use its ability to gain
favorable outcomes in the Chinese court system to gain
favorable outcomes in the U.S. court system. Stanford was
provided no official notice of the Chinese court proceeding and
then was denied the ability to defend itself in China, and then
it forced Stanford to start a legal proceeding in the United
States where it will have to overcome traditional U.S. legal
doctrines that give effect and deference to foreign court
judgments in most cases.
Meanwhile, unlike Stanford and China's court system, Ms.
Zhang has been given a full opportunity to defend her case. She
has been able to hire some of the largest law firms in the
United States, which are some of the most expensive law firms
the United States to litigate her case and defend her case. Due
to relaxations on champerty rules and third-party litigation
disclosure rules in the United States, Ms. Zhang, who has
incurred enormous legal fees, probably hundreds of thousands of
dollars, maybe even more, on a widow's Chinese state pension,
does not have to disclose if any third party has helped foot
her legal costs, under U.S. rules.
So even if she does not prevail, the litigation, which has
dragged on already for nearly four years and has cost Stanford
itself hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, maybe
more, is likely to deter other archives, smaller universities
that are not as well-resourced as Stanford University, museums,
other nonprofits in the United States, who might think about
acquiring historical items, archives, documents, hosting them--
they might think, Well, maybe I don't want to acquire that one
because it might subject me to litigation in China and maybe
litigation here in the United States. So it serves as a
deterrent for universities, museums, and other institutions the
United States that might otherwise want to participate in what
many of the panelists here are going to talk about, which is
the preservation of history about China that's different than
the official narrative pushed by the party in China.
There are no simple fixes to solve the problem of
asymmetric lawfare by the Chinese government in the United
States. But Congress might make some headway by enacting laws
to, for instance, expedite proceedings to dismiss efforts to
enforce Chinese court judgments in U.S. courts. It could amend
the Foreign Agent Registration Act to require disclosures of
financial support from foreign government sources or foreign
political sources during litigation in U.S. courts. It could
bolster rules in general for disclosing third-party litigation
finance--who's funding litigation if they're not the actual
party in interest. These are rules that Congress does have
jurisdiction to legislate over. Such actions are not a complete
solution, but I believe it's the right place to start. Thank
you.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much.
I'd now like to recognize Dr Abbas.
STATEMENT OF RISHAT ABBAS, PRESIDENT,
UYGHUR ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL
Thank you, Chairman Smith and Co-chair Merkley, and members
of the Commission, and Under Secretary Zeya. I'd first like to
thank the Commission for the opportunity to share our
experience trying to preserve Uyghur memory and combat the
CCP's erasure of our culture and identity.
This question is an existential one. As recognized by the
U.S. Government and more than 10 Western parliaments, the
Chinese government has been committing active genocide
targeting Uyghur people since 2017. In August 2022, a UNHCR
report stated that the PRC's actions may constitute crimes
against humanity. Despite international concern over China's
Uyghur genocide, the Chinese government has been aggressively
implementing policies of cultural genocide to erase Uyghur
memories by eliminating Uyghur language, culture, identity, and
religion.
If these are lost, both in the homeland and the diaspora,
the CCP will achieve its goal, regardless of the future
political shifts. Many diaspora Uyghurs are facing
transnational repression for speaking out, including my family,
who have endured severe retaliation for our advocacy. My
sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor, was
sentenced to 20 years in prison on fabricated false charges as
retaliation for our advocacy in the U.S., despite Gulshan's
chronic health issues. Her unjust detention exposes CCP's
aggressive policies that target Uyghurs simply for their
identity and for the activism of their relatives abroad. My
sister's imprisonment is a clear act of retaliation, as she has
never engaged in any form of advocacy in her life.
The genocide in the Uyghur region signals a broader erosion
of human rights, setting a dangerous precedent for future
crimes. History warns us of the consequences of inaction.
Uyghur advocates worldwide emphasize the importance of teaching
the next generation their language, culture, and identity, to
preserve the heritage as Chinese oppression continues. Our
organization, Uyghur Academy, is a global Uyghur intellectual
network with seven branches and four institutes. It fosters
effective collaboration among Uyghur organizations,
communities, universities, NGOs, and stakeholders to highlight
the Uyghur genocide and counter the CCP's influence.
Since 2022, with support from USAID and the U.S. Institute
of Peace, Uyghur Academy has hosted two international
conferences and workshops, bringing together global Uyghur
community leaders and volunteer teachers. The workshop provided
training in Uyghur language and cultural preservation, and
addressed the unique need for heritage learners, those who grew
up speaking Uyghur at home but use the dominant language
outside. In 2023 and 2024, we hosted two Uyghur Youth Summer
Schools, uniting Uyghur youth from 14 countries. These schools
offered a transformative experience in Uyghur language,
culture, history, fostering connection, resilience, and pride
in their heritage. For many, it was their first time
interacting with peers in their native language, creating a
lasting bond, inspiring advocacy in their communities.
We thank USAID and USIP for their crucial and impactful
actions. Today, summer school participants remain connected
through social media, forming growing networks. This initiative
shows the potential to empower Uyghur youth as leaders in
preserving our memory and combating CCP's erasure of Uyghur
culture. Additional investment will help preserve Uyghur
language while adapting it to modern challenges.
In May 2024, Uyghur Academy marked its 15th anniversary by
publishing the Uyghur Language and Literature textbook series,
launched on Capitol Hill. The event featured representatives
from the U.S. Congress, U.S. Government, and Uyghur
organizations. It celebrated key achievements and showcased
innovative tools to strengthen Uyghur identity and culture
against the CCP oppression. If you ask what we can do to help
Uyghurs today, one key answer is to support programs that
connect isolated Uyghurs in diaspora and to help preserve their
language and identity. This initiative offers Uyghurs hope,
something incredibly rare in our situation.
This is not merely about justice for the Uyghur people. It
is a fight for the principle of democracy, human rights, and
freedom that underpins the world we wish to leave behind for
our future generations. Allowing the CCP's atrocity to go
unchecked threatens global values, empowering authoritarian
regimes and weakening the foundation of the free world. The
stakes are far greater than the Uyghur people alone. They
encompass the shared future of all who believe in dignity,
liberty, and justice. Thank you, Congress and the American
people, for your unwavering support of the Uyghur cause. Thank
you. [Applause.]
Chair Smith. Thank you. So very well said. Thank you for
your leadership. It's extraordinary.
I'd now like to recognize Dr. Monlam.
STATEMENT OF GESHE LOBSANG MONLAM, ORDAINED
TIBETAN MONK AND FOUNDER, MONLAM TIBETAN IT
RESEARCH CENTER
Thank you. Thank you very much, Chairman Smith, Chairman
Merkley, and Commissioners and members, and Special Coordinator
for Tibetan Issues Ms. Zeya. Thank you very much for inviting
me to speak at this hearing. It is an honor and great
responsibility to stand before you today to address the
critical situation of the Tibetan language and culture. For
over 60 years the Tibetan people have effectively preserved our
rich heritage under difficult circumstances and conditions,
thanks to the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the
Central Tibetan Administration that made it possible, with the
unwavering support of the Indian and U.S. Government, and
others throughout the world.
As a Tibetan, I want to take the opportunity to express my
gratitude to the U.S. Congress and the administration for
continued support to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the
Tibetan leadership. I have directly seen the positive impact of
your support to our community. And before looking into this
inspiring effort, we must confront a harsh reality--looking at
the facts. The CCP exercises power in two key ways, through
disinformation campaigns and through economic leverage. These
tools enable its continued suppression of Tibet and the so-
called ethnic minorities, while also posing a challenge to
global security, democracy, economic stability, and human
rights.
Within Tibet, our language and culture face ongoing
assault. And currently inside Tibet, young Tibetans appear
powerless in their ability to preserve and promote their
language. The decreasing birthrate among Tibetans in India,
combined with the fact that nearly half of the Tibetan diaspora
is now living in Western countries without adequate language
and culture support mechanisms, poses a severe threat to the
preservation of Tibetan language and cultural heritage.
Due to the lack of advanced modern educational materials in
the Tibetan language, both inside and outside Tibet, young
Tibetans face significant challenges, as they are forced to
rely on a second language for higher education. This is not
just about language. It is about the survival of an entire
people. Despite these challenges, the Tibetan diaspora
continues to pursue our heritage through schools and cultural
centers, and organizations like Monlam; our work in the
development of modern Tibetan language tools is critical for
education and cultural preservation in today's global context.
Monlam has dedicated itself to leverage technology for
Tibetan cultural preservation through three major initiatives:
the comprehensive 223-volume Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary--
this is the largest dictionary in the world; the USAID-
supported Digital Library Project--we have around 50,000
different subjects or classifications. It's a very rich culture
and language. Third, we have developed more than 42 software
applications--that includes AI language models. Our latest
project focuses on building a Tibetan culture center, and
developing a large language model, similar to ChatGPT, to
revolutionize Tibetan language, education, translation, and
cultural preservation efforts.
We believe that the future of our language lies in
empowering the next generation. That is why we are envisioning
creating modern academic subjects, too. For example, science,
technology, and social studies. We want the Tibetan students to
explore the world, while staying deeply rooted in their
identity. The current education system is struggling to keep
pace with the rise of artificial intelligence. It is too slow
and too focused on memorization and not enough on critical
thinking or ethical development. We need an education that is
both fast and high quality, one that prepares students for the
world where technology is rapidly changing everything. I
envision an education that combines the best of both worlds--
the timeless wisdom of Tibetan thought, and cutting-edge
technology.
We believe in nurturing not just external skill, but also
internal development, compassion, critical thinking, and deep
understanding for our interconnected world. This isn't just a
vision for Tibetans. It is a vision for America and the world.
By combining the best of our traditions with the power of
technology, we can create an education system that truly
prepares the future generation for the challenge and
opportunity that lies ahead. We can build a future where wisdom
and compassion guide our technological advancement, creating a
more just and equitable world for all.
In conclusion, the challenges are real, but so is our
resilience. The Tibetan language is more than just words; it is
the soul of the people. It is a key to understanding our
history, our values, and our unique perspective on the world.
And this, we hope, emerges. The technology in our hands has
become a powerful tool for resistance and revitalization. Thank
you so much for giving me the chance to speak here today. Thank
you very much.
Chair Smith. Thank you so very much, Dr. Monlam.
[Applause.]
I'd now like to recognize Ms. Togochog.
STATEMENT OF TEMULUN TOGOCHOG, U.S.-BORN SOUTHERN MONGOLIAN
ACTIVIST AND FRESHMAN AND HONORS
STUDENT, MERCER COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Sain bainuu and greetings, ladies and gentlemen. My name is
Temulun Togochog. I'm 17 years old and a U.S.-born Southern
Mongolian human rights activist working alongside my father,
Enghebatu Togochog, director of the Southern Mongolian Human
Rights Information Center. My parents live in exile here in the
United States, and as a result, I have never been able to visit
my homeland. I have never met my aunts, uncles, cousins, or
nieces and nephews. I have never celebrated Tsagaan Sar, the
traditional Mongolian New Year, with my relatives, or learned
many of their customs firsthand. My parents have not returned
to Southern Mongolia to attend family weddings or funerals, nor
to say their final goodbyes to loved ones.
Despite these challenges, my parents have worked tirelessly
to preserve our language, culture, and traditions. When I was
younger, they sought out Mongolian babysitters to help teach me
and my sister our mother tongue. This was no easy task, as
there were few Mongolians in New York, but still, I was
fortunate enough to learn some Mongolian from the babysitters
they found. As I started school, time at home and opportunities
to learn Mongolian diminished, even though my parents
consistently spoke Mongolian at home. Southern Mongolians use
the traditional script written vertically from top to bottom, a
script with over 800 years of history. This script was not easy
to learn, so my parents arranged for a teacher from independent
Mongolia to teach me and my sister the Cyrillic Mongolian
script.
In the summer of 2018, my father took us to a children's
camp at the Mongol Tibetan Buddhist Center in Bloomington,
Indiana. It was a rare chance to speak Mongolian, sing
traditional songs, cook Mongolian food, and play with other
Mongolian children--mostly from the independent country of
Mongolia. It was a pleasant experience that gave me a glimpse
of what it might be like to return to Southern Mongolia, my
home country. However, one painful memory stands out to me.
Some northern Mongolian children ridiculed our Southern
Mongolian accents and called us, quote/unquote, ``Chinese.''
But despite these struggles, I feel privileged to have grown up
in the United States, a free and democratic country, where I
can learn my language, practice my traditions, and express my
opinions without fear.
This stands in stark contrast to the millions of Southern
Mongolians who face repression and denial of basic rights. Over
the past seven decades, China has encouraged large-scale
Chinese migration into Southern Mongolia, reducing the ethnic
Mongolian population to only 18 percent of the region. This has
not only displaced us from our land, but it's also eroded our
culture and way of life. In the early 2000s, China introduced
policies to forcibly resettle Mongolian herders, effectively
ending nomadic pastoralism under the pretext of ``grassland
protection.'' By 2015, all nomads within China's borders had
been relocated, marking the end of this centuries-old way of
life.
Advocates for Mongolian rights face severe consequences.
Prominent activist Hada was detained in 1995 and sentenced to
15 years in prison. Despite completing his sentence, he was
held for an additional 4 years, and has been under house arrest
since. His wife has been arrested multiple times and his son
was imprisoned at just 17 years old. The family remains under
constant surveillance. Other activists have faced similar
repression. In 2020, Yanjindulam was sentenced to 3 years in
prison for defending herders' rights and advocating for the
Mongolian language. Dissident historian Lhamjab Borjigin
disappeared last year after being deported from the independent
country of Mongolia.
Since 2020, the Chinese government has effectively removed
the Mongolian language from the education system, replacing it
with Chinese as the sole language of instruction. Mongolian
language books and publications have been banned and Mongolian
signs and symbols are being removed from public spaces.
Authorities promote ``patriotic education'' to enforce loyalty
to the Chinese nation and Communist Party. In September 2020,
many Mongolians, particularly students, protested these
policies through school boycotts and strikes. Approximately
300,000 Southern Mongolian students joined the movement.
The Chinese government responded harshly, detaining and
placing under house arrest an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people.
The Chinese government's systematic oppression and erasure of
Mongolian language, culture, and identity is fueling a surge in
violence and hatred from the Chinese population toward local
Mongolians in Southern Mongolia. In a recent heartbreaking
case, a 9-year-old Mongolian girl, Hairaa, was brutally beaten
by her Chinese teacher for struggling with Chinese language
homework. During the assault, her ear was torn open and began
bleeding profusely, requiring emergency treatment at a
hospital. This shocking incident is not an isolated case, but
part of a disturbing and larger pattern of abuse faced by
Mongolians in Southern Mongolia.
Given these deteriorating conditions, I respectfully urge
the commission and the U.S. Congress to consider the following
recommendations. No. 1, nominate Hada for the Nobel Peace Prize
in recognition of his lifelong struggle for Southern Mongolian
rights and his decades of imprisonment and house arrest. No. 2,
urge the U.S. Agency for Global Media to act on the Congress's
recommendation to establish a Mongolian language service at
Voice of America. No. 3, support the swift passage of the
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act, introduced by
Senators Merkley and Sullivan. No. 4, assist Southern Mongolian
communities, both in Southern Mongolia and in exile, in
preserving their language,
culture, and identity. Thank you for your time and attention.
[Applause.]
Chair Smith. Thank you very much. I'm sure your father is
very proud. We certainly are. That was tremendous testimony.
And thank you for the recommendations, they are fantastic.
I'm going to just ask one question, and I'll come back and
ask more after our distinguished panelists here are done. But I
just want to make a point; what is the complicity--Dr. He, I'll
ask you this if I could--of corporate America in denying the
historical record? Back on February 15th, 2006, I chaired in my
subcommittee on human rights, which I continue to chair today,
the longest hearing I've ever had--eight hours. We had Google,
Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo, their top vice presidents all
testified. I swore them all in and asked them why they were
being so complicit in denying Tiananmen Square and all the
other abuses, but Tiananmen Square in particular. If you went
on Google in China, all you saw were pretty pictures of people
smiling, nothing with tanks, nothing with bayonets, nothing
with bleeding students and activists for democracy. It was
outrageous.
