[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5850-H5853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1400
CALLING ON CHINA TO IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASE DR. YANG
JIANLI
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 199) calling on the Government of the
People's Republic of China immediately and unconditionally to release
Dr. Yang Jianli, calling on the President of the United States to
continue working on behalf of Dr. Yang Jianli for his release, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 199
Whereas according to the United States Department of
State's 2002 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in
China, the Government of the People's Republic of China has
``continued to commit numerous and serious [human rights]
abuses'', including ``instances of . . . arbitrary arrest and
detention, lengthy incommunicado detention, and denial of due
process'';
Whereas according to the 2002 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices in China, ``the country's criminal
procedures were not in compliance with international
standards'', ``the lack of due process in the judicial system
remained a serious problem'', and ``authorities routinely
violated legal protections in the cases of political
dissidents'';
Whereas Dr. Yang Jianli, an internationally renowned
scholar, prodemocracy activist, and President of the
Foundation for China in the 21st Century, is an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United
States;
Whereas Dr. Yang Jianli has been detained incommunicado by
the Government of the People's Republic of China since April
26, 2002, when he was arrested for reportedly entering China
with false or incomplete identity documents;
Whereas according to the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights Resolution 1997/38, ``prolonged incommunicado
detention may . . . itself constitute a form of cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment'', which is prohibited by
international law;
Whereas Dr. Yang Jianli has been deprived of his basic
human rights by being denied access to legal counsel and
contact with his wife and two children (who are United States
citizens), and has also been denied his right to trial within
a reasonable time or to release;
Whereas on May 7, 2003, the United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention expressed the opinion that ``[t]he non-
observance of Mr. Yang Jianli's right to a fair trial is of
such gravity as to give his deprivation of liberty an
arbitrary character. Therefore, his arrest and detention is
arbitrary being in contravention of Article 9 of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of Article 9 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights''; and
Whereas the arbitrary imprisonment and the violation of the
human rights of United States citizens and permanent resident
aliens by the Government of the People's Republic of China
are sources of continuing, grave concern to the House of
Representatives: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the House of Representatives--
(A) condemns and deplores the incommunicado detention of
Dr. Yang Jianli, and calls for his immediate and
unconditional release;
(B) condemns and deplores the lack of due process afforded
to Dr. Yang;
(C) strongly urges the Government of the People's Republic
of China to respond to the repeated requests by Members of
the House of Representatives for information about Dr. Yang's
whereabouts and condition; and
(D) strongly urges the Government of the People's Republic
of China to consider the implications for the broader
relationship between the United States and the People's
Republic of China of detaining permanent resident aliens of
the United States without providing them access to legal
counsel or family members; and
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States--
(A) should make the immediate release of Dr. Yang Jianli by
the Government of the People's Republic of China a top
concern of United States foreign policy;
(B) should continue to make every effort to assist Dr. Yang
Jianli and his family while discussions of his release are
ongoing;
(C) should make it clear to the Government of the People's
Republic of China that the detention of United States
citizens and permanent resident aliens and the infliction of
human rights violations on these groups are not in the
interest of the Government of the People's Republic of China
because they create obstacles to improved bilateral relations
and cooperation with the United States; and
(D) should reiterate the deep concern of the United States
regarding the continued imprisonment of Dr. Yang Jianli and
other United States citizens and permanent resident aliens
whose human rights are being violated, and discuss their
legal status and immediate humanitarian needs with the
Government of the People's Republic of China.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bass). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I think as every Member of this body knows, the PRC and
its leadership in Beijing would love to be regarded as a respected
member of the international community. In pursuit of that goal,
however, the PRC has sought and obtained membership in the World Trade
Organization; and it has lobbied and received the Beijing Olympics of
2008. However, trade volume alone, and there has been a great deal of
trade volume particularly between the U.S. and China, is not really a
measure of success, I would say to my colleagues. What really
determines the quality of a country is how it treats its own citizens,
and how it respects fundamental human rights.
History shows that some very unsavory regimes held the Olympic games.
