[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 25 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H716-H724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
URGING INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION CALLING ON CHINA TO END ITS HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 530) urging the appropriate
representative of the United States to the 60th session of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a resolution calling
upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to end its human
rights violations in China, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 530
Whereas the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, is the most important
international forum for discussing human rights and
expressing international support for improved human rights
performance;
Whereas according to the Department of State, the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and
international human rights organizations, the Government of
the People's Republic of China continues to commit well-
documented human rights abuses against the Chinese people;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has yet to
demonstrate its willingness to abide by internationally
accepted norms of freedom of belief, expression, and
association by repealing or amending laws and decrees that
restrict those freedoms;
Whereas the Government of People's Republic of China
continues to ban and criminalize groups it labels as cults or
heretical organizations;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
has repressed unregistered religious groups and spiritual
movements and persists in persecuting persons on the basis of
unauthorized religious activities using such measures as
harassment, surveillance, job discrimination, exorbitant
fines, prolonged detention, physical abuse, incarceration,
and closure or destruction of places of worship;
Whereas international human rights organizations have
documented that torture, maltreatment, the use of confessions
extracted through torture, and other abuses while in
detention are rampant in the Chinese legal system;
Whereas the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has
been particularly harsh;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
launched a brutal campaign to eradicate Falun Gong from their
country;
Whereas since this time large numbers of Falun Gong
practitioners have been arrested, subjected to harsh
reeducation efforts, and some have even been tortured to
death;
Whereas Falun Gong practitioners continue to report
harassment and acts of violence at the hands of foreign
nationals which have occurred against them during peaceful
protests in the United States and other countries;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently
investigating the possibility of links between attacks
against Falun Gong practitioners in the United States and the
Government of the People's Republic of China;
Whereas Catholics who remain faithful to the Pope and in
communion with Rome face continuing restrictions, including
difficulties holding worship services, obtaining building
permits for churches, and training clergy;
Whereas Protestant house church leaders are facing
increased pressure to register with the official Protestant
church or face harassment, detention, and destruction of
their places of worship;
Whereas many Catholic and Protestant leaders and believers
have been imprisoned or subject to house arrest including Su
Zhimin, a Catholic Bishop who was reportedly arrested in 1997
and who is currently reported to be in very poor health;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
continues to exert tight control over the religious and
cultural institutions of Tibetan Buddhists and Uighur
Muslims, using torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention
without public trial against these individuals for peacefully
expressing their religious or political views;
Whereas the whereabouts of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy
identified by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, are
still unknown;
Whereas Gendun Choekyi Nyima was 6 years old when the
Chinese authorities took him and his family away in 1995;
Whereas it is believed that the Chinese authorities are
holding him in a secret location;
Whereas Tibetans caught displaying photos of the 11th
Panchen Lama or the Dalai Lama face harassment, fines, and
detention;
Whereas in January 2003, the Government of the People's
Republic of China executed a
[[Page H717]]
Tibetan man named Lobsang Dhondup without due process and
despite repeated assurances to United States officials that
his case and that of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche would be would
reviewed by the Chinese Supreme People's Court;
Whereas this review never happened and Tenzin Delek
Rinpoche remains on death row, in the second year of his
suspended death sentence;
Whereas enforcement by the Government of the People's
Republic of China of its one-child per family policy has been
cruel and inhumane and has included the use of forced
abortion and forced sterilization;
Whereas this one-child per family policy has led to the
abandonment and infanticide of baby girls and a
disproportionate number of male children in China, which will
have serious and detrimental sociological impacts on China
for years to come;
Whereas 14 years after the 1989 pro-democracy
demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, many protesters remain in
prison and no independent investigations have taken place
regarding the massacre that occurred during those
demonstrations;
Whereas authorities in the People's Republic of China have
continued their efforts to extinguish expressions of protest
or criticism and have detained and sentenced scores of
citizens associated with attempts to organize peaceful
protests, to expose corruption, to preserve their ethnic
minority identity, and to use the Internet for the free
exchange of ideas;
Whereas many prisoners in China are confined to state run
psychiatric hospitals for simple acts of expressing their
thoughts on political issues, like veteran human rights
activist and prisoner of conscience Wang Wanxing;
Whereas many Chinese prisoners are in Laogai, forced labor