And their answers were equally outrageous, that they were
just following orders. I had read a book called ``IBM and the
Holocaust.'' And in that it was made very clear how the Gestapo
relied on IBM to find and track down Jews to send them to
concentration camps. And ditto, fast forward to now, we had
corporate America being very compliant--not just compliant,
complicit--in the repression. And they really never got over
it. I mean, they didn't change--Google made some changes, but,
you know, their technology was pretty much usurped by Chinese
entities. But it was very, very troubling.
And I'm wondering today--what is the role of U.S.
corporations in this big, vast denial of a horrific reality
that's happening each and every day by the Chinese Communist
Party? We had hearings of this Commission on the Olympics. And
we had Coca-Cola and others testify, telling us how they want
to speak out against what was happening, the genocide. They
couldn't even say the word genocide for fear of losing market
share in the PRC. So if you could very briefly speak to that.
And then I will yield to my colleagues.
Second, also to you, Dr. He. You mentioned how, at Chinese
University in Hong Kong, when you were thrown out, were your
fellow academics, your fellow professors, supportive? We've had
Enes Freedom testify here several times, an amazing man who
speaks out against the repression of the Uyghurs. And he was
thrown out of the NBA. He told us how so many of his
colleagues, fellow basketball players, were supportive, but
didn't want to get in any way named. They completely shut off
contact with him because they might lose money. The Chinese
Communist Party would be upset. So that's a microcosm, you
know, with individual players. But corporate America, if you
could speak to that.
Ms. He. Thank you very much. This is such an important
question. Thank you for raising it. Before I respond to the
question, Congressman Smith, I want to thank CECC for your
continuous efforts on important China-related issues. This may
be just another hearing, but for those of us who are struggling
in darkness, it is making a world of difference to have our
silenced voices heard. I think for each of us, when we get a
chance to speak to the world in a hearing like this--I felt--
today I felt so much the responsibility to speak for our
people. I'm sure our witnesses here today felt the same.
I remember when Liu Xiaobo was given the Nobel Peace Prize,
I was teaching at Harvard. I dropped everything--all the
deadlines, and I went to Harvard Yard with a colleague, also
from China. We were jumping up and down like little girls in
Harvard Yard, as if we'd gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. My
friends inside China were sending me emails saying, Let's
celebrate. It may be hard for people living in democracy to
understand and imagine what it's like when you are always being
silenced. You don't have a voice. It's not just you--one
individual--but your people, your community. And then one of
you was given a chance to speak out. Such opportunity or
recognition really gave us a lot of encouragement and sense of
solidarity. I would like to thank the CECC for giving us the
chance to speak and to be heard.
To respond to Mr. Smith's question of companies not
standing up for our values in the face of censorship, I would
like to share my experience in the field of China studies.
After studying political exiles for 25 years, I became one of
them. Graduate students started asking me questions, such as:
Rowena, how can I conduct important research and not become you
(being denied visa)? I think that those companies were facing
the same challenge. How can we stick to our integrity and
survive? I remember when Google decided to close down its
office in China instead of compromising its values, Chinese
netizens went to their office and left them flowers to show
support and appreciation.
It is indeed challenging to deal with a powerful
authoritarian regime like Beijing. The price one has to pay.
Ten years ago when I spoke at the State Department, I made the
point that in this global village that we live in, when the
plane got hijacked, you got business class, I got a window
seat, we will all end up in the same place. So maybe today you
think that human rights have nothing to do with me, and that
you have to focus on your own interests, whatever that is. But
by the end of the day, the Uyghurs, the Tibetans, the
Mongolians, the Han, we will end up in the same place when the
Titanic is sinking.
At that time, people asked me to give an example. I said,
if I had an example, it would be too late. Later we saw the
example during COVID. The violation of human rights of one
medical doctor in Wuhan became the violation of human rights of
every single human being on Earth. So don't tell me it's just
about China. Don't tell me it's just about Tiananmen. It's also
about now. It's also about us. It's about all of us. As our
panelists just now eloquently expressed, what we are talking
about is not only some personal suffering. Yes, personal
suffering, sadness. We talk about all of these, in our special
contexts. But at the same time, this is beyond personal. What
the CCP is doing, imposing on each of us human beings, is
beyond personal. It has broad implications. The state monopoly
of historiography is the root of Chinese nationalism. With the
increasing domestic crisis inside China, the CCP started to
play the nationalism card again, which would impose threats to
Taiwan and world peace. Public opinion regarding the regime's
legitimacy is shaped by the collective memory of the nation's
past (be it truthful, selective, or false). It is important to
present historical truth and historical facts to the people,
domestically and internationally. Even the Americans, people in
democracy, are not fully informed. Some would say, We are not
doing well, let's look for alternatives from China.
You saw that in the 1930s and then you see it again now.
When democracy was not doing well, people looked for
alternatives. They would not hesitate to criticize democracy
but would be hesitant to criticize the CCP. Sometimes they
idealized it as ``the other.'' We need to inform, engage, and
educate, and bring people to realize the serious implications
of historical revisionism.
Chair Smith. Thank you. I'll ask the others later if they
wanted to comment on that, but we'll come back. But the Under
Secretary does have to leave, unfortunately. And I thank her
for being here and being such a good leader in her own right.
Thank you.
Under Secretary Zeya. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. And
thank you to each of our witnesses for your moving
presentations and for the courage that drives you to carry
forward in your vital work. I would like to pose one question
to Geshe Monlam. And just ask you, how do you think we can
further prevent the spread of disinformation that aims to sow
division within Tibetan communities, among existing spiritual,
political, and regional divides? And I would note that this is
an important new aspect of my mission as Special Coordinator
for Tibetan Issues, thanks to the bipartisan Resolve Tibet Act.
Mr. Lobsang Monlam. [Through interpreter.] The
disinformation that the Chinese government is conducting on
Tibet is a matter of concern for all of us. And for the United
States, I believe that although we may not be directly able to
impact what the Chinese government does inside Tibet, their
action outside of Tibet and China, and in the diaspora, and in
the international community, is something that the United
States can help mitigate.
For example, to give a case about our app, when we
introduced it, the Chinese government used their leverage--
economic leverage with Apple, etc., so that problems were faced
posting or having our app being included by Apple in its store.
So indirectly, you can help mitigate the disinformation that
the Chinese are conducting.
Chair Smith. Co-chair Merkley.
Co-chair Merkley. Thank you all very much. And thank you,
Mr. Chairman, for organizing this hearing, and all of you for
testifying, and all of you who have come to witness this
conversation and really emphasize it.
I want to ask you, Ms. Togochog, in your recommendations
you mentioned the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act
that Senator Sullivan and I have introduced. And it calls for
the preservation of the culture and language of Southern
Mongolians. It directs the Smithsonian Institution to use its
resources to help preserve a culture--Southern Mongolian
culture--an endangered culture. It directs the Institute for
Museum and Library Sciences to explore a grant program to
support preservation. For example, if a community sets up a
museum, or a language program. You mentioned your support for
it--not a lot of people are familiar with this bill yet. So I
wanted to emphasize, in your own words, would this be helpful?
Ms. Togochog. I think that this would be helpful because
the culture in Mongolia--there's a current cultural genocide
going on in Mongolia. And I think some of the main issues are
surrounding things like our language, surrounding things like
our traditional calligraphy and script and things. They're
displayed on the streets and in libraries. And currently, for
example, as you mentioned, in libraries, Mongolian language
books are being banned and Mongolian language is being banned
as a language of instruction. So I think it's really important
to celebrate the culture of Mongolians and to foster a sort of
environment where it can flourish and continue, and for
generations to come, such as my generation and generations
after, to be continuously immersed in this. Which is why I feel
it's so important to keep institutions and programs that
surround and focus on preserving culture. I think that's why
it's so important to encourage and support those.
Co-chair Merkley. Well, thank you. And I want to add my
compliments to those of the Chair. Few of us could envision
coming here when we were 17 and presenting such a cogent
argument. So, well done.
I want to turn to one more question. I'm being called to a
vote in the Senate, but I'm going to squeeze in one more before
they come and say I'm the last vote out. I really want to turn,
Mr. Abbas, to your testimony. You mentioned how your family has
suffered. And I believe it was your sister's imprisonment. And
this is really horrific pressure placed on those who are
diaspora working to publicize abuses, how their family is
retaliated against. And so I've really been trying to amplify,
and this Commission has held a number of hearings related to
transnational repression. Can you give us some sense--your
sister's imprisonment was directly associated with your
advocacy? I just want to make sure I understood that clearly.
Mr. Abbas. Yes, sir. My sister, Rushan Abbas, spoke at the
Hudson Institute in early September 2018 about the Uyghur
atrocity in China. One week later, my other sister, Gulshan
Abbas, disappeared in China. This is very clear and direct
retaliation for our advocacy. Both my sister Rushan and I have
been very active in human rights advocacy, particularly since
the Chinese government began committing genocide and crimes
against humanity targeting our people. We have been meeting
with Members of Congress on Capitol Hill since 2017. This is
direct retaliation.
Co-chair Merkley. Well, advocates face great pressure. And
we just want to keep acknowledging it, and in all of our
dealings with China press back against this tactic that is so
completely unacceptable in our world. Congratulations on the
celebration of the Uyghur Academy's 15th anniversary. So, well
done. And the textbook series that you've worked on, is there
any way to actually circulate that inside the Uyghur community
in China? Or is that basically impossible?
Mr. Abbas. Inside China, it is no longer possible, as the
Chinese government is systematically eliminating Uyghur
language education in schools. There were textbooks created by
our prominent Uyghur scholars in our homeland, such as Yalqun
Rozi, who played a key role in developing Uyghur language
textbooks. Yalqun Rozi, whose son is here with us today, led
the effort to develop these important educational materials.
However, the Chinese government destroyed those textbooks and
imprisoned him and the Uyghur scholars. As a result, there is
no Uyghur language education in China. In response, we
developed the series of textbooks based on the spirit of those
original language textbooks created by our scholars. We plan to
use these textbooks within the Uyghur diaspora. However, if
there is any possibility, we hope to eventually have these
textbooks used in our homeland for the benefit of our people.
Co-chair Merkley. Well, it's very powerful all the work
you're doing to connect the diaspora community together. So,
well done. And I know that's true in a number of other cultural
situations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chair Smith. Thank you, Mr. Co-chair. Jennifer Wexton is
online. She's a commissioner, as you all know, and has been an
outstanding leader, particularly on the Uyghurs. I'd like to
yield to her.
Commissioner Wexton.
STATEMENT OF JENNIFER WEXTON,
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM VIRGINIA
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As members of this Commission
already know, last year I was diagnosed with progressive
supranuclear palsy. I describe it as Parkinson's on steroids,
and I don't recommend it. PSP makes it very difficult for me to
speak, so I use an assistive app so that I can participate and
you can understand me. I want to thank the Chair and Co-chair
for allowing me to do so today.
The CCP's manipulation of history and suppression of
dissent not only affects those within China but also
reverberates through diaspora communities worldwide. Whether
through lawfare, transnational repression, or forced
assimilation policies, the CCP seeks to erase voices of
resistance. The United States has a role to play in preserving
these voices and holding the CCP accountable. This question is
for the entire panel. Please go one after another. What role
can U.S. policies play in amplifying the voices of those
documenting and resisting CCP human rights abuse, particularly
for Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Southern Mongolians?
Mr. Abbas. Thank you, Representative Wexton. That's an
excellent question. Organizations like Uyghur Academy and
others are at the forefront of countering the Uyghur genocide
and the Chinese government's disinformation, while working to
preserve our identity and culture. With increased support,
these organizations can amplify their efforts to ensure the
preservation of the language and culture, and continue
advocating for justice and human rights. The U.S. Government
can help by providing more resources to establish Uyghur
language schools or language teaching programs in the charter
or public schools in Uyghur-concentrated areas in the U.S.
Developing Uyghur language curriculum initiatives to enhance
youth engagement is also critical.
Virginia, home to many Uyghurs, has initiatives, like the
Ana Care and Education Center. Congress can help to ensure the
continuation of this vital work by offering scholarships,
encouraging research initiatives in the field of linguistic
history focused on Uyghur heritage, and providing urgent
assistance to Uyghur refugees in the U.S. by expediting their
asylum application process. We have Uyghurs who have been
waiting for 8, 9, or even 10 years after applying for asylum.
Facilitating the safe arrival of their families is also
essential.
We also hope Congress will pass the Uyghur Genocide
Accountability and Sanctions Act of 2024. The Uyghur Policy Act
has passed the House, and we hope it also passes in the Senate
and becomes law. Additionally, we recommend considering the
creation of a Uyghur Culture Preservation Act. Thank you.
Mr. Lobsang Monlam. [Through interpreter.] Congresswoman, I
have two recommendations for what the U.S. can do, given that
the destruction of Tibetan culture inside Tibet is something
that we cannot directly do anything about. Those of us in exile
have the capacity and the resources to preserve and promote
Tibetan language and culture. And therefore, anything that can
be done to help support this endeavor in exile, where we have
the resources and opportunity, that will be appreciated.
Second, and in particular, if there can be assistance by
the United States to help procure technological equipment,
etc., that can enable those of us in exile to continue our work
on the preservation of Tibetan culture and language and way of
life in this new, modern technological world, that would be
very useful for us in preserving Tibetan language and culture
and helping to do something that the Chinese government is
destroying inside Tibet.
I also think that it would be helpful to provide funding
for NGOs and to create curriculums to help the Chinese
population. Because very often, if you go to Chinatown, many
people are still supporting the CCP, even though they're
physically in the United States. So I believe in this kind of
resource support, funding support for NGOs, in-depth
investigation by journalists in the United States--even though
sometimes the CCP will say that Voice of America or Radio Free
Asia are supported by the American government. So sometimes
people try to stay away from that kind of narrative.
But I think it's important that we don't actually care what
the CCP thinks of us. Like they often call me a foreign agent--
for the Americans too--poisoning the minds of the Chinese
students and the Hong Kong students. But I think that we know
what the truth is and we should just do the right thing, and
not let them manipulate our narratives and even our actions in
our effort to preserve historical memory. So the monopoly of
historiography by the CCP state has been too--it's been
dangerous.
So we should set the record straight, and set up the
historical memory based on the historical truth. And I think
that's important in order to do this. And we have the support
and funding resources outside China to support independent
investigation, we support independent journalism, and support
NGOs to help to get these narratives heard. Thank you.
Mr. Ku. Just something really quickly. I think the United
States needs to play defense here; needs to create sort of an
arc of truth and history that is not possible inside of China
right now. So I do think that, like I said, making sure that
the archives, small universities or smaller museums, are not
afraid--and are incentivized, perhaps through grant programs--
to preserve, or to do exhibits, or to do collections, or
preserve existing ones on all of the things we're talking about
here. I think universities can be a great resource here, but I
think universities in the United States do face some--you know,
there's pressure from Chinese students. They have a lot of
connections in China. They don't want to offend the Chinese. So
I think ways in which the U.S. Government can incentivize
universities in the United States to research, to support
professors who study these subjects, and create archives and
other historical collections can go a long way toward
preserving and dealing with the problems we're dealing with
here. Thanks.
Ms. Togochog. I think that in terms of helping Southern
Mongolians--and that includes both those living in the Southern
Mongolian region and those in exile--I would refer back to the
four recommendations, a few in particular. The second one that
I said that my father has been working on for a long time and
that is very important for us is to have a Mongolian language
program in Voice of America, because that is, as we know, a
national broadcasting system. And especially within the
political Chinese region that many Southern Mongolians inhabit,
there's not a lot of access to free press. There's a lot of
censorship.
And having something like that to encourage Mongolian unity
and to spread important discussion topics and inform fellow
Mongolians about the current goings-on is very important. And I
think also the passing of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights
Policy Act is another very important thing. And just overall,
giving resources and time and promoting, advocating for the
preservation of our language, culture, and identity. And this
just goes back to talking about our education system, that's
one main thing, and our art and culture, working on preserving
that.