We all remember the Nazi Olympic Games prior to the Second World War,
but holding a game, having trade, having the air of respectability does
not necessarily mean that it is a respectable regime.
The government of Beijing has an enormous way to go, I would
respectfully submit, to earn the international respect that it craves.
The Chinese government, and I consider it to be a dictatorship, but if
they really hope to earn respectability in the eyes of the world, they
need to make some very needed fundamental changes, and there is a case
in point that we raise today, and I thank the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for bringing this resolution before us today.
Dr. Yang Jianli is a compelling case. H. Res. 199, introduced by the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) highlights the case of this
U.S. lawful permanent resident who has been unjustly detained
incommunicado inside China since April 26, not of this year, but of
last year, 14 months. Mr. Yang was arrested for reportedly entering
China with false or incompletely identifying documents, has been denied
access to counsel, contact with his wife Christina Fu and their two
children, Anita and Aaron, and his right to a trial within a reasonable
time.
Frankly, Beijing remains more concerned about the research, at least
that is our belief, that the internationally respected scholar Dr.
Yang, who was conducting studies regarding labor unrest in China,
rather than how he got into the country. It is all about what he was
studying.
Dr. Yang's research points to the dark side of the Chinese economic
miracle, the so-called workers' paradise, where the working class
remains the main victim of unemployment and forced early retirement due
to the restructuring of State-owned enterprises. That then is Dr.
Yang's major sin in Beijing's eyes. He was documenting the anger of
workers directed at party bosses mired in personnel greed and
corruption despite their official pledge to serve the people.
[[Page H5851]]
Beijing's loss of face in this case has only been compounded by the
recent determination by the United States Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, which found that Mr. Yang's detention is arbitrary and in
direct contravention of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. As
the U.N. working group has so clearly pointed out, the continued
arbitrary detention of this man is not the action of a great nation
which seeks the full respect of the international community.
The U.S. House of Representatives today is sending a clear, not
ambiguous, message to the government of Beijing: Let Dr. Yang go, let
him come home to his wife, his children. His wife is here with us and
his children are on the floor of this House right now.
We care about this man. We care about it in a bipartisan way,
Democrats and Republicans. A lot divides us in this Chamber. The case
of Dr. Yang unites us.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume,
and I rise in strong support of this resolution.
First, Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my friend, the gentleman from
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the
distinguished chairman of the Committee on International Relations, for
moving this resolution forward so expeditiously, but I particularly
want to commend my dear friend and distinguished colleague from
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for his outstanding leadership on this
resolution and indeed on all human rights issues.
Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House addresses one human
rights case that is unfortunately part of a much larger trend in modern
day China. Over the past several years, the Chinese government has
deliberately targeted naturalized Americans born in China and Chinese
citizens permanently residing in the United States for harassment and
imprisonment in the People's Republic of China.
Instead of, as one would expect, welcoming Chinese-American talent,
the People's Republic of China is sending the message to the Chinese
diaspora that it returns to China at its own considerable risk.
Mr. Speaker, in the case addressed in this resolution, Dr. Yang
Jianli is a scholar and a leader of a prominent human rights
organization. He is a permanent legal resident of the United States. He
returned to the People's Republic of China in April of last year, and
he has been detained incommunicado ever since that time. He has a wife
and two children in the United States, all of whom are American
citizens, and he has been unable to communicate with his family since
the moment of his detention. He has been denied access to legal
counsel.
Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that Dr. Yang be released and allowed
to return to his family in the United States as soon as possible. I
would also urge the executive branch of our government to make his
release a priority. Until Dr. Yang is released, an ominous shadow will
lie over U.S.-Chinese relations. It is absolutely incomprehensible and
insane that this great nation of 1.2 billion people should keep an
American citizen, the father of two small American children,
incommunicado in a Communist prison in China.
I commend the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for
introducing this resolution, and I urge all of my colleagues to support
it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Does the gentlewoman from
Florida seek unanimous consent to control the balance of the time?
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Yes, I do, Mr. Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), the chairman of the House
Policy Conference.
Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding me the
time.
I too rise in strong support of H. Res. 199 calling on the government
of the People's Republic of China to immediately and unconditionally
release Dr. Yang Jianli.
