[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 92 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H4821-H4822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            WEI JINGSHENG SUFFERS BEATING IN CHINESE PRISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in great sadness this evening to 
report to our colleagues in the House of Representatives that, since 
the activity on this floor earlier this week regarding sending a signal 
to China about our seriousness about human rights, there are reports 
out of Beijing, both Reuters and AP, that veteran dissident Wei 
Jingsheng has been severely beaten by other prison inmates who were 
told they could get reduced prison sentences if they attacked him.
  Mr. Speaker, Wei Jingsheng is known as the Sakharov of China. He is 
the leading pro-democracy dissident there and has been in prison for 14 
years. He has been in prison since the Democracy Wall demonstrations in 
1979. He was released for a couple of months when China wanted to get 
the Olympics, and then rearrested after a meeting with Assistant 
Secretary of State John Shattuck, Secretary for Human Rights and 
Democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, Wei has been there and he will not be contrite. He will 
not apologize for his pro-democratic statements and he is sentenced to 
another 14-year sentence for speaking out peacefully for pro-democratic 
change. He is being beaten by the other inmates, as I said, and they 
are getting reduced sentences if they strike him. His health is not 
good, it has not been good, and he is not receiving appropriate medical 
attention.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that our Democratic leader in the 
House, the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt] has written to 
Secretary Albright regarding the news about Wei Jingsheng. He expressed 
his concern about the reports and mentioned that Wei has been a symbol 
of hope for those who wish to confront Chinese tyranny. The gentleman 
mentioned that he as well as many of us are great admirers of Wei's 
commitment to the struggle for freedom. The gentleman from Missouri 
urges Secretary Albright to raise the issue at the highest levels 
during her upcoming trip to Hong Kong and use all diplomatic and other 
available sources to fight for Wei's safety and release.
  Mr. Speaker, Wei Jingsheng has received the European Parliament's 
Sakharov Prize. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he 
is being kicked in the neck in the Chinese prisons and his tormenters 
are given time off for that so-called good behavior.
  I bring this up at this time because there is a delegation leaving 
for Hong Kong for the changeover that will take place on June 30. 
Secretary Albright has stated that she will not attend the event which 
is the swearing in of the puppet legislature.
  Mr. Speaker, just as a matter of background, briefly, there is a 
democratically elected legislature called Legco in Hong Kong. In 
preparation for the takeover, the Chinese regime has appointed a puppet 
legislature which will take over July 1 as they throw out the 
democratically elected legislature. So much for Democratic freedoms in 
Hong Kong.
  It is a travesty that this Government of the United States, 
especially under the circumstances of Wei Jingsheng's torment, will be 
sending our consul general to legitimize this illegal legislature that 
is going to be sworn in on Tuesday.
  Mr. Speaker, I call upon the Secretary of State, who never intended 
to attend the legislative swearing in in the first place because the 
administration knew that it was not appropriate, to withdraw the 
possibility that the consul general to Hong Kong, the representative of 
the United States, and other representatives of the State Department 
not attend. Not attend.
  And, Mr. Speaker, I would certainly hope that no Member of the 
Congress of the United States would legitimize the illegal legislature 
that has been handpicked by Beijing to replace the democratically 
elected legislature. Its term has at least one more year to run.
  It is interesting to me, though, to see the contradiction from the 
administration. On the one hand, they used on this floor and in their 
correspondence, and they used in a letter from the President of the 
United States, the name of Martin Lee as the leading democrat in Hong 
Kong, as the leading person to say support MFN for China; it is good 
for Hong Kong. And they used his credentials as the top democratically 
elected legislator in Hong Kong. Martin Lee, Martin Lee. He is a 
champion of democracy and his name was used earlier on the floor this 
week. And now Martin Lee will be ousted, replaced by a puppet 
legislature, and we in the United States, the greatest democracy in the 
world, will have our representatives there to legitimize that effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members of Congress not to attend. I urge the 
administration not to send representatives to that swearing in.

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