Chair Smith. Representative Wexton. Any other questions,
Jennifer?
Representative Wexton. Mr. Chairman, this is my last
Commission hearing before I retire from Congress. So I want to
say that it has been an honor and a privilege to serve on this
panel and work with you all to defend human rights, fight
against forced labor, and counter CCP repression around the
world. I'd especially like to thank you, Chair Smith and Co-
chair Merkley, for your leadership on these issues, as well as
your support of me as I adapted to working and participating in
Commission proceedings with my diagnosis.
This Commission has been such a breath of fresh air of
bipartisanship here on the Hill for me, and I am especially
proud of our work to defend Uyghur human rights. I still
remember the first time I sat down with constituents to talk
about the Uyghur plight at the ADAMS Center in my district in
2018. Since then, we passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Act and I've introduced multiple bipartisan bills to curb and
bring attention to this genocide, that I hope will live on
beyond my time in Congress, and soon be signed into law.
It has been one of my great honors as a Member of Congress
to work with this community to fight back against the CCP's
campaign of genocide and transnational repression against
Uyghur and other religious minority populations in western
China. There's still so much work to do to protect the lives
and dignity of the Uyghur people, and I trust that this body
will continue to redouble its efforts next Congress to do so.
Once again, it has been an honor to serve with you all. Thank
you, and I yield back.
Chair Smith. Jennifer, thank you so very much. And frankly,
the honor is ours. And I know Senator Merkley and I are
absolutely in agreement about this. We deeply appreciate your
contribution, your leadership, particularly on the issue of
assisting the oppressed Uyghur people. You have been
outstanding. You've been tenacious. And you're going to be
sorely missed. So I want to thank you for that leadership. And,
again, we will stay in touch with you going forward, because,
you know, we need your wisdom and we need your thoughts. And so
thank you very, very much.
I do have another question. I have several, but I will just
reduce it a little bit. I asked earlier about corporate
complicity in not only human rights abuse, the enabling that
actually occurs when Xi Jinping and company take a look at
corporate America and say ``see no evil, hear no evil.'' They
really couldn't care less. They just want to make more money.
And I'm all for capitalism, but it ought to be based on
principle. And I think ditto for our academic community. Julian
Ku, I'm glad you were able to say Stanford has been speaking up
in the case. You might want to tell us who the law firm or
firms are that the Chinese Communist Party has hired in the
case.
But, you know, I remember back in the early 1980s when
Steven Mosher broke the story about the horrific forced
abortion policy of the Chinese Communist Party. He was seeking
his Stanford doctorate. That's how he got there. He exposed it.
``60 Minutes'' did a big piece on it. PBS did another huge
piece on it all, recognizing that Mosher broke a story of
depravity where the Communist Party was killing unborn babies
and ripping babies out of their mothers' wombs, and women were
fleeing. And we know it's part of the of the genocide against
the Uyghurs and the Tibetans.
I remember when John Avedon wrote a piece, an op-ed--``The
Rape of Tibet'' was the name of his piece. And he talked about
how just one little child after another was being killed by the
Chinese Communist Party to enhance the Han displacement,
because if you kill people you don't have a population anymore.
And if you kill them while unborn and destroy their mothers'
lives in the meantime--well, Steven Mosher broke that story.
And he was thrown out of the doctorate program at Stanford.
Matter of fact, it was so bad, and I raised it repeatedly--I've
been here since 1980--repeatedly. The Wall Street Journal did a
piece called ``Stanford Morality'' and talked about how
complicit and how weak they were in not backing up their
doctoral candidate who just broke a human rights abuse story
because they wanted to have access.
We saw a very similar kind of complicity with the Confucius
Institutes. I've chaired four or five hearings on that. We had
NYU testify, because they've got a very large campus in
Shanghai, which I actually went and spoke at. But frankly, you
know, in order to have access, they look the other way with
regard to horrific abuse. And while doing that, the record--
which you have chronicled and are continuing to chronicle so
well--then gets shunted aside. And as I mentioned before, the
way Google--you know, during my hearing, on the big screen in
the Foreign Affairs Committee, Room 2172, we showed the two
Googles. If you googled Tiananmen Square in the United States,
you got a story that was terrible, which they deny to this day.
If you googled in China using theirs--you know, you got nothing
but pretty pictures.
What a distortion of history and reality. And I don't think
they've learned their lesson, many of our corporate leaders.
They continue to flock to Beijing and to Xi Jinping just to
make money. So if any of you want to speak to that, because I
think that distorts the historical record, because things that
never get recorded--and you're doing it to the best of your
abilities, but here on the Confucius centers, there seems to be
an awakening occurring among our colleges and universities. We
invited several to testify at our hearing. Some wouldn't come.
We'd say, What are you doing? This is soft power on the part of
Beijing. And it also is a way of going after their diaspora.
One other thing. We have a bill that passed the House,
bipartisan, called the HKETO bill. It deals with the three
missions of the Chinese so-called economic side in San
Francisco, New York, and Washington. It passed overwhelmingly
in the House. We can't get it out of the Senate. It's being
blocked by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as we meet
here today. And we know some people in the State Department
don't want it, which I find--you know, here they are, they're
using that as a way of affecting, and I would say mal-
affecting, the diaspora here in the United States. They track
them, and do all kinds of--and we saw it at APEC, at the
summit, when they were organizing the anti-efforts, you know,
against the human rights activists who were trying to really
make a difference there.
And one final thing. Dr. Monlam, part of that history has
to be the history of torture by the Chinese Communist Party,
which, you know, Manfred Nowak, the special rapporteur for the
United Nations, and others have chronicled. But we've got to
keep that front and center. If you're arrested, you're likely
to be tortured. If you're a political or religious prisoner,
you will be tortured. We've had hearings on the chair, the
infamous chair employed by the Chinese Communist Party. I mean,
they've perfected means of extracting hurt. Our next Secretary
of State--I think he'll get confirmed--he and I had a hearing,
he was chair, I was co-chair then. And we heard from a woman
who talked about--she was a Uyghur. And she was being tortured.
And she kept saying, Why are you doing this? And they said,
Because you're a Uyghur. Because you're a Muslim. And that's
why they were torturing her, indescribable torture being done
to her. We had a Buddhist monk, Palden Gyatso, who I invited to
one of our hearings years ago. And he was stopped by the police
here--you know, the security, the Capitol Police, because he
brought a cattle prod to show--this is what they do to us when
we're in prison. So I had to go down, and we got him through
security. And this is Xi Jinping and his predecessors that have
done this.
So again, as the chronicle of history occurs, let's not
forget--and I know you won't forget because you don't forget--
just how the torture that is unspeakable, that is Nazi-like, by
the Chinese Communist Party--you know, we love the Chinese
people. They deserve better than the Chinese Communist Party.
And again, you guys--you ladies and gentlemen are doing an
amazing job in doing that. I think Dr. Abbas wants to say
something.
Mr. Abbas. Thank you so much, Congressman Smith. As you
said, we have live witnesses from those--the torture, the camp
survivor that testified. I think we probably have testified
here at your Commission a number of times. Basically that's--
you know, that's how ruthless the CCP is.
With regard to the U.S. companies, they're conducting--
they're continuing to conduct business. They're ignoring the
ongoing Uyghur genocide. And they're aiding the spread of
misinformation. That's because the Chinese government has very
powerful propaganda machines and disinformation. You know, the
``long arm'' has been in the U.S. using our platform, Facebook,
X, you know, the social media. I think it is essential to
support an educational campaign. They also have a very long arm
in the university, as you mentioned.
The Uyghur Academy, since 2017 has been organizing the
conference and educating. For example, we had it at Columbia
University, at Harvard University, at Yale, Indiana University,
George Washington University. We have been doing that.
Basically, it is essential for Congress to support and enhance
the educational campaign to raise awareness about the plight of
Uyghur people, about the genocide, so those companies can hear
the university students, the professor can know firsthand from
us. Thank you so much.
Ms. He. Yes. I fully agree. Along the line, I think that
the CCP has been using democracy to undermine democracy. Even
on campuses in democracy, we live with fear when we speak our
minds. For those of us from China, we live in freedom but we
are not free. And for faculty members, people like me, the
better you are at your job, the more likely that you're going
to lose your job. This is the same for journalists. The better
you are at your job, the higher chance you would be denied
access to China to do your work. You study China, but the
Chinese government controls whether you can go into the field,
whether you have opportunities, whether you can work with
students from China. This is conflict of interest. We are in a
deep dilemma. For those of us originally from mainland China,
the price we have to pay was not just professional, but also
personal.
I think until the day we can speak without fear, write
without fear, teach without fear of facing consequences,
personal and professional, the CCP is going to control us. I
hope the United States will preserve and protect democracy--set
a good example. In 1989, we took to the streets inspired by the
liberty and democracy of the United States. That's why we set
up the statue of the Goddess of Democracy in Tiananmen Square,
crushed by the tanks when they rolled into the Square during
the military crackdown. Please set a good example of strong
democracy. Thank you very much.
Mr. Lobsang Monlam. [Through interpreter.] Mr. Chairman, in
terms of the preservation of history of torture, we all know
that inside China the Chinese government revises history. And
not just ancient history, even history within 10 years would be
changed. And people inside China would not have that
opportunity. So what we can do outside, and we do it with
Monlam, for example, is the fact that the Tibetans and diaspora
have written about their experience, including the experience
of torture, if you know about the case. And these are being
preserved and disseminated. And we also are trying to have more
of these online so that they can be seen and can educate the
coming generation on torture. That's the fact.
Second, I also agree with you that corporations, in order
to gain access or for fear of China's economic leverage, tend
to accept Chinese disinformation, and therefore create
situations outside. And those of us working on Tibetan language
and culture outside also face problems with these corporations
because of Chinese disinformation; they tend to believe either
because of the disinformation itself or because of economic
leverage.
Chair Smith. Let me just add one final thing. President
Bill Clinton invited Chi Haotian, who was the defense minister
for China, to the White House, gave him a 19-gun salute. Here
was the man who was the butcher of Beijing. He ordered,
operationally, the killing and the maiming of many, many of the
greatest democracy activists, and the imprisonment of others.
He went to the Army War College while here, for about a week,
and said: Nobody died at Tiananmen Square. Now, I read The
People's Daily in English. It was all over, you know, in their
media, how he's taking Washington by storm.
So I put together a hearing in two days. We had people who
lived it. We had a Time Magazine correspondent who was there at
the square. We had a People's Daily reporter who tried to
report and went to prison for it, and finally got out through a
way that was just amazing and came to freedom. And they all
bore witness. And we invited Chi Haotian to come and testify,
or anybody from the Chinese Embassy. And they didn't send
anybody. We had an empty chair. But it was a reminder anew of
how brazen they are, that they can lie in the biggest of ways--
the bigger the lie, the better. You know, again, Nazi-like,
because they were always about the Big Lie. And so many
gullible people just buy into it.
And, again, I don't know why Bill Clinton had him there. It
was terrible. He delinked human rights from trade on May 26th,
1994, which was a terrible mistake on his part. That's when we,
in my opinion, lost China. And I'm not being partisan. Others
have been not as weak, but weak, who have sat in the White
House. But Chi Haotian, here he is--should've gone to The Hague
for crimes against humanity, and he gets feted at the White
House. So why are we in disbelief that they think that they can
market lies ad nauseam, and they're bought hook, line, and
sinker by a gullible media, and certainly by the corporate
types and many, many politicians? That hearing was so telling
to me. We had these great people, including students,
testifying--again, at great risk to themselves and their
families back home. But they said the truth had to be told. The
record had to be clear.
I'd like to yield to Commissioner Nunn and thank him for
his leadership, because it's--and for winning in a landslide.
Representative Nunn. Well, first of all, Chairman Smith,
thank you very much for bringing in this group. I appreciate
this being not only a bipartisan effort, a bicameral effort,
but also bringing in elements of the executive administration
for a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach in addressing
what China has perpetrated not only on its own people, but
around the world.
But we have long known that Xi Jinping and the Chinese
Communist Party will never fully give us the truth about
practically anything. But alternatively, Xi's regime is
reaching back in time to actually shift the narrative of its
own rise to power, and changing history before us. We need only
look at what happened on the 35th anniversary of Tiananmen
Square to see how China censored its own people, yet again,
three decades on, eliminating things like the Tank Man,
continuing to perpetrate the Big Lie, as you noted, Mr.
Chairman, that no one perished in Tiananmen.
In 2021, China's cyberspace regulator launched a tipline
for reporting of any harmful information involving historical
nihilism. Meaning that level of free speech couldn't even be
discussed within China. On the world stage, the CCP continues
to deny human rights and violations against Uyghurs, Tibetans,
Mongolians, and others. The CCP's subversion of historical and
public discourse surrounding sensitive events shows that they
not only will go to any length, but they will literally try to
rewrite the history books of a country that is thousands and
thousands of years old to meet a present-day desire to have a
narrative in their favor.
But through the works of communism and their efforts to
subvert this, there are heroes, particularly those in front of
us today, those serving on this Commission, the people who have
been brave enough in the diaspora community to stand up for
what we know to be the rich history that is the Chinese people.
We can counter these efforts to ensure that these important
facts and a future for China are not erased today. And I
believe it's our duty to speak out for those who cannot speak
with us presently because they are detained either by the CCP,
its crippling grasp over its own population, and its aggressive
and nefarious actions overseas to silence those who call out
their bad behavior.
So with that, Dr. Lobsang Monlam, you are a Buddhist monk.
You are a Tibetan monk. You are also a tech entrepreneur. You
founded Monlam Artificial Intelligence. I was an Air Force
counterintelligence officer and worked with a prototype program
called Blue Horizons. And in our prototype, we looked at large
language models. The first priority we did was to develop a
program called Project Maize. And it was to translate in real
time what was being said behind the firewall in Mandarin, so
that folks around the world--particularly the preponderance of
those here in the U.S. who speak English--could truly
understand what was being said by the Chinese government about
the Chinese people.
And you're absolutely right, what comes out of China
through, you know, the daily messaging in English was
immediately seen to be counterintuitive to what they were
speaking about internally, particularly about its own people.
And while they refused to mention Uyghurs in their English
publications, they clearly were designing a plan internal to
China to threaten those communities. And certainly, as you have
seen in Tibet, this is one of the areas where the manipulation
of language, of narrative, of history, of culture, has taken a
frightening hold. The Chairman brought in an American actor,
Richard Gere, who highlighted directly what this has done to
the exile community.
Doctor, with your work, I wonder if you could speak to us
about the suppression of narratives in Tibet as a way to
control the population there by folks in Beijing.
Mr. Lobsang Monlam. [Through interpreter.] Thank you. The
Chinese government is trying to change the narrative and to
stop the real history from coming out in two ways. First is by
censoring those who can really tell their stories inside and
who are therefore not able to speak truth to power. Second,
they create--they have a knowledge of disinformation going back
many years. And so they have that experience of the impact of
disinformation for their political agenda. And what they do is
create fake Tibetans, in whatever way, who will voice what they
want to hear and what they expect to hear out of that. And that
is something that we need to understand. And those of us in
exile, we try to sort of alter that situation by using modern
technology, modern ways or means, or by the best possible way
in which we can provide the reality of the situation.
Representative Nunn. If I can follow up on that, because
you've identified two things I think are really important here.
One, limiting who can speak and, two, driving their own
disinformation campaign. Dr. Monlam, you've also led your own
resistance, as it were, to preserve Tibetan language, history,
through your own artificial intelligence program. Can you tell
us how you've done this? And is it being successful?
Mr. Lobsang Monlam. [Through interpreter.] I've been
mindful of this issue, and therefore in two ways we have been
able to work on this AI introduction. First of all, we have a
collection of more than 50,000 Tibetan books in LLM, which may
be by far the largest resource with all Tibetan things
throughout the world. And that is a helpful resource that we
will continue to use and expand.
Second, there are online translation facilities, whether
it's Microsoft or anything, but the weakness of these is that
they are not born out of a Tibetan cultural background. And so
they don't have that understanding, knowledge of what comes
beyond culture when we do this translation. Whereas we, at
Monlam AI, have that opportunity of our background in it. And
that can enable us to work with these things. We are now
working on the Dalai Lama AI, which will also help on this.