Dr. Yang is being imprisoned for his love of democracy and his love
of country. As a tireless fighter for human rights and democracy in
China, Dr. Yang has remained faithful to his conscience and to his
cause, even at the risk of imperiling his career and his life.
Nearly 15 years ago, after studying in the United States for 4 years,
Dr. Yang suspended his graduate studies and returned to the land of his
birth, to China, to support the students who were working for democracy
in Beijing. On June 4, 1989, he watched as the tanks rolled in
Tiananmen Square and narrowly escaped himself while his fellow students
and activists were imprisoned and executed.
Throughout this ordeal his wife Christina Fu did not know if he was
even alive. Today, Christina is being tortured in a living hell once
more because once again she does not know whether the Chinese Communist
Party will return her husband alive.
Her husband's imprisonment violates all of the procedures and rules
that the PRC has set out in law, and it confirms our worst fears, that
when it comes to the denial of human rights, nothing in the People's
Republic of China has really changed since 1989.
Today's totalitarian regime continues to view freedom and liberty as
dangerous threats to the existing order and acts accordingly, punishing
democracy activists like Dr. Yang with ruthless impunity.
He is a permanent resident of the United States. His family lives
here. His wife Christina is with us in the Chamber as are his children
Aaron and Anita. I have met with Christina and with his family many
times over the last several month, and we have tried in every way to
send our concerns to the rulers in Beijing. This American family
deserves to have their father back, and this man, whose human rights
are being abridged by the PRC's violation of its own laws and every
international covenant that it had signed, deserves basic fairness.
Dr. Yang has been held incommunicado in the People's Republic of
China for over 13 months, incommunicado, meaning that nobody can talk
to him. We cannot get the State Department to talk to him. We cannot
see this American resident. We cannot report to his family in what
condition he is. He has not been properly charged in violation of
Beijing's own laws.
Earlier this month on June 4, which incidentally was the 14th
anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, the United Nations Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention found that China violated Dr. Yang Jianli's
rights as a citizen, as a citizen of China, and violated his rights as
a resident of the United States by detaining him in a Chinese prison
with no access to family or to a lawyer. As a consequence of these
actions, the working group concluded that China is violating the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.
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It is fitting that a U.N.-sponsored organization, with its diverse
membership and international credentials, would single out the PRC for
its dreadful behavior. The Working Group consisted of representatives
from Algeria, France, Hungary, Paraguay, and Iran. That is right, even
Iran has condemned this abuse of human rights by China. The PRC ought
to be very ashamed.
The day after the U.N. report, the Communist regime responded that it
had complied with Chinese law by advising Dr. Yang's family of his
detention via telephone. The PRC's statements conveniently avoid the
discussion of any of the specific laws that govern the detention
process. While claiming it provided a notice of detention, the regime
in Beijing forgot to add its own procedural law requires that the
family or employer of a detained person be notified within 24 hours of
a detention. That formal notice of detention has been sorely absent for
months.
Moreover, while PRC law also permits detention of 37 days without a
warrant in emergency situations, Dr. Yang has been illegally detained
in China for more than a year. This blatant disregard for the due
process of law is further evidence of the PRC's collective disdain
towards the established rule of law. Despite the unambiguous text of
its own laws and the
[[Page H5852]]
weight of international condemnation, the communist regime continues to
use deceit and manipulation to strengthen its totalitarian rule.
Just as it persecutes men and women like Dr. Yang, the PRC is
attempting to extend its coercion beyond. The House is also considering
today House Resolution 277, legislation that I authored to condemn the
PRC's crackdown on freedom of speech in Hong Kong. As the city with the
strongest tradition of freedom in China, Hong Kong is an island of
liberty in a sea of oppression. Preserving free speech in Hong Kong
will help ensure that liberty flourishes not just for the people of
Hong Kong but throughout the PRC, so that in the future we will not be
on the floor with resolutions for individual heroes and heroines such
as Dr. Yang Jianli.
Mr. Speaker, securing liberty in the People's Republic of China and
freedom for Dr. Yang are all part of the same struggle. The Chinese
Communist Party must not be allowed to forget the sacrifices made at
Tiananmen Square. They must not be allowed to extinguish the message of
hope that Tiananmen survivors, like Dr. Yang, convey to the people of
the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts
(Mr. Frank), for authoring this legislation; and I commend the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), as well as the ranking member, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), for supporting freedom for Dr.
Yang and freedom in China and around the world.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), the author of
this resolution and one of the most indefatigable fighters for human
rights in this body.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, we often congratulate and
thank each other when we take these microphones, but I have to say that
I do so here with the greatest sincerity of which I am capable. The
gentleman from California, who has drawn on his own life experience to
become an unabashed, unceasing opponent of oppression everywhere, is an
inspiration to us.
I appreciate very much the chairman of the full committee, the
gentleman from Illinois, for agreeing to bring this forward with great
speed and allowing us to deal with it on a timetable that we hope will
give it the maximum impact in freeing this brave man from a wholly
unjustified imprisonment.
To the gentleman from New Jersey, who chairs the subcommittee, he has
been staunch in his advocacy; and I express my great appreciation as
well to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), whose own expertise in
dealing with the People's Republic of China has been built up over the
years. He and my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Capuano), have been indispensable allies and partners in this fight.
And, Mr. Speaker, it is a very simple fight. We are saying to the
government of the People's Republic of China, we understand your
aspiration to be treated with all the respect due a great power. We ask
you to act like one. We ask you to understand that even though there
are many among us who differ with your form of government, are critical
of some aspects of your society, we are prepared to recognize the fact
of not just your existence but of your strength, of your power, and of
your economy as it grows.
We and the Chinese Government occupy the same Earth, and that
requires us to cooperate even where there are areas of disagreement.
But there are limits to the extent to which this Nation, with our
commitment to our basic principles, can look the other way. There are
limits to the extent to which we can say economic self-interest and
geopolitical self-interest preempt concern for principle. And here we
have an example.
Mr. Speaker, Dr. Yang's crime is that he loved too much both liberty
and China. Born in China, he worked as a Chinese citizen to bring to
his fellow citizens the freedom that he understands is so important. He
was expelled not because he hurt anyone, not because he stole anything,
not because he mistreated anyone, but because he would not bridle his
love of liberty; and so he was sent away. But he could not stay away.
He has, of course, a great love for his wife and his children, and
they for him. And their commitment to his cause and the dignity with
which they bear the pain of their separation inspires all of us who
have worked with him. Dr. Yang risked a great deal to go back to China,
not to steal, not to undermine, not to cause problems, not to engage in
terrorism; but to try to help people live their lives in some freedom.
And he, unfortunately, had to enter illegally. We acknowledge that.
Because he would not have been allowed in that society to do what he
wanted to do legally.
Having apprehended him, though I wish the Chinese had a different set
of rules and did not feel threatened by a man who loved liberty and
wanted to preach it, they had a right to apprehend him and send him
back. And maybe they would not send him back right away; they would
hold him for a week, two, three, to try to discourage him. But there is
no justification for having held this wholly decent man so long without
allowing him to be in touch with his family, without even any formal
charges, and in a way that violated the most basic human norms. As my
friend from California said, even the government of Iran, not to be
confused with anybody's civil liberties union, joined in the
condemnation of this mistreatment.
Mr. Speaker, we say to the government of China that many of us are
prepared to go forward in a cooperative set of arrangements dictated by
the interests of the peoples of the world, despite profound
differences. We can talk about them. But when you impose with all the
might of this great government of China, when you impose this
incredibly harsh punishment on this solitary man, take him and keep him
from his family, punish him so harshly for nothing that is a crime by
any civilized standard, you drive a wedge between us. And I urge the
government of China in its own interest to remove this wedge; to show
that in fact the pessimists are wrong and that as you grow economically
you can evolve socially, you can outgrow the total lack of self-
confidence that makes you appear to quake before one lone individual
committed to freedom.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the People's Republic of China to listen to this
House of Representatives, to the President of the United States and the
State Department, to the people of America and discontinue insisting on
mistreating this brave man, not simply because it is the wrong thing to
do on principle but because it is a very wrong thing to do practically.