These are ways in which we are able to work outside of China,
where the Chinese government cannot stop us, and we are able to
do this. Within Tibet, within China, they cannot do that.
Representative Nunn. Very good. Doctor, I want to applaud
you, first of all, for developing this. Your career of
sacrifice and service goes a long way not only to preserving
your heritage, but to being able to ensure that it can survive
on well into the future. It's also a best practice. It's
something that we should take as a playbook model to other
communities who also need to be able to preserve themselves in
the front of what is happening by the CCP to stamp out an
entire national history.
I'd like to speak to the next generation on this. You know,
Ms. Togochog, you are a Mongolian diaspora who has come to the
United States. You have seen your history through your family,
through the practices that you're having. But even far, far
away from China and Mongolia, here in the United States, I
wonder if you would share your experience on how you've been
able to learn about your history, preserve it, and then maybe
share with us how the Chinese have even targeted you here, far
away from Beijing.
Ms. Togochog. Well, it's--as I said in my testimony, it is
very difficult to preserve Mongolian culture here, especially
because, as my family likes to say, we are a minority within a
minority to begin with. There's not many Mongolians in New York
or the East Coast alone, and let alone considering that there
are even less Southern Mongolians. So it is a bit difficult.
And growing up, I learned Mongolian, but over time it's a
difficult struggle, or a difficult juxtaposition, being both
Southern Mongolian and American, because as I attended school
my older sister, her mother tongue was Mongolian. So she had a
difficult time making friends, and therefore English had to
become our primary language. And over time, we lost that aspect
of our identity, which is just really--it's really unfortunate,
because it's such an important keystone aspect of a culture.
But besides that, we continue with our traditions. And
though we might be far, far away, we still--thanks to
technological advancements, we can still call our family for
Tsagaan Sar, and we still celebrate that every single year. But
even in the U.S., far away from China and Southern Mongolia, my
father has had calls coming from China with threats. And there
are many--like, on social media there's many people speaking
out and saying, you know, what we're saying is false. When I
spoke at the United Nations, there was a Chinese representative
saying that what I was saying is false. And much like Monlam
said, I believe they created fake Southern Mongolians, or they
got Southern Mongolians to, quote/unquote, say, ``Oh, what
they're saying is wrong, and we have a Southern Mongolian to
prove it.'' Which is, of course, inaccurate. So even so far
away and even being born in the U.S. myself, I've still had
this struggle with trying to get CCP control--to lessen that
sort of control and the grasp that it has over us, even in the
U.S. Thank you.
Representative Nunn. Dr. Abbas.
Mr. Abbas. Thank you, Representative Nunn. Regarding the
next generation of leaders--we have a Uyghur student from
Harvard University here in the room, who is part of this next
generation. She grew up in Texas, where there is only one
Uyghur family in her area. She barely speaks Uyghur. However,
she attended our 2-week language and culture summer school for
Uyghur youth in Ankara in 2023. With your permission, would it
be possible for her to share her personal experience directly?
Representative Nunn. With the Chairman's permission.
Mr. Abbas. Thanks. Kawsar, could you please share your
experience?
Representative Nunn. Please introduce yourself and what
you're studying, where you're studying, and then share your
experience.
Ms. Yasin. First of all, thank you so much, Dr. Rishat
Abbas, for introducing me. Thank you so much for the
Congressional-Executive Commission for having this hearing in
the first place, and Congressman Smith for leading all of this.
My name is Kawsar. I'm a current junior undergrad at
Harvard, studying history and social anthropology. So I'm
interested in possibly being a historian, maybe going into
policy law. And I also write for the Harvard Crimson as a
columnist. So a lot of these things, as a result of this
immersion just the summer after my freshman year of college, I
was able to really integrate the Uyghur identity and Uyghur
culture into the work I'm doing. I write articles for the
Crimson about being Uyghur. I write and speak at the Institute
of Politics anytime there's anyone that I would like to
question. I also incorporate that.
As a result of that, it's made me a lot more aware. And I
think that for many other Uyghur youth who participate in these
programs through Uyghur Academy, it allows for so much more
consciousness of who they are. My personal experience is, as a
result of growing up in Texas, I didn't really have any Uyghur
friends my own age, naturally. And so I--after coming to
Turkiye, which was the first time I even left the United
States, for that matter, I was able to meet other Uyghur youth
who are so passionate. And as a result, we do so much activism
together. We've traveled to Turkiye together, doing so many
other projects. And I'm currently working on an Uyghur
organization called Rawan Mentorship, where we, as Uyghur youth
that attend schools like Cornell and Carnegie Mellon and MIT as
well, we've kind of come together to mentor other Uyghur youth
to be able to achieve academic and professional success, while
also embodying the Uyghur identity in their work.
So, for example, we helped a student to be able to get an
internship this past summer at the Library of Congress, where
she wrote about her Uyghur identity. And that same student
ended up getting accepted to Princeton just last week. So
she'll be attending that university as well. And then on top of
that, we also work on allowing Uyghur high schoolers to get
involved in tech. So Monlam AI is a lot of what they were
inspired by, actually. They created an optical character
recognition software for analyzing the Uyghur script. And, as a
historian--or aspiring historian--this is going to be so
helpful for me in terms of analyzing Uyghur script as well. So
a lot of even high schoolers, as Uyghurs, are developing this
through this program and the mentorship that we're doing.
So a lot of this work would not have been possible without
being able to go to this and having this awareness of my
people's history, my people's culture. The basis of why I study
what I study is to pay homage to the Uyghurs who are detained,
the Uyghurs who are in concentration camps simply for studying
and writing about things as simple as--or not even simple,
really--but something as vital to Uyghur identity, such as
shrines or mosques, and all of which have obviously been
demolished. But the scholars that studied them are now behind
bars. So it is for them that I do the work I do. Thank you so
much.
Mr. Abbas. Thank you, Kawsar. This critical Uyghur youth
training program is supported by USAID and USIP. However, there
is uncertainty as to whether there will be support to continue
the program next year. I bring this to your attention.
Regarding artificial intelligence and modern technology,
Uyghur Academy began discussions with an AI company. We started
an initial collaboration by providing them a list of digital
books, as there are thousands of Uyghur books in diaspora,
particularly in Turkiye. The company was initially eager to
work with us; however, after they changed leadership,
communication has gone silent. As a result, we find ourselves
once again in need of continuous support. Thank you.
Representative Nunn. That was--thank you. First of all, to
the next generation of great leaders who are going to carry not
only your family's history, your nationality, and cultural
history, your language, the very essence of who you are,
whether it be Uyghur, Mongolian, Tibetan, Taiwanese, learning
from each other, working and executing, is a huge aspect of
this. Also, working to counter the false narrative that is
being provided. And this is where I really look toward what we
can do in the artificial intelligence space to be clear when a
counternarrative comes out from the CCP, to be able to confront
it with fact, to be able to be timely about it, and to be able
to provide support back to those who are on the ground in and
around China.
I will end with this, and just say there has to be an
opportunity here to recognize that it is not China alone. It is
who China is able to bully. And it's not just the existing
generation--the next generation. It includes some of our tech
companies, who also need to be bold in this, to be able to
stand up and not feel pressure from Beijing, to support the
type of innovation, the success, the AI that has been able to
provide truth in the face of overwhelming opposition. But, just
like the Tank Man in Tiananmen 35 years ago, it takes each one
of you to stand up to an overwhelming Chinese repression system
to make sure that these individuals and your future voice
continues to be heard. So I salute you on that. This Commission
continues to stand with you. Thank you very much for being here
today.
Mr. Abbas. Thank you.
Representative Nunn. I yield my time, Mr. Chairman.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much, Commissioner Nunn.
Let me just thank you, Kawar Yasin. Thank you for your very
fine intervention. Your comments are fantastic. Off the cuff.
Is there anything else any of you would like to add before we
conclude? I just want to underscore that the Commission, and
thankfully it's in a bipartisan, bicameral way, and with the
executive branch, you know, we really have to redouble our
efforts. You know, the Chinese people deserve better than the
Chinese Communist Party. And you know, injustice need not be
forever. And as you continue to speak out, as you do so
eloquently, for those who are at risk, by chronicling the
history and making sure it's accurate, you really do a huge
service to humanity.
And so thank you, because it's hard work. I'm sure it's
very hard work. But you're up to it. And I was thinking, as Dr.
Monlam was talking about his 50,000-book collection. You know,
Thomas Jefferson was the beginning of our Library of Congress,
when he donated his books. Books are extremely important--
accurate books and the chronicling of history. So thank you
very much. But if there's anything else any of you would like
to add before we conclude? Thank you so much. The Commission's
hearing is adjourned. [Applause.]
[Whereupon, at 12:59 p.m., the hearing was concluded.]
======================================================================
A P P E N D I X
=======================================================================
Prepared Statements
----------
Prepared Statement of Julian Ku
Congressman Smith, Senator Merkley, Honorable Members of the
Commission, thank you for the invitation to appear before you today.
I am a legal scholar specializing in the inter-relationship of
international, foreign, and U.S. law. In recent years, I have focused
my research on studying U.S.-China relations in the international law
sphere, but also in the realm of domestic litigation in the Chinese and
American legal systems.
Overview
My remarks today will focus on the way in which the Chinese party-
state has used tactics that take advantage of the weaknesses of its own
court system and the strengths of the U.S. court system to advance its
ideological goal of suppressing evidence and narratives about its own
history. In particular, I will explain how the ongoing litigation over
Stanford University's possession of the personal diaries of one of Mao
Zedong's secretaries illustrates how the U.S. legal system can be
manipulated by the ``lawfare'' tactics of the Chinese party-state. This
type of what I call ``asymmetric lawfare'' takes advantage of a
fundamental difference between the Chinese and U.S. legal systems. The
Chinese legal system is often subject to political control by the
Chinese Communist Party while the U.S. legal system, for all of its
faults, is committed to judicial independence, fairness to all
litigants (including foreign citizens and corporations), and deference
to foreign court judgments. This asymmetry allows Chinese interests to
gain substantial advantages in their domestic legal system, while the
U.S. legal system affords Chinese interests wide-ranging and generous
legal and constitutional protections. In addition to the Stanford case,
I will also discuss other examples of this asymmetric lawfare in cases
brought by Huawei, TikTok, and others. I conclude by offering
recommendations for ways to limit the impact of these asymmetric
lawfare tactics in U.S. courts.
Chinese Lawfare in U.S. Courts
I define lawfare as the strategic use of legal systems and
institutions to achieve military or political objectives.\1\ This
concept involves leveraging legal mechanisms to damage or delegitimize
an opponent, often by imposing legal and financial burdens through
litigation or other legal actions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Jill I. Goldenziel, Law as a Battlefield: The U.S., China,
and the Global Escalation of Lawfare, 106 Cornell L. Rev. 1085, 1097
(2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the United States, the concept was initially used to describe
efforts to use law to undermine U.S. efforts in the war on
terrorism.\2\ But China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has long used
``lawfare,'' along with public opinion warfare and psychological
warfare, as an essential component of its Three Warfares strategic
doctrine. It has been described by Chinese sources as using legal
arguments to assert that one's own side is obeying the law while
criticizing the opponent for violating it.\3\ Lawfare aims to
demoralize the PLA's enemies through legal means, constrain their
actions, and seize the political initiative. The instruments of lawfare
include all forms of Chinese domestic law as well as international law.
But in recent years, Chinese entities have shown lawfare can also use
the U.S. legal system as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., Law and Military Interventions:
Preserving Humanitarian Values, 21st Century Conflicts 4 (Nov. 29,
2001).
\3\ Han Yanrong, ``Legal Warfare: Military Legal Work's High
Ground: An Interview with Chinese Politics and Law University Military
Legal Research Center Special Researcher Xun Dandong,'' Legal Daily
(PRC), February 12, 2006, cited in Dean Cheng, ``Winning Without
Fighting: Chinese Legal Warfare'', The Heritage Foundation (May 21,
2012), https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/winning-without-fighting-
chinese-legal-warfare.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For instance, certain Chinese companies and individuals have filed
lawsuits against Chinese nationals residing in the U.S. that
purportedly involve commercial disputes, but seem to be motivated by
efforts to achieve Chinese government objectives. Commercial lawsuits
filed against Chinese nationals wanted for alleged bribery or
corruption in China appear to be efforts to harass those Chinese
individuals and pressure them to return to China.\4\ Similar lawsuits
appear to have been used against Chinese dissidents living in the
U.S.\5\ All of these lawsuits share similar characteristics: an entity
officially unrelated to the Chinese government or CCP files the
lawsuit, the Chinese plaintiff is typically represented by a well-known
high-
reputation U.S. law firm, and the lawsuit almost never gets past the
initial discovery stage but imposes significant costs on the
defendants. Thus far, none of these lawsuits appear to have actually
resulted in a favorable judgment for the Chinese plaintiffs, but at
least one lawsuit may have played a role in pressuring a Chinese
national to return to China.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Aruna Viswanatha and Kate O'Keefe, ``China's Corruption
Crackdown Snares Thousands of Fugitives in California,'' Wall St. J.
(July 29, 2020), https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-
corruption-president-xi-communist-party-fugitives-california-lawsuits-
us-courts-11596032112.
\5\ Id.
\6\ Aruna Viswanatha and Kate O'Keefe, ``China's New Tool to Chase
Down Fugitives: American Courts,'' Wall St. J. (July 29, 2020), https:/
/www.wsj.com/articles/china-corruption-
president-xi-communist-party-fugitives-california-lawsuits-us-courts-
11596032112.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a related way, Chinese companies have not been shy to invoke the
full range of international and U.S. constitutional protections to
defend against U.S. Government policies aimed at reducing the risk of
Chinese government influence on U.S. public opinion. In 2019, the
Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Huawei and its subsidiaries with
racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets, alleging
that Huawei engaged in a long-running scheme to misappropriate
intellectual property from U.S. companies.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ David E. Sanger, Katie Benner and Matthew Goldstein, ``Huawei
and Top Executive Face Criminal Charges in the U.S.'', N.Y. Times
(January 28, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/politics/
meng-wanzhou-huawei-iran.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huawei's defense to this lawsuit illustrates how the U.S. legal
system's openness and fairness to foreign defendants can benefit the
Chinese party-state's lawfare goals. First, Huawei retained James Cole,
an attorney at the global law firm of Sidley, who had also served as
deputy Attorney General during the Obama administration.\8\ Although
Cole was later forced off the case after a motion by the Justice
Department, the ability of Huawei to retain the highest quality legal
representation has benefited its defense.\9\ Relatedly, Huawei itself
sued the U.S. Government alleging that a Federal law banning the use of
Huawei by Federal Government agencies violated the U.S. Constitution's
bill of attainder clause as well as its constitutional due process and
administrative process rights.\10\ The Department of Justice also
alleged in a subsequent case that Chinese party-state-related
intelligence agencies attempted to bribe employees in the U.S.
Attorney's office prosecuting the Huawei case in order to gain
information on the prosecution.\11\ Although the party-state's alleged
spying failed, and Huawei's arguments were eventually rejected by a
Federal appeals court,\12\ the ability of Chinese entities that are
likely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese
government to marshal high-priced legal talent to deploy creative
constitutional arguments, could serve as a deterrent to future U.S.
Government actions against Huawei and other Chinese companies. The
Huawei case is scheduled for trial in January 2026, 7 years after the
initial indictment.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Paul Mozur, Huawei Hires Former Obama Cybersecurity Official
as Lawyer, N.Y. Times (May 10, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/
10/business/huawei-lawyer-james-cole.html.
\9\ See United States v. Huawei Techs. Co., 18-CR-457 (S-2) (AMD)
(E.D.N.Y. Dec. 3, 2019).
\10\ See Joanna R. Lampe, Coordinator, Legislative Attorney,
Congressional Research Service, Huawei v. United States: The Bill of
Attainder Clause and Huawei's Lawsuit Against the United States 1
(2019).