I urge the government of China to reconsider whether the enormous
damage you are doing to relationships that you believe are important is
worth the continued persecution of Dr. Yang. And I believe that
rational people will come to the conclusion that the answer is ``no.''
Mr. Speaker, I again thank my colleagues for giving us a chance as a
Nation to make this important statement of principle.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano), who has worked so hard on
this resolution.
Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to echo all the comments that have
been made, but I want to make it clear. I want everyone to know what
this gentleman has done.
To me, this gentleman is clearly a hero. We have used the word, but
understand what he did. Here is a gentleman who came from China,
established a very successful, very comfortable life here in America: a
wife and two children living in one of our best and most beautiful
suburbs of Boston; well-respected in the community, well thought of,
well loved. Very easy for him to live out the rest of his life in that
comfort without any real concerns. He could speak any way he wanted to
speak, feel any way he wanted to feel, do any work he wanted to do. But
what did he do? He took himself voluntarily from that comfort on his
own to go back to China to fight for democracy.
If anyone here thinks they have the courage to do that, you are a
better person than I am. I do not know that I would have the courage to
do that. I wish I would, and maybe if faced with that someday, I hope I
might be able to live up to those incredible standards. But I am not so
sure. I am not so sure.
[[Page H5853]]
This is a true modern hero, fighting for what we all talk about all
day long. We are here, with all of our differences, with all of our
agreements and disagreements, fighting for a better democracy. That is
what we are all here for. He is fighting for a simple democracy. We
cannot abandon him. The fact that this resolution is on the floor
obviously shows the U.S. Congress stands with Dr. Yang, stands with the
principles that I think he epitomizes.
China, as a great country, has chosen to hold him without charges.
There have been no charges. There is no lawyer assigned to him. No
judge has heard this case. No jury has heard this case. No
administrator has heard this case. His family has not been allowed to
visit him. I went on an official delegation to China in January, and I
was not allowed to visit him. No American official has been allowed to
visit him. No doctor of the family, no representative of the family has
been allowed to visit him. How can a great country ask us to treat them
as a great country when they act in such a manner?
Any crime he might have committed has already been paid back to China
in the 14 months he has been held in the manner he has been held. This
man should be released immediately and returned to the bosom of his
family and to a welcoming and, hopefully, grateful Nation of the
American people because of what he has done for us.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 199,
calling on the government of the People's Republic of China to
immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Yang Jianli, and calling on
the president of the United States to continue working on behalf of Dr.
Yang Jianli's release.
Dr. Yang Jianli is an internationally renowned scholar, Harvard
graduate, and the president of the Foundation for China in the 21st
Century. Dr. Yang was actively involved in the Tiananmen Square
protests in 1989 and was subsequently blacklisted by the Chinese
government for his participation. Following Tiananmen Square, Dr. Yang
fled to the United States and earned two doctorates. Dr. Yang is a
permanent resident of the United States.
On April 26, 2002, Dr. Yang entered China using a friend's passport
to investigate reports of labor unrest in northern China. Dr. Yang
Jianli was detained eight days later and has not been heard from since.
The Chinese government will not confirm where he is being held and he
has been refused access to an attorney. He has been held for more than
13 months and no charges have been brought against him. The maximum
fine for entering China illegally is a one-year prison sentence. Dr.
Yang has already spent more than a year in detention. I call on the
Chinese government for his immediate release.
The State Department's recent report on human rights states that the
government of the People's Republic of China ``has continued to commit
numerous and serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest
and detention.'' On June 4, a United Nations working group ruled that
Yang Jianli has been illegally detained by the Chinese government and
called for Dr. Yang's immediate release.
China lacks due process. Citizens continue to suffer at the hands of
Chinese officials. It is time for the state-sponsored, state-led
persecution in China to stop. I join the members of the House of
Representatives and the international community in calling for Dr.
Yang's immediate release. It is my hope that he will be released
quickly and free to reunite with his wife and two children back in the
United States.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 199, as
amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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