\11\ Alison Durkee, ``DOJ Charges Alleged Chinese Intelligence
Officers With Trying to Interfere With Huawei Prosecution,'' Forbes
(Oct. 24, 2022), https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/10/24/
doj-charges-alleged-chinese-intelligence-officers-with-trying-to-
interfere-with-huawei-prosecution/.
\12\ Huawei Techs U.S., Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 2 F.4th 421
(5th Cir. 2021).
\13\ Reuters, ``China's Huawei Technologies Seeks Dismissal of U.S.
Criminal Charges,'' (Nov. 11, 2024), https://www.reuters.com/default/
chinas-huawei-technologies-seeks-dismissal-us-
criminal-charges-2024-11-11/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a similar way, TikTok USA has also launched an all-out legal
battle against a recently passed Federal law requiring that it divest
itself of its Chinese owner ByteDance. It has invoked the First
Amendment's Free Speech Clause as its
primary defense to enforcing the Federal divestment law, and has even
managed to rally political and legal support from unaffiliated U.S.
free speech advocates.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Bobby Allyn, ``TikTok Challenges U.S. Ban in Court, Calling it
Unconstitutional,'' NPR, May 7, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/05/07/
1246532784/tiktok-ban-us-court-biden-Congress.
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Neither Huawei nor TikTok have violated any laws in using all
possible legal means to defend themselves in U.S. courts. Their ability
to do so is a testament to the U.S. legal system's commitment to
protect the rights of foreign as well as U.S. companies. But the
openness and fairness of the U.S. legal system (especially when
compared with China's legal system), allows the possible success of
lawfare tactics to delay or obstruct U.S. national security goals.
Stanford University v. Zhang: Asymmetric Lawfare in Practice
The litigation over the ownership of the personal diaries of Li
Rui, a former personal secretary to Mao Zedong and, in his later life,
a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, illustrates another
type of Chinese lawfare. In what I call asymmetric lawfare, Chinese
interests leverage the weak and politically manipulable Chinese court
system to gain advantages in an open and fair-minded U.S. court system.
Li, through his daughter, had agreed to donate his personal diaries
to the Hoover Institute for War and Peace at Stanford University. After
Li Rui's death in 2019, however, his widow Zhang Yuzhen filed a lawsuit
in a Beijing court claiming ownership of the diaries. She argued that
the documents contained deeply personal information and that Li
intended for her to decide which documents would be made public. The
Beijing court ruled in her favor, awarding her ownership of the
archives and ordering Stanford to return them.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ Guo Rui, ``Widow of Mao Zedong's Secretary Li Rui Sues in
Chinese Court to Demand Return of Diaries from Stanford University,''
South China Morning Post, April 25, 2019.
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Stanford argues that it was never given adequate judicial notice of
the Chinese court proceedings, and even when it tried to appear in the
Chinese court, it was denied. Thus, despite its best efforts, Stanford
was not able to contest its rights in China, and is now under a Chinese
court order requiring it to turn over the diaries to Zhang.
To its credit, Stanford is fighting back. It filed a ``quiet title
claim'' in U.S. Federal court to affirm its right to the diaries
arguing the Li donation was proper, and that the Chinese court judgment
should not be enforced in the U.S. due to the unfairness of the Chinese
court proceeding.\16\ Zhang counterclaimed, alleging copyright
infringement and public disclosure of private facts, among other
issues. So far, the U.S. trial court has allowed some of Zhang's claims
to proceed while dismissing other claims. The trial court is currently
considering the parties' trial briefs and will issue a judgment soon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Oakland Division, ``The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior
University, Plaintiff, vs. Zhang Yuzhen et al., Defendants, Case No.
19-cv-02904 SBA, Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion for
Judgment on the Pleadings,'' September 28, 2022.
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This litigation is significant in at least two ways. First, it
illustrates how the Chinese party-state is willing to use lawfare
techniques in the U.S. for ideological purposes as opposed to seeking
to harass political opponents or wanted ex-government officials. It is
not hard to imagine future uses of lawfare in U.S. courts to challenge
title to other important historical archives of Chinese Communist Party
history, such as those held at Harvard's Yenching Library. Or lawsuits
to delay or suppress artwork displays in the U.S. that criticize
Chinese leaders.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ Michael Finnegan, ``Did Chinese Spies Burn Anti-China
Sculpture and Stalk Olympic Skater and Congressional Candidate?,'' L.A.
Times (Mar. 18, 2022), https://www.latimes.com/
california/story/2022-03-18/did-chinese-spies-burn-anti-china-
sculpture-and-stalk-olympic-skater-and-congressional-candidate.
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Second, the Li Rui litigation illustrates the effectiveness of
asymmetric lawfare. The key to the Chinese party-state's strategy is to
leverage its ability to easily generate favorable outcomes in the
Chinese legal system to gain advantages in the U.S. legal system.
Stanford was provided no official notice of the Chinese court
proceeding, and was then denied the ability to defend itself in that
proceeding. This forced Stanford to initiate legal proceedings in the
U.S. where it will have to overcome the traditional U.S. judicial
doctrine that gives effect to foreign court judgments in most cases.
Meanwhile, Li's widow has been given full due process rights and the
opportunity to defend her case, and has been able to hire some of the
most highly rated (and expensive) attorneys in the U.S. to prosecute
her case. Due to the elimination in most states of champerty law
doctrines and weak third-party litigation disclosure rules, Zhang, who
has incurred huge legal fees on a widow's Chinese state pension, does
not have to disclose if any third party has helped foot her legal
costs.\18\ Even if she does not prevail, the litigation (which has
dragged on for nearly 4 years and has cost Stanford untold legal fees)
is likely to deter other smaller archives and museums from acquiring
items that are historically or politically sensitive in China.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ John Pomfret, ``The Diary Duel,'' The Wire China, September
26, 2021.
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This type of asymmetric lawfare was previewed by Huawei executive
Meng Wanzhou's legal battle to block her extradition to the U.S. from
Canada on bank fraud charges. While Meng used every part of both U.S.
and Canadian law to contest her extradition--dragging out her
extradition proceedings for years--the Chinese government arrested and
held two Canadians and provided them with no due process or any other
legal rights for over 3 years. The ability of the Chinese legal system
to be used for what amounts to hostage-taking, while the Canadian
system allowed Meng exquisite levels of due process, eventually forced
the U.S. and Canada to release Meng without any real punishment in
order to win the Canadian hostages' release. Less dramatic cases of
asymmetric lawfare involve Chinese companies winning anti-suit
injunctions in Chinese courts that block foreign companies from
contesting Chinese claims to contested intellectual property rights.
Because Chinese judicial standards for granting such injunctions are
less onerous than in most foreign jurisdictions, it gives Chinese
companies an ability to limit their exposure to claims of IP
infringement, especially by foreign companies.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ Alexandr Svetlicinii, Fali Xie, ``The anti-suit injunctions in
patent litigation in China: what role for judicial self-restraint?,''
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Volume 19, Issue 9,
September 2024, pages 734-742, https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpae049.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion and Recommendations
There are no simple fixes to solve the problem of asymmetric
lawfare by the Chinese party-state or any other nefarious foreign state
actor. The strengths of the U.S. legal system--judicial independence,
non-discrimination against foreign citizens and companies, comity and
deference to foreign courts--are crucial to making the U.S. an ideal
place to live, work, and invest.
Still, U.S. policymakers might make some headway by enacting laws
to expedite proceedings to dismiss efforts to enforce Chinese court
judgments in the U.S. Current doctrine, which varies from state to
state, generally places the burden on U.S. parties challenging
enforcement to demonstrate fundamental unfairness in the Chinese court
proceedings.\20\ Congress or state legislatures could shift this burden
to parties seeking to enforce Chinese court actions and even allow U.S.
defendants expedited procedures for dismissing such actions. Congress
could enact something similar to the SPEECH Act, which protects U.S.
defendants from foreign defamation judgments that do not meet U.S. free
speech standards.\21\ Such action could deter some of these asymmetric
lawfare techniques, and since Chinese courts rarely enforce U.S. court
judgments, U.S. companies would not be in a worse-off position there
than they are now.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ Courts may refuse to recognize a foreign judgment on a variety
of grounds, including but not limited to public policy, unfairness,
fraud, or lack of notice (Restatement (Fourth) of Foreign Relations Law
Sec. 484).
\21\ 28 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 4101-4105.
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Relatedly, policymakers could bolster disclosure rules for third-
party litigation funding, especially for foreign plaintiffs. Current
disclosure rules would allow foreign sovereigns, or foreign sovereign-
affiliates like the CCP, to fund litigation in the U.S. without anyone
knowing.\22\ Changes to disclosure might take the form of amendments to
the Foreign Agents Registration Act or other reforms to ensure that if
the party-state is engaging in lawfare in U.S. courts, the rest of us
will know about it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ Institute for Legal Reform, ``What You Need to Know About
Third Party Litigation Funding,'' Inst. for Legal Reform (June 7,
2024), https://instituteforlegalreform.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-
third-party-litigation-funding/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Such actions are not a complete solution, but it is the right place
to start. As the Li Rui litigation demonstrates, the Chinese party-
state has many political objectives at odds with U.S. interests,
including the suppression of narratives about its own history.
Deterring or eliminating asymmetric lawfare will not end its pursuit of
these political objectives, but it will be an important first start.
Prepared Statement of Rishat Abbas
I would first like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to
share our experience in trying to keep the Uyghur language and culture
alive. This question is an existential one. Since 2017, the Chinese
government has detained more than 1.8 to 3 million Uyghurs and other
Turkic groups in concentration camps, committed mass sterilization of
Uyghur women, separated parents from their children, forced Uyghur
women to marry Chinese men, eliminated Uyghur religious and cultural
leaders through imprisonment, and forced Uyghurs to do slave labor.
Since then, China has been committing what the U.S. Government and
nearly a dozen Western parliaments determined as genocide and crimes
against humanity. They have targeted the Uyghur population in what is
now the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, which Uyghurs prefer to call its geographical and
historical name--East Turkestan. In August 2022, the Office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights released its report on Xinjiang,
which stated that China's treatment of the Uyghur population may
constitute crimes against humanity. A month after the release of the
U.N. report, Human Rights Watch published a report on the official
figure of prison counts in Xinjiang. The report said China sentenced
and imprisoned an estimated half million Uyghur people. China
arbitrarily prosecuted the Uyghurs detained in concentration camps
after an international outcry over its mass detention of Uyghurs.
Despite international concern over China's Uyghur genocide, the
Chinese government has been aggressively implementing policies of
assimilation of the Uyghur language and criminalizing Uyghur culture
and religious beliefs. If Uyghur language, religion, culture, and
identity are successfully erased in the Uyghur homeland and lost in the
diaspora, the Chinese government wins regardless of how things develop
politically and geo-strategically in the future. Many Uyghurs in the
diaspora face the Chinese government's transnational repression for
speaking out against Beijing's crimes. Like countless others, my family
and I have paid a steep personal price for our advocacy, enduring
painful consequences as retaliation from the Chinese government. The
horrific atrocities in our homeland affect me personally. My sister,
Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor living in Urumchi, was
sentenced to 20 years in prison on fabricated charges of ``terrorism.''
As a medical doctor, she has always been entirely apolitical and
dedicated her entire life to caring for her patients. Her unjust
detention, despite her chronic health issues, exposes the Chinese
government's oppressive policies that target Uyghurs simply for their
identity and for the activism of their relatives abroad. My sister's
imprisonment is a blatant act of retaliation, as she has never engaged
in any form of advocacy during her life.
We all know the Chinese government is committing an ongoing
genocide against the Uyghur population in our homeland by eradicating
the Uyghur people as the end goal. In addition to this physical aspect
of the genocide, China is also simultaneously committing a linguistic
and cultural genocide. The Chinese Communist Party has suppressed all
forms of cultural expression by Uyghurs in their historic homeland. The
Chinese government has also suppressed the use of the Uyghur language
in China and eliminated the instruction of Uyghur language in schools.
It is essential to the future that Uyghur language and culture are
preserved and promoted by diaspora and exile communities outside of
China to prevent the ultimate aim of the CCP, which is to eliminate the
very identity of a national group.
Although there is overwhelming evidence and confirmation from the
Chinese government's own leaked documents and documents globally,
Chinese government propaganda has become disturbingly normalized. It is
echoed by prominent scholars, amplified by certain media narratives,
and even parroted by college students. There is a troubling tendency to
overlook these injustices in favor of preserving economic ties with the
PRC. This pattern is evident in Hollywood, global corporations,
academic institutions, and the silence or inaction of numerous
governments worldwide.
The genocide and crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region are
not isolated incidents; they are warning signs of a deeper global
erosion of human rights--setting a dangerous precedent for future
atrocities. History has shown us the devastating consequences of
ignoring such alarms. We know what it means to take principled action,
and it is imperative that we demand it now.
Uyghur diaspora community leaders and advocates across the world
have made it clear that it is vital to their communities to ensure that
the next generation of Uyghur youth abroad learn the language to
preserve the core of Uyghur culture as long as Chinese repression
continues.
The situation is very similar to the position that the diaspora
communities of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania faced after annexation by
Stalin and the Soviet Union from 1939 to 1989. Many fled to far-flung
locations around the world. For fifty years the Soviet regime tried to
force the Russian language and Soviet culture on the local population.
They moved waves of Slavic immigrants into the Baltic states. But in
diaspora communities across the world the language was kept alive for
two generations. Nobody knew if or when the Soviet Union would
collapse, but when it did, thousands of Latvians, Estonians, and
Lithuanians born abroad returned home to help rebuild their nations.
This gives today's Uyghurs hope, and a task--to pass the culture and
language on to the next generation at a level sufficient to participate
in everyday interactions but also to be ready to live and work in the
Uyghur language at a policy-expert level.
Our organization, the Uyghur Academy, is a global Uyghur
intellectual network with branches in the United States, Canada,
Europe, Turkey, Central Asia, Japan, and Australia, as well as four
institutes. The Academy promotes effective collaboration among Uyghur
organizations, communities, universities, NGOs, and key stakeholders in
the diaspora to highlight the Uyghur Genocide and counter CCP
influence.
Since 2022, with funding and collaboration from USAID and the
United States Institute of Peace, Uyghur Academy has organized three
international conferences, bringing together community leaders and
teachers from around the globe. Most of these teachers are simple
community volunteers with no real teacher training. We held training
workshops for them to help them learn basic teaching techniques as well
as the nuances of how a ``heritage learner''--someone who has spoken
Uyghur from the crib at home but lives in the dominant language outside
the home--learns differently from a non-native learner.
With the generous support of USAID and USIP, we successfully
organized two extraordinary Uyghur global youth language summer schools
in 2023 and 2024. These schools brought together seven esteemed
instructors, renowned for their dedication to preserving Uyghur culture
and identity, to guide enthusiastic young Uyghurs from 14 countries.
Participants were immersed in a vibrant exploration of language,
culture, history, and art--fostering a profound sense of purpose and
belonging. This was more than an educational event--it was a
transformative journey connecting young Uyghurs to their heritage and
to each other. They learned not just to endure challenges but to face
them with resilience, finding joy even in adversity. Smiles lit up
their faces as friendships blossomed, and tears flowed as they parted,
marking the end of an unforgettable experience. For many, it was their
first opportunity to interact with peers in the Uyghur language, an
experience they now cherish deeply.
Even after the schools ended, participants stayed connected through
platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, forming networks that extend
beyond borders. Some have already begun organizing advocacy efforts for
Uyghur issues in their respective countries. This is just the
beginning, and there is enormous potential to expand these initiatives.
To truly empower the next generation, we must go further. We need to
nurture Uyghur entrepreneurs, scientists, and policy experts who are
not only fluent in their language but also equipped to lead in fields
like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and public policy.
This effort requires additional investment, enabling us to ensure
that the Uyghur language evolves alongside cutting-edge global
developments. By scaling up these activities, we can safeguard our
culture while preparing future leaders to excel in a rapidly changing
world.
There is great demand in the Uyghur diaspora communities for these
efforts. There is more we could do to counter CCP propaganda and raise
awareness in those countries with diaspora communities. This is part of
a transformation of traumatized, scattered, and isolated Uyghur exile
communities into a global network of organized and resilient diaspora
communities. We believe that, with the proper resources, these
communities can preserve the language, identity, and culture for the
next generation, in turn resisting CCP efforts to destroy our culture.
In 2024, Uyghur Academy celebrated its 15th anniversary with
notable achievements, including the publication of the ``Uyghur
Language and Literature'' textbook series, developed with support from
USAID and USIP. These textbooks were introduced at a special event held
here in Congress on May 22, 2024. Themed ``Preserving the Uyghur
Language and 3D Modeling Amidst the Uyghur Genocide,'' this event was
organized by the Uyghur Academy, Campaign for Uyghurs, Uyghur
Transitional Justice Data base, and the Center for Uyghur Studies.
Representatives from the U.S. Congress, USAID, State Department, USIP,
Uyghur organizations, NGOs, and scholars attended and delivered
encouraging remarks. The event also showcased innovative educational
tools and initiatives.
Finally, if you ask ``What can we do to help actual Uyghurs
today?'' then this is one of the most important answers. Programs that
network isolated Uyghurs and keep the language alive give Uyghurs,
especially young Uyghurs, hope for the future. Hope is the rarest
commodity in a situation like ours.
It is critical to sustain and amplify efforts to hold the CCP
accountable for its crimes against humanity. This is not merely a
matter of justice for the Uyghur people--it is a fight for the
principles of democracy, human rights, and freedom that underpin the
world we wish to leave behind for future generations.
Allowing the CCP's atrocities to go unchecked threatens to erode
these values globally, emboldening authoritarian regimes and weakening
the foundation of the free world. The stakes are far greater than the
Uyghur people alone; they encompass the shared future of all who
believe in dignity, liberty, and justice. By standing firm against
these crimes, we send a clear message: oppression and genocide will not
be tolerated, and those who perpetrate such acts will face
consequences. This is a defining moment, not just for the Uyghurs, but
for the legacy of freedom and democracy we pass on to the next
generation. Together, we must act with unwavering resolve to protect
these ideals and ensure a future where such horrors are not repeated.
Thank you for your time, and thank you to the American people and
to Congress for your unwavering support of the Uyghur cause.
______
Prepared Statement of Geshe Lobsang Monlam
The Efforts by the Tibetan Diaspora To Preserve
Its Linguistic and Cultural Heritage
Thank you, Chairman, for the opportunity to testify at today's
hearing. I will primarily focus on the current status of the Tibetan
language and culture, as well as the efforts by the Tibetan diaspora to
preserve its linguistic and cultural heritage.
For over sixty years, the Tibetan people have effectively preserved
our rich heritage in dire circumstances and conditions, thanks to the
leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan
Administration, with the unwavering support of the Indian and U.S.
governments and other governmental and non-governmental organizations
and individuals throughout the world. As a Tibetan I want to take the
opportunity to express my gratitude to the U.S. Congress and the
Administration for your continued support to His Holiness the Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan leadership. I have directly seen the positive
impact of your support to our community.
Tibetan language and culture have been facing significant
challenges both within Tibet and among the Tibetan diaspora. In Tibet,
the policy of cultural assimilation of Tibetans by the Chinese
government is systematically undermining Tibetan language and cultural
identity. Enforcing Mandarin as the primary language of instruction in
schools is one case in point, even in those ostensibly offering
bilingual education.\1\ Furthermore, an estimated 80 percent of Tibetan
children are placed in state-run boarding schools where Mandarin is
prioritized, effectively severing ties with their cultural heritage.\2\
\3\ The recent closure of Tibetan-centric schools, like Ragya Gangjong
Sherig Norbuling,\4\ and the relocation of students to state-
sanctioned institutions, further erode the prominence of the Tibetan
language.\5\ The situation is worsened by legal and policy restrictions
that penalize individuals advocating for Tibetan language rights, with
advocates facing imprisonment for promoting their native language
education.
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\1\ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 2021, ``Tibet:
Findings and Recommendations,'' Washington, DC. https://www.cecc.gov/
sites/evo-subsites/cecc.house.gov/files/documents/
TIBET%20UPDATED%201221.pdf.
\2\ Dolma, K., (2022, September 20), ``Tibetans Fight To Keep Their
Language Alive,'' Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/20/
tibetan-language-education-china-diaspora/.
\3\ Human Rights Watch, 2020, ``China's `Bilingual Education'
Policy in Tibet: Tibetan-Medium Schooling Under Threat,'' Human Rights
Watch, March 5. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/03/05/chinas-bilingual-
education-policy-tibet/tibetan-medium-schooling-under-threat.
\4\ Free Tibet, 2023, ``Another Top Tibetan School Forced to
Shut,'' Free Tibet, April 12. https://freetibet.org/latest/another-top-
tibetan-school-forced-to-shut/.
\5\ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118jhrg51694/html/
CHRG-118jhrg51694.htm.
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The Tibetan diaspora, scattered across the globe, faces significant
hurdles in maintaining their linguistic and cultural heritage. In
addition to competing demands of modern life, many young Tibetans, born
and raised outside of the communities in exile established for
Tibetans, lack regular exposure to their native language, hindering
their ability to learn and appreciate it. Limited post-education
opportunities as well as opportunities for higher education in Tibetan
further compel them to rely on other languages, increasing the distance
from their cultural roots. Furthermore, the diminishing population
exacerbates the issue. While community-led initiatives like Tibetan
language schools and online resources strive to bridge this gap, they
are often hampered by insufficient funding and resources. This struggle
to preserve Tibetan identity is exacerbated by the ongoing suppression
of our language and culture within Tibet itself, where repressive
policies threaten the continuity of traditions and contribute to
broader cultural disintegration.
Despite these challenges, the Tibetan exile community has shown
remarkable resilience and creativity in preserving our linguistic
heritage. Tibetan schools in India and Nepal emphasize Tibetan language
education as a core part of their curriculum. Cultural institutions and
monasteries continue to pass down traditional knowledge and practices.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has also implemented policies
aimed at promoting the use of the Tibetan language in official and
educational settings including the critical need of nurturing and
sustaining compact Tibetan communities.
However, there remains a critical need for strategic, comprehensive
and modern Tibetan language tools that can support education, cultural
preservation, and global engagement. This is where the work of the
Monlam organization becomes crucial.
Since its founding, the Monlam organization has been at the
forefront of leveraging technology to safeguard the Tibetan language.
As the founder, I have personally dedicated my efforts to creating a
suite of linguistic tools and resources that serve both traditional
scholars and the wider Tibetan community. One of our landmark projects,
the Grand Tibetan Dictionary, is the most extensive Tibetan dictionary
ever compiled. It brings together classical texts, regional dialects,
and contemporary usage, providing an authoritative resource that
supports language learning, academic research, and linguistic
standardization.
The Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary project showcases the extensive
collaboration within the Tibetan diaspora to preserve and promote the
Tibetan language. This initiative, which is not feasible for an
individual or a small group, has successfully mobilized over 200
editors from various backgrounds, including editorial groups in
monasteries and community organizations. This collaborative effort
highlights the unity and commitment of Tibetans from different schools
and walks of life in safeguarding their linguistic heritage. The
creation of the Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary stands as a testament
to the capabilities of the Tibetan community in exile. The dictionary
not only serves as a linguistic resource but also symbolizes the
resilience of Tibetan culture amidst ongoing challenges posed by
external forces. By fostering such collaborative projects, the Tibetan
diaspora demonstrates its potential to effectively preserve its
language and cultural identity for future generations.
The forthcoming USAID-led Tibetan Digital Library Project builds
upon such a collaborative foundation, aiming to digitize and archive a
vast array of Tibetan texts and manuscripts by working together with
more than 60 monasteries and cultural institutions around India and
Nepal. This project is spearheaded by the Central Tibetan
Administration. It is designed to be a dynamic, accessible digital
platform that will allow students, researchers, and cultural
enthusiasts worldwide to access Tibetan literature and historical
documents that were previously confined to private collections or
monasteries. During the initial year 2024, we visited more than 20
monasteries, cataloging and digitizing thousands of resources. Our
ongoing efforts also aim to advance the field of Tibetan library
science.
In the realm of digital innovation, Monlam alone has created 42
Tibetan software applications, encompassing sophisticated tools like
fonts, optical character recognition (OCR), machine translation
systems, and AI-driven language models. These groundbreaking
technologies have achieved remarkable success, garnering over millions
of usages and effectively bridging linguistic and technological
barriers within Tibet and the global diaspora. The AI-powered tools,
which include advanced capabilities such as Tibetan-to-English
translation, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and OCR technologies, are
instrumental in making Tibetan literature and resources more accessible
and preserving the linguistic heritage on a global scale.
Looking ahead, the Monlam organization has an ambitious vision for
the future. We are actively developing a foundational Tibetan/Culture-
focused Large Language Model (LLM). This initiative aims to create an
AI model trained extensively on Tibetan texts, enabling advanced
linguistic tools for translation, educational applications, and digital
preservation. Our LLM project is expected to play a transformative role
in enhancing the accessibility and usability of Tibetan language
resources in the digital age.
As part of our commitment to education and ethical AI development,
we are exploring the creation of an AI model based on His Holiness the
XIVth Dalai Lama. This model could be used to develop educational
resources, promote conflict resolution, and foster ethical decision-
making in AI systems.
In addition to technological advancements, we are committed to
integrating the richness of Tibetan cultural knowledge into modern
education. We believe that the future of Tibetan language preservation
lies in making it relevant to today's learners. To this end, we are
developing modern academic subjects in the Tibetan language, focusing
on areas such as science, technology, and social studies, while
incorporating Tibetan cultural perspectives. This will empower Tibetan
students to learn about contemporary topics without losing connection
to their linguistic and cultural roots.
Finally, we envision a transformation of modern education with a
deeper influence of Tibetan culture and values. By incorporating
Tibetan philosophical teachings and ethical principles into the
curriculum, we aim to provide a holistic educational experience that is
grounded in our rich heritage.
The preservation of Tibetan language and culture transcends
historical artifact conservation, representing a profound declaration
of resilience and identity that aims to ensure the survival of a living
tradition with valuable contributions to global cultural diversity.
Through collaborative efforts, innovative technologies, and unwavering
determination, the Tibetan diaspora is bridging traditional
preservation methods with modern digital capabilities, striving to
safeguard their heritage in the face of systemic repression. By
engaging technological innovation and community-driven initiatives,
this mission seeks to empower marginalized communities and highlight
the importance of cultural preservation, ultimately working toward a
more inclusive and culturally diverse future that respects and
celebrates the depth and significance of Tibetan linguistic and
cultural traditions.
______
Prepared Statement of Temulun Togochog
Sain Bainuu and greetings, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Temulun
Togochog. I am 17 years old and a U.S.-born Southern Mongolian human
rights activist, working alongside my father, Enghebatu Togochog,
Director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. My
parents live in exile here in the United States, and as a result, I
have never been able to visit my homeland.
I have never met my aunts, uncles, cousins, or nieces and nephews.
I have never celebrated Tsagaan Sar, the traditional Mongolian New
Year, with my relatives or learned many of their customs firsthand. My
parents have not returned to Southern Mongolia to attend family
weddings or funerals, nor to say their final goodbyes to loved ones.
Despite these challenges, my parents have worked tirelessly to
preserve our language, culture, and traditions. When I was little, they
sought out Mongolian babysitters to help teach me and my sister our
mother tongue. This was no easy task, as there were few Mongolians in
New York. Still, I was fortunate to learn some Mongolian from the
babysitters they found.
As I started school, time at home--and opportunities to learn
Mongolian--diminished, even though my parents consistently spoke
Mongolian at home. Southern Mongolians use the traditional script
written vertically from top to bottom, a script with over 800 years of
history. This script was not easy to learn, so my parents arranged for
a teacher from independent Mongolia to teach me and my sister the
Cyrillic Mongolian script.
In the summer of 2018, my father took us to a children's camp at
the Mongol-Tibetan Buddhist Center in Bloomington, Indiana. It was a
rare chance to speak Mongolian, sing traditional songs, cook Mongolian
food, and play with other Mongolian children, mostly from independent
Mongolia. It was a pleasant experience that gave me a glimpse of what
it might be like to return to Southern Mongolia. However, one painful
memory stands out: some Northern Mongolian children ridiculed our
Southern Mongolian accents and called us ``Chinese.''
Despite these struggles, I feel privileged to have grown up in the
United States, a free and democratic country where I can learn my
language, practice my traditions, and express my opinions without fear.
This stands in stark contrast to the millions of Southern Mongolians
who face repression and denial of basic rights.
Over the past seven decades, China has encouraged large-scale
Chinese migration into Southern Mongolia, reducing the ethnic Mongolian
population to only 18 percent of the region. This has not only
displaced us from our land but has also eroded our culture and way of
life.
In the early 2000s, China introduced policies to forcibly resettle
Mongolian herders, effectively ending nomadic pastoralism under the
pretext of ``grassland protection.'' By 2015, all nomads within China's
borders had been relocated, marking the end of this centuries-old way
of life.
Advocates for Mongolian rights face severe consequences. Prominent
activist Hada was detained in 1995 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Despite completing his sentence, he was held for an additional 4 years
and has been under house arrest since. His wife has been arrested
multiple times, and his son was imprisoned at just 17 years old. The
family remains under constant surveillance.
Other activists have faced similar repression. In 2020, Yanjindulam
was sentenced to 3 years in prison for defending herders' rights and
advocating for the Mongolian language. Dissident historian Lhamjab
Borjigin disappeared last year after being deported from independent
Mongolia.
Since 2020, the Chinese government has effectively removed the
Mongolian language from the education system, replacing it with Chinese
as the sole language of instruction. Mongolian-language books and
publications have been banned, and Mongolian signs and symbols are
being removed from public spaces. Authorities promote ``patriotic
education'' to enforce loyalty to the Chinese nation and Communist
Party.
In September 2020, many Mongolians, particularly students,
protested these policies through school boycotts and strikes.
Approximately 300,000 Southern Mongolian students joined the movement.
The Chinese government responded harshly, detaining and placing under
house arrest an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people.
The Chinese government's systematic oppression and erasure of
Mongolian language, culture, and identity is fueling a surge in
violence and hatred from the Chinese population toward local Mongolians
in Southern Mongolia. In a recent heartbreaking case, 9-year-old
Mongolian girl Hairaa was brutally beaten by her Chinese teacher for
struggling with Chinese-language homework. During the assault, her ear
was torn open and began bleeding profusely, requiring emergency
treatment at a hospital. This shocking incident is not an isolated case
but part of a disturbing and larger pattern of abuse faced by
Mongolians in Southern Mongolia.
Given these deteriorating conditions, I respectfully urge the
Committee and the U.S. Congress to consider the following
recommendations:
1. Nominate Hada for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his
lifelong struggle for Southern Mongolian rights and his decades of
imprisonment and house arrest.
2. Urge the U.S. Agency for Global Media to act on Congress's
recommendation to establish a Mongolian-language service in Voice of
America.
3. Support the swift passage of the ``Southern Mongolian Human
Rights Policy Act'' introduced by Senators Merkley and Sullivan.
4. Assist Southern Mongolian communities, both in Southern Mongolia
and in exile, in preserving their language, culture, and identity.
Thank you for your time and attention.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Chris Smith
Today's hearing, ``The Preservation of Memory: Combating the CCP's
Historical Revisionism and Erasure of Culture,'' serves as a capstone,
or a coda, on the work of this Commission during this 118th Congress.
I want to begin by posing a handful of questions:
Why is it that much of our Commission staff time is
dedicated to producing a statutorily mandated annual report that
tracks, exposes, and seeks to end the human rights abuse committed by
the Chinese Communist Party?
Why do we report upon efforts to sinicize religious
beliefs and erase the identities of distinct ethnicities, such as
Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians?
Why do we record the names of individuals who have
disappeared into that penal archipelago--the laogai--or are detained in
concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in our
Political Prisoner Database?
It is, I believe, because we are engaged in a grand project that
seeks not only to protect the innocent from the cruelty of the Chinese
Communist Party but to preserve memory--the memory of the Chinese
people writ large, undistorted by the propaganda narratives of the CCP,
the memory of ethnic groups whose unique cultural, linguistic, and
religious identities are under threat of erasure and, above all, the
memory of individuals whom the party would blot into oblivion.
This last point is very important because behind all the statistics
we collect and catalogue lie individuals, each born to a mother and a
father, each a precious human life bearing an inherent, God-given
dignity.
And above all, our CECC preservation project is testament to the
notion that truth does exist, that it is objective and not subjective,
and that while it cannot be extinguished, we still must do our part to
preserve it.
Today there are custodians of memory within China, or who were
forced to leave China, who seek to preserve truth, and who often suffer
for that--independent historians who researched and recorded what the
Communist Party considered taboo subjects, such as Yang Jisheng, who
wrote Tombstone, the definitive catalogue of the Great Famine of 1958
to 1962.
Yang was a journalist at Xinhua News Agency who instead of being
content with writing canned news reports to advance the Party's
propaganda narratives, used his spare time to access archives and to
conduct independent research with regard to a famine caused by Mao
Zedong's misguided policies, killing an estimated 36 million people.
Yang's great work remains banned in China, while he himself has been
banned from leaving China to receive the accolades which he deserves.
And our witness today, Rowena He, who ``taught the taboo.'' Because
she wrote and lectured on subjects such as the Tiananmen Massacre, she
was driven out of her job at the Chinese University of Hong Kong,
presumably at the behest of Beijing.
The people that Yang Jisheng and Rowena He write about, who
perished in the Great Famine or were mowed down at Tiananmen, are blood
martyrs, sometimes referred to as ``red martyrs.''
But there is another kind of martyr--what traditionally is called a
``white martyr''--those who are stripped of position and prestige, who
suffer because they are unbowed in their commitment to the truth,
regardless of the consequences; people such as Yang and He. Such is the
lot of the independent historian, who shuns lies and ideological
narratives.
A few weeks ago, Pope Francis came out with a letter which, while
focused on the study of Church history, also has insights into the
study of history more generally. While I am not prone to quote Pope
Francis--I prefer Benedict or the sainted John Paul--his statement on
the present state of historical inquiry has relevance to why we are
here today.
The Pope noted that there is an:
``[U]rgent need for a greater sense of history at a moment when
we see a tendency to dismiss the memory of the past or to
invent one suited to the requirements of dominant ideologies.
Faced with the cancellation of past history or with clearly
biased historical narratives, the work of historians, together
with knowledge and dissemination of their work, can act as a
curb on misrepresentations, partisan efforts at revisionism,
and their use to justify wars, persecutions, the . . .
utilization of weapons and any number of other evils.''
I think that this is a fitting reminder of the proper role of the
historian, to give testimony to truth and memory, while rejecting the
ersatz manipulation of ideology that masquerades as ``history.''
With that, I want to turn to my colleague, Co-chair Jeff Merkley,
with whom it has been a pleasure to serve during this 118th Congress.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jeff Merkley
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing. This is the
last hearing of this Commission in the 118th Congress, and it is a
fitting topic.
It is important to remind ourselves that our work must be grounded
in the lived experience of those we are trying to help. Preservation of
memory is an innate human impulse, essential to people's ability to
maintain their culture and identity. Our yearning to connect with each
other today draws on our shared connections with the past. George
Orwell's famous quote, ``Who controls the past controls the future: who
controls the present controls the past'' is lamentably apt. We see this
in our own country, such as when some minimize the impact of slavery in
order to curtail civil rights legislation.
In China, the ruling Communist Party engages in efforts to erase
and revise history to suit its interests. No student in China is ever
taught about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. It is wiped from the
country's consciousness, other than from those who were there. Despite
this, people in China still possess this innate impulse to remember.
They strive to safeguard memories in their own spaces. It is essential
to their ability to claim their rights and their dignity.
I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses about measures
taken by the government of China to control history and how people in
China are responding.
Those who have gone into exile take on the extra burden of
preserving their culture and heritage as it is being eroded or co-opted
in their homeland. I am sure their experience is similar to diaspora
communities from around the world. But they may also be subject to acts
of transnational repression by Chinese authorities for daring to speak
out.
Several of our witnesses have their own diaspora stories to tell. I
hope to learn about ways we can help. As an example, my ``Southern
Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act,'' introduced with Senator Dan
Sullivan, has a section encouraging the Smithsonian Institution and the
Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to explore ways to support the
efforts by Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers to
preserve their cultural heritage.
On a personal note, this is my last hearing in CECC leadership,
having spent 4 years as chair and then co-chair of this Commission. I
extend my gratitude to my House partners, Representatives Jim McGovern
and Chris Smith, in this endeavor. We have, together, Republicans and
Democrats, House and Senate Members, done valuable work:
We passed a landmark human rights statute, the ``Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act,'' as well as my ``Promoting a Resolution
to the Tibet-China Dispute Act.''
We held corporations' feet to the fire, from the
companies sponsoring the Beijing Olympics amidst a genocide, to those
selling biometric and surveillance technology to Chinese police forces.
We amplified the voices of Hong Kongers telling the story
of their city suffering under the repressive dictates of the Chinese
Communist Party, as well as the voices of Chinese human rights
defenders, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Southern Mongolians.
We focused attention on the Chinese government's practice
of transnational repression as they seek to extinguish the right of the
Chinese diaspora on American soil to speak freely about the Chinese
government's abuse of human rights.
This Commission does important non-partisan, standards-based work
that helps Congress and the executive branch craft fact-based policies.
Thank you, and I look forward to our witnesses' testimony.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. James P. McGovern
Good morning. I join Chairman Smith in welcoming everyone to
today's China Commission hearing on preserving the memory of ethnic
peoples facing systematic discrimination and erasure in the People's
Republic of China.
I am glad this Commission is taking up the role of preservation of
memory as a human rights issue. Memory, both individual and collective,
is essential to identity, and to the realization of the right to
culture for all peoples. The stories we tell, the songs we sing, our
writing, our music--all of these are expressions of ourselves. They are
also ways that we record our shared history and pass on our knowledge
and understanding of the world to those who follow us.
Without memory and the narratives it informs, it is much harder to
locate ourselves in this world. The essential role that memory plays in
our lives is the reason that international humanitarian law prohibits
attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art,
science, or charitable purposes, and historic monuments. It is the
reason that Article 7 of the Rome Statute defines ``crime against
humanity'' as including the persecution of an identifiable group or
collectivity on cultural grounds. It is the reason that preserving
memory is at the heart of transitional justice processes. Without
memory, the rights of victims to truth, justice, reparation, and the
guarantee of non-recurrence cannot be realized.
The existential importance of memory is the reason it is so
contested, as we will hear today. Any government or state that seeks to
repress the language of minority ethnic peoples, or rename their
symbolic places, or prohibit their traditional practices, or forcibly
assimilate them, is violating their basic human rights.
The People's Republic of China is not the only state engaged in
these practices. In the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which I co-
chair, we recently examined cultural erasure in Ukraine at the hands of
the Russian Federation.
But the PRC's ``sinicization'' policies are explicitly designed to
erode the history and identities of several minority ethnic
communities, in favor of Han Chinese culture and ``core socialist''
values. As one of our witnesses will say today, Chinese officials
promote ``patriotic education'' in an attempt to encourage ``all ethnic
groups to accept the great mother country, Chinese nationality, Chinese
culture, [and the] Chinese Communist Party.'' Tibetans, Uyghurs, ethnic
Mongolians--all are at risk.
Congress has taken some steps to counter this erasure. With strong
bipartisan support, it has authorized and funded programs for Tibetan
and Uyghur cultural and linguistic preservation. The recently
introduced ``Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act'' would extend
similar programming to southern Mongolians.
The Smithsonian Institution, also with congressional support, is
doing groundbreaking work to promote cultural diversity and preserve
endangered languages.
The Library of Congress, which has an excellent collection of
Tibetan-language works, has just received a donation of the 223-volume
Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary--an impressive initiative that we will
hear more about in the testimony today.
The ``Resolve Tibet Act,'' which became law last summer, takes a
complementary approach. It empowers the State Department to counter
disinformation about Tibetan history and institutions put forth by the
People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including
disinformation about the Dalai Lama. Ensuring that the U.S. Government
is insisting on the truth about the history of ethnic peoples inside
China is critically important.
The question for us today is, What more we can do to build on these
existing initiatives, especially working hand-in-hand with diaspora
communities? I look forward to the witnesses' recommendations.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Uzra Zeya
Good morning. I am grateful to join this important discussion of
the PRC's efforts to control and distort historical narratives and
repress marginalized religious and ethnic communities. As we gather
this morning, the PRC continues its genocide and crimes against
humanity in Xinjiang, the erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,
suppression of Tibetans' unique cultural, religious, and linguistic
identity, and other persistent human rights abuses throughout the
country. As Secretary Blinken has noted, under President Xi, the
Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more
aggressive abroad.
In this troubling context, the U.S. Government has been steadfast
in raising human rights at the highest levels with the PRC. Our
Administration prioritizes shining a light on and takes actions against
the PRC's abuses. Let me elaborate some of the key ways we've done so.
First, we have led the way in multilateral fora, including the
PRC's fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in January at the Human
Rights Council. We submitted 15 Advance Questions--more than any other
country--to the PRC covering a number of core human rights concerns.
The January 23d U.S. Statement at the UPR contained a series of
specific recommendations, specifically calling on the PRC to cease
discrimination against individuals' culture, language, religion or
belief, and end forcible assimilation policies. We again raised these
concerns in July at the UPR's formal adoption.
We have also worked in common cause with allies and partners since
2021, leading joint statements with dozens of governments on the human
rights situation in Xinjiang at the Human Rights Council and U.N.
General Assembly, commending the efforts of human rights defenders and
the courage shown by survivors of forced labor and detention camps.
Just this past October, we joined 14 other countries in an Australian-
led statement condemning the human rights situation in Xinjiang and
Tibet at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee.
In August, the State Department released a statement to mark the
second anniversary of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights'
Assessment on the Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang. We expressed our
grave concern with the PRC's ongoing repression of Muslim Uyghurs and
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang and
urged the PRC to take immediate action to end these ongoing atrocities.
Second, we are robustly implementing the ``Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act'' (UFLPA), including via additions to the UFLPA Entity
List. Last month, the multi-agency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force
added 29 companies to the Entity List, bringing the total to more than
100. We are unwavering in our work to prevent the importation of goods
made with forced labor into the United States, and to end forced labor
of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities, both inside and
outside of Xinjiang. In December 2023, we released a report under the
``Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act'' (UHRPA) to promote accountability,
which identified two PRC government officials connected to ongoing
serious human rights abuses in Xinjiang whom Treasury concurrently
sanctioned.
Third, we continue to voice deep concerns on democratic erosion in
Hong Kong as the PRC attempts to silence those peacefully expressing
their political views. In September, we worked with 22 partners of the
Media Freedom Coalition to release a joint statement condemning the
conviction of the former chief editors of Stand News for sedition,
which is a direct attack against media freedom. In November, we
strongly condemned the sentences of 45 defendants in Hong Kong's
National Security Law (NSL) trial of pro-democracy advocates.
Throughout the year, we took steps to impose new visa restrictions on
multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of the NSL.
Meanwhile, in my dual-hat role as U.S. Special Coordinator for
Tibetan Issues, I see all too clearly that the CCP aims to subsume
Tibet's rich traditions into its one-party framework. This manifests
itself through forced relocation; the requirement of monks and nuns to
pledge loyalty to the state; co-optation of the traditional succession
processes of Tibetan Buddhist lamas, including the Dalai Lama; and
restrictions on religious practices central to Tibetan culture and
identity.
We've taken multiple actions in response, including for the first
time designating two PRC officials under Global Magnitsky sanctions in
connection with serious human rights abuses in Tibet; imposing visa
restrictions against PRC officials involved in the forced assimilation
of over one million Tibetan children in government-run boarding
schools; and most recently, in July, imposing visa restrictions on PRC
officials for their involvement in repression of individuals in
marginalized religious and ethnic communities.
In conclusion, we will continue to promote accountability in
defense of these and other human rights in China.
Beyond the work that we do, I want to recognize our witnesses today
and their civil society compatriots, both in the PRC and in diaspora
communities around the world, who are fighting every day to protect
these integral parts of identity. I thank these brave individuals and
will continue to do everything I can to make sure your voices are heard
and heeded, despite the PRC's efforts to silence them.
Submissions for the Record
------
Submission of the Committee for Cultural Policy, Inc.
and Global Heritage Alliance
The ongoing systematic destruction of Uyghur and Tibetan cultural
heritage and the repression of Tibetan, Uyghur and other Muslim
minority rights by the Chinese government represents one of the gravest
humanitarian and cultural crises of our time. The United States must
take immediate decisive action to hold China accountable for its
flagrant violations of human rights and international law. Below, we
outline the key reasons why U.S. leadership is critical in this effort
and propose actions to address the crisis.
The Destruction of Uyghur Cultural Heritage
The destruction of Uyghur cultural sites is a cornerstone of
China's strategy to erase Uyghur identity. Reports by credible
organizations like the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
estimate that 65 percent of the mosques in Xinjiang--approximately
16,000--have been destroyed, damaged, or desecrated. Shrines,
cemeteries, and other sacred Islamic sites have also been razed or
repurposed. Recent reports, including a November 2023 Financial Times
investigation, reveal that the Chinese government's crackdown on
Islamic architectural features has now spread across China, with three-
quarters of mosques with Islamic design destroyed or modified since
2018.
These acts go beyond mere destruction of buildings. They are an
attempt to dismantle the very essence of Uyghur cultural identity. The
targeting of Uyghur sacred sites and traditional customs signals a
broader campaign to replace indigenous beliefs and practices with
state-approved narratives. In destroying cultural monuments, Beijing is
actively erasing the physical and spiritual connections that bind the
Uyghur people to their history and religion. As Maya Wang of Human
Rights Watch aptly stated, ``The Chinese government is not
`consolidating' mosques as it claims, but closing many down in
violation of religious freedom.'' These actions reflect a calculated
effort to ``Han-ify'' Uyghur culture and remove religion from public
and private life.
Human Rights Violations and Mass Detentions in Xinjiang
The destruction of cultural heritage is part of a wider campaign of
repression launched in 2014. Since then, the Chinese government has
detained over a million Uyghur and Kazakh citizens in what it calls
``re-education centers.'' However, survivors, leaked documents, and
satellite imagery have exposed these facilities as concentration camps
where detainees are subjected to:
Torture and inhumane treatment: Physical and sexual
abuse, starvation, sleep deprivation, and forced labor are common.
Forced renunciation of religion: Detainees are forced to
denounce Islam, memorize Communist Party ideology, and pledge loyalty
to President Xi Jinping.
Sterilization and birth control campaigns: Uyghur women
are subjected to forced sterilization and coercive birth control
policies in what many experts have labeled acts of genocide.
Cultural brainwashing: Uyghurs are punished for speaking
their language, practicing their religion, or celebrating their
traditions.
These camps, along with China's broader policies, are
systematically eliminating Uyghur identity. The mass incarceration of
Uyghurs also extends to retroactive criminalization of previously
lawful activities, such as teaching religion, owning books in the
Uyghur language, or attending weddings and other gatherings with
religious content. Over 200 leading Uyghur intellectuals, artists, and
scholars, like Dr. Rahile Dawut, a world-renowned folklorist, have been
``disappeared'' or sentenced to life imprisonment.
Destruction of Tibetan Identity and Cultural Heritage
China forcibly annexed Tibet in 1950 following an invasion,
formalized through the coerced signing of the Seventeen Point Agreement
in 1951. From the 1950s to the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976,
an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans were killed, and nearly all of
Tibet's 6,254 monasteries were destroyed. The Dalai Lama fled to India
after the Lhasa Uprising in 1959. Tibetan monastic populations were
reduced by 93 percent, and the Chinese government has since implemented
systematic measures to suppress Tibetan religion, language, and
culture.
Current Campaigns of Suppression
1. Suppression of Religion:
Monks, nuns, and laypeople face persecution for
practicing Tibetan Buddhism.
Reincarnation of Buddhist leaders now requires state
approval, effectively giving the Chinese government control over
Tibetan religious traditions.
The Panchen Lama, recognized by Tibetans in 1995, was
kidnapped and replaced with a state-selected figure, who is largely
rejected by the Tibetan
people.
Monasteries are required to display portraits of Chinese
Communist leaders and use Mandarin translations of religious texts.
Protests, including self-immolations, continue despite
violent crackdowns.
2. Destruction of Religious Sites:
Major religious sites, including Larung Gar and other
monasteries, have been demolished or drastically reduced in size.
In Drago County, Buddhist statues and prayer wheel houses
have been destroyed, with severe punishment for anyone opposing the
destruction.
3. Reeducation and Monitoring:
Monks and nuns are forced into reeducation programs
promoting loyalty to the Communist Party.
Citizens are penalized for expressing religious beliefs,
such as hanging prayer flags or participating in religious activities.
4. Forced Relocations and Surveillance:
Thousands of Tibetan families have been relocated to
government housing far from monasteries, severing cultural and
religious ties.
DNA samples from large segments of the population,
including children, have been collected under the guise of public
security.
Surveillance and repression extend to Tibetan communities
abroad, with threats against families in Tibet used to silence
criticism.
China's policies in Tibet represent a systematic effort to
assimilate Tibetan culture into the Han majority, violating human
rights and international agreements on cultural preservation and
religious freedom. Critics argue that Tibet's cultural and religious
heritage can only be preserved through global support and resistance to
these oppressive measures.
Targeting Women, Children, and Families in Xinjiang and Tibet
China's repression disproportionately targets the most vulnerable:
women, children, and families. Uyghur women are often arrested for
minor or nonexistent ``offenses,'' such as teaching children to pray or
wearing traditional clothing. Children are separated from their
families and placed in state-run orphanages and boarding schools, where
they are indoctrinated with Communist Party ideology and stripped of
their cultural and religious identity.
At least 880,000 Uyghur children are now in such institutions,
according to the U.S. State Department. Tibetan-language schools have
been shut down, and approximately 1 million Tibetan children are
forcibly placed in boarding schools far from their families, where they
are forbidden to speak Tibetan. The United Nations condemned this
system in 2023, highlighting its role in cultural assimilation and
linguistic erasure.
This deliberate destruction of family structure ensures that future
generations of Uyghurs grow up disconnected from their heritage.
Meanwhile, Uyghur activists abroad often face retaliation through the
persecution of their families back home. This tactic silences dissent
and demonstrates the reach of Beijing's authoritarian policies.
NY District Attorney Goes Beyond the U.S.'s Shameful Cultural Heritage
MOU with China to Return Tibetan Artifacts to PRC
The New York District Attorney's Office's Anti-Trafficking Unit
(ATU) recently returned 38 cultural artifacts, including Tibetan
Buddhist objects, to the People's Republic of China (PRC). These items,
said to date to the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, included bronze
dorjes, ivory carvings, wooden sculptures, and mural fragments. The
return, orchestrated by Assistant DA Matthew Bogdanos, occurred in a
ceremony at the Chinese Consulate in New York and was celebrated in the
Chinese press as a diplomatic success.
The return has drawn significant criticism, particularly from
Tibetan leaders and cultural advocates. Lama Wangchuk Gyaltsen of Santa
Fe, NM expressed outrage, highlighting China's historical repression of
Tibetan culture, including the destruction of monasteries during the
Cultural Revolution and current policies that suppress Tibetan
religious and cultural expression. He argued that Tibetan artifacts
should not be returned to the PRC but safeguarded until they can be
preserved in a free Tibet.
The action was purportedly justified under the U.S.-China
Memorandum of Understanding regarding cultural property. However, this
MOU, which acknowledges the PRC's claim over artifacts of minority
cultures like Tibetans and Uyghurs, contrasts sharply with U.S.
policies that condemn China's human rights abuse in Tibet. Critics
argue that the return of these artifacts undermines U.S. commitments to
human rights and cultural preservation. The Dalai Lama has long
advocated for the preservation of Tibetan culture outside of China,
stressing its significance for global peace and understanding. Tibetan
cultural heritage, including artifacts, has been safely maintained in
U.S. museums and private collections. Advocates call for these items to
remain in such safe havens rather than being repatriated to a regime
accused of systematically erasing Tibetan culture.
The controversy highlights tensions between diplomatic agreements
and the ethical obligation to protect the heritage of oppressed
peoples. It also underscores the need for the U.S. to balance cultural
repatriation policies with its commitment to human rights and the
preservation of minority cultures.
U.S. Responsibility and Leadership
The United States has long been a global advocate for human rights
and the protection of cultural heritage. The atrocities in Xinjiang
test the credibility of America's commitment to these principles. If
the U.S. does not lead the charge in holding China accountable, it
signals to authoritarian regimes worldwide that such crimes can go
unpunished.
Why the U.S. Must Act:
1. Moral Obligation: The scale and severity of China's actions meet
the criteria for genocide under the Genocide Convention, which
obligates signatories, including the U.S., to prevent and punish acts
of genocide.
2. Global Security: China's repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other
minorities is part of a broader authoritarian strategy that undermines
international norms and threatens global stability.
3. Cultural Preservation: The destruction of Uyghur and Tibetan
heritage is an assault on global cultural diversity. Allowing these
acts to continue without consequence sets a dangerous precedent for
cultural cleansing elsewhere.
Proposed Actions
The U.S. must take a multi-faceted approach to address China's
human rights abuse and the destruction of Uyghur and Tibetan cultural
heritage. Below are actionable steps:
1. End the U.S.-China MOU under the CPIA:
China fails to meet the legal requirements outlined in
the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) for establishing a
Memorandum of Understanding to restrict the importation of cultural
property. Notably, China has not fulfilled the obligation to
demonstrate that it has ``taken measures consistent with the Convention
to protect its cultural patrimony.''
The U.S. State Department's recent renewal of a cultural
heritage MOU with China under the CPIA is a deeply concerning decision.
This action effectively endorses China's imposition of a singular
cultural narrative and its harsh persecution of religious and cultural
minorities.
China's actions are in clear violation of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), as well as the U.N.
Charter and the UNESCO Convention.
Upholding diplomatic relations does not necessitate
abandoning core U.S. principles or entering into agreements that
disregard the explicit requirements of the 1983 Cultural Property
Implementation Act.
As the dominant global market for Chinese art and one of
the most repressive authoritarian regimes in the world, China does not
require U.S. assistance in controlling access to its cultural property.
2. Strengthen Sanctions:
Expand and enforce sanctions under the Global Magnitsky
Act to target Chinese officials and entities responsible for human
rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Impose penalties on companies complicit in forced labor
or surveillance in Xinjiang.
3. Mobilize International Coalitions:
Lead efforts at the United Nations to hold China
accountable, including calling for an independent investigation into
crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Collaborate with allies to create a coalition that
pressures Beijing economically and diplomatically.
4. Protect Uyghur Diaspora Communities:
Grant asylum to Uyghur refugees fleeing persecution and
protect Uyghur and Tibetan activists abroad from Chinese intimidation
and harassment.
5. Support Uyghur and Tibetan Cultural Preservation:
Fund initiatives to document and preserve Uyghur and
Tibetan culture, history, and language.
Partner with universities, NGOs, and museums to create
archives of Uyghur cultural artifacts and oral histories.
6. Legislate Accountability:
Pass legislation like the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to ensure that no U.S. entities
are complicit in China's abuse.
The U.S. Congress and Senate have condemned China's
actions in Tibet, emphasizing support for Tibetans' rights to self-
determination and cultural preservation. This pressure must continue.
7. Raise Awareness:
Support media, academic, and public campaigns that expose
China's actions in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Highlight the stories of survivors and victims to counter
Beijing's propaganda.
8. Encourage Multinational Accountability:
Pressure international organizations, such as the
International Criminal Court, to investigate crimes against humanity in
Xinjiang.
Advocate for boycotts of international events in China,
such as the Olympics, until significant human rights improvements are
made.
Conclusion
The destruction of Uyghur and Tibetan cultural heritage and the
ongoing human rights abuse in Xinjiang and Tibet represent an urgent
crisis that demands a robust response from the United States. This is
not just about protecting one ethnic group or one region--it is about
defending universal principles of human dignity, religious freedom, and
cultural diversity.
The U.S. must lead the global community in confronting China's
authoritarian actions. This includes imposing meaningful consequences
for crimes against humanity, supporting the Uyghur and Tibetan people
in preserving their heritage, and ensuring that the world never forgets
the atrocities being committed. The cost of inaction is too high. It
risks emboldening China and other authoritarian regimes, undermining
global human rights, and allowing an entire culture to be erased.
By taking decisive action, the United States can reaffirm its role
as a global leader in the fight for justice and ensure that the Tibetan
and Uyghur peoples do not stand alone in their struggle for survival
and freedom.
Thank you for your attention to these issues of global importance.
Kate Fitz Gibbon, Executive Director, Committee for Cultural
Policy, Inc.
Elias Gerasoulis, Global Heritage Alliance
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Witness Biographies
Geshe Lobsang Monlam, ordained Tibetan monk, AI enthusiast, and
founder of Monlam Tibetan IT Research Center
Dr. Lobsang Monlam was ordained at Sera Mey Monastic University,
and pursued traditional Buddhist studies for more than 18 years before
recognizing the urgent need to preserve the Tibetan language in the
digital era. In 2003, he began developing Tibetan fonts and digital
tools, including the widely used Monlam Dictionary and Monlam Tibetan
Keyboard. In 2012, he established the Monlam Tibetan IT Research Center
to promote Tibetan language and culture through technology, building 37
open-source software applications to date and amassing a vast library
of digitized texts. In 2023, after receiving his doctorate in Library
Science, he launched Monlam AI, a pioneering initiative using
artificial intelligence to enhance Tibetan language learning, cultural
preservation, and linguistic research with his latest innovation, the
Monlam Melong (LLM). Dr. Lobsang Monlam's relentless efforts reflect
the broader commitment of the Tibetan diaspora to preserve its
linguistic and cultural legacy, as well as empowering a new generation
to access and safeguard their cultural heritage as seen in projects
like the Monlam Grand Tibetan Dictionary and the forthcoming Tibetan
Digital Library.
Rowena He, Senior Research Fellow, University of Texas (Austin) and
author of Tiananmen Exiles: Voices for the Struggle for Democracy in
China; former Associate Professor of History at the Chinese University
of Hong Kong until banned in 2023
Rowena He is a China specialist and historian of modern China. Her
research focuses on the nexus of history, memory, and power, and their
implications for the relationship between intellectual freedom and
public opinion, human rights and democratization, and youth values and
nationalism. Her first book, Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle
for Democracy in China, was named one of the Top Five Books 2014 by the
Asia Society's ChinaFile. Her research has been supported by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Harvard
University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Institute for
Advanced Study at Princeton, and the National Humanities Center.
Dr. He lectures and publishes widely beyond the academy in both
English and Chinese. Her op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post,
The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal, and the
Nation. She has been a keynote speaker for the Canada Human Rights
National Symposium, testified at congressional hearings, and delivered
lectures for the U.S. State Department and the Canadian Global Affairs
Office. Her scholarly opinions are regularly sought by international
media outlets. She was designated among the Top 100 Chinese Public
Intellectuals 2016.
Dr. He received the Harvard University Certificate of Teaching
Excellence for three consecutive years. Her teaching has been featured
by both international and campus news including the New York Times, the
Wall Street Journal, Harvard Magazine, and Wellesley News. She joined
the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019 and received the Faculty of
Arts Outstanding Teaching Award in 2020 and 2021. In 2023, she was
denied a work visa to return to her position as an Associate Professor
of History.
Born and raised in China, she received her Ph.D. from the
University of Toronto.
Temulun Togochog, U.S.-born Southern Mongolian activist and
freshman, Mercer County Community College, NJ, enrolled in the Honors
Program
Temulun Togochog was born to a Southern Mongolian exile family and
raised in New York City. She has actively promoted the human rights and
freedom of the Mongolian people in Southern Mongolia, also known as
``Inner Mongolia.'' In April 2023, Togochog testified before the United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) 22nd Session in
New York City on China's gross human rights violations in Southern
Mongolia; in May 2023, Togochog spoke at the ``Conference for
Empowering the Youth for Democracy, Peace and Justice'' hosted by the
Asia Freedom Institute; in August 2023, Togochog was invited to speak
at the ``Indigenous Peace Talks Series No. 2: Genocide on the Mongolian
Steppe: Inner Mongolia Indigenous Peoples of China'' hosted by the
United States Institute of Peace; in December 2023, Togochog was
interviewed by Mr. Roland Walters, a British documentary filmmaker, for
his upcoming new documentary film entitled ``The Mongol Khan''
regarding her personal experience as a young activist born to an exile
family in the
United States. In April 2024, Togochog testified before the UNPFII 23rd
Session about China's policies of erasing the language, culture, and
identity of the Mongolian people in Southern Mongolia, and in September
2024, she spoke at the ``Briefing of United Nations Member States at
the United Nations General Assembly'' on the deteriorating human rights
conditions in Southern Mongolia. Togochog was a member of the National
Honor Society, and a High Honors Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center
for Talented Youth. She speaks English, French, and Mongolian.
Julian Ku, faculty director of international programs and Maurice
A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at Hofstra
University
Mr. Ku's research has focused on the interplay between
international law, foreign law, and domestic U.S. law. His writings
cover a wide range of topics including international dispute
resolution, international criminal law, and China's relationship with
international law. He teaches courses such as U.S. constitutional law,
U.S. foreign affairs law, international law, China and international
law, and international trade and business law.
He is the co-author, with John Yoo, of Taming Globalization:
International Law, the U.S. Constitution, and the New World Order
(Oxford University Press 2012). He also has published more than 40 law
review articles, book chapters, symposia contributions, and essays. He
has given dozens of academic lectures and workshops at major
universities and conferences in the United States, Europe and Asia.
He co-founded the international law blog Opinio Juris and is a
contributing editor to Lawfare, a leading blog analyzing national
security issues. His essays and op-eds have been published in major
news publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles
Times and NYTimes.com. He has been frequently interviewed for
television news programs and quoted in print and electronic media. He
has also signed or submitted amicus briefs to national and
international courts and served as an expert witness in both domestic
and international proceedings. He has served as interim dean of the
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University as well as vice
dean for academic affairs. He is a member of the New York Bar and a
graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.
Before joining the Hofstra Law faculty, Professor Ku served as a
law clerk to Hon. Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit and as an Olin Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the
University of Virginia Law School. Professor Ku also practiced as an
associate at the New York City law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton. He has
been a visiting professor at Columbia University School of Law; the
College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law; a Fulbright
Distinguished Lecturer in Law at East China University of Political
Science and Law; and a Taiwan Fellow at National Taiwan University.
Rishat Abbas, Uyghur American and accomplished scientist; President
of Uyghur Academy International
Dr. Rishat Abbas is a senior clinical research leader and scientist
with 30 years of experience in the U.S. He has contributed to clinical
research and approval of several innovative new medicines in oncology
and other therapeutic areas. Dr. Abbas has authored over 150 peer-
reviewed scientific publications and received several prestigious
awards for his achievements. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State
University in 1994.
Beyond his scientific career, Dr. Abbas is a prominent advocate for
human rights and democratic freedom for the Uyghur people suffering
from human rights abuse, cultural destruction, and repression under the
CCP regime. In 1998, he played a crucial role in advocating for the
establishment of the Uyghur Program at Radio Free Asia. Since 2017, Dr.
Abbas has been briefing U.N. and government officials on China's
ongoing Uyghur genocide and crimes against humanity. He played a
pivotal role in establishing the Global Uyghur Academy network, which
has seven branches and four institutes in the diaspora. He also serves
as a senior advisor for the World Uyghur Congress and Campaign for
Uyghurs.
The advocacy of Dr. Abbas and his sister Ms. Rushan Abbas has come
at a profound personal cost, with their sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas,
unjustly imprisoned since
2018--a glaring example of the regime's attempts to silence dissent.
This ordeal underscores their remarkable courage and dedication in the
face of such significant personal sacrifice.
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