camps in which inmates are subject to various forms of cruel
and forced labor;
Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross and
other international human rights organizations have been
denied access to the Chinese prison system;
Whereas it well documented that organs taken from executed
prisoners are sold for use in transplants in China and
abroad;
Whereas the percentage of transplant kidneys estimated to
be derived from executed prisoners in China has been put as
high as 90 percent of all transplanted kidneys in China;
Whereas organs reported to be harvested from executed
prisoners in China include corneas, kidneys, and hearts;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
agreed during the December 2002 session of the United States-
China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue to invite, without
conditions, the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on
Religious Intolerance and Torture, and the United Nations
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to visit China;
Whereas none of these visits have taken place in the last
year and, in the case of the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom, two agreed upon trips were
canceled because of unacceptable conditions placed on the
visit by the Government of the People's Republic of China;
Whereas the United States decision not to introduce a
resolution calling upon the People's Republic of China to end
its human rights violations in China at the 59th Session of
United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva was
based, in part, on the belief that the aforementioned
agreements signaled a good faith commitment on the part of
Chinese officials to improve human rights practice in China;
Whereas when well-founded, balanced, and accurate
resolutions regarding human rights in China were raised in
previous sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, the Government of the People's Republic of China
strongly pressured other countries to oppose the
consideration of those resolutions;
Whereas since the last session of the United States China
Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue, a number of very troubling
incidents have occurred, including--
(1) the arrests of a number of democracy advocates,
(2) the detention and torture of 18 Tibetans who were
forcibly repatriated from Nepal with the cooperation of
Chinese officials, in contravention of international law,
(3) the ongoing forced repatriation of North Korean
nationals, who upon return to North Korea will face almost
certain arrest, torture, or even death,
(4) the arrest and sentencing of Internet essayists and
labor protesters,
(5) the execution of Lobsang Dondrup and continued
detention of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, and
(6) the continued refusal to allow access by United States
diplomats and family members of the accused to the trials of
those detained for political or religious activities;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has signed the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but has
yet to take the necessary steps to make the treaty legally
binding;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is
a party to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is
a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and
Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment; and
Whereas the Constitution and laws of the People's Republic
of China purport to provide for fundamental human rights,
however, the protections of these rights are often ignored in
practice: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) it is the sense of Congress that--
(A) the United States Government should continue to insist
that the People's Republic of China adhere to fundamental
human rights principles and allow its citizens the full
enjoyment of those rights;
(B) at the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights
Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, the appropriate
representative of the United States should introduce a
resolution calling upon the People's Republic of China to end
its human rights violations in China and meet internationally
recognized standards for human rights;
(C) the United States Government should take the lead in
organizing multilateral support to obtain passage by the
Commission of such a resolution and should draft the
resolution in such a way as to highlight specific human
rights abuses;
(D) all countries with representatives at the 60th Session
of the United Nations Human Rights Commission should support
passage of such a resolution and resist efforts by
representatives of the People's Republic of China to oppose
the consideration or passage of such a resolution; and
(E) United States Government officials and officials from
other governments should continue to speak out in
international forums and elsewhere against Chinese repression
of religious and political freedom, persecution of Tibetans,
Falun Gong practitioners, Catholics, Protestants, and Uighur
Muslims, the unjust arrest and detention of religious leaders
and political dissidents, harsh conditions in Laogai and
other prisons, coercive family planning policies, and the
forced return of North Korean refugees; and
(2) Congress urges the Government of the People's Republic
of China--
(A) to take the necessary measures to stop the persecution
of all religious practitioners and to safeguard fundamental
human rights;
(B) to stop the forced return of North Korean refugees, to
allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
access to North Koreans inside China, and to work with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to develop a
viable solution to the humanitarian crisis involving North
Korean refugees;
(C) to end its coercive one-child per family policy and
ensure that no national, provincial, or local government
officials subject women to forced abortions or
sterilizations;
(D) to immediately hold an open and transparent
investigation into the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, to release all the
prisoners held in connection with that event, and to pay
compensation to the families who lost their loved ones;
(E) to release from detention all prisoners of conscience,
persons held because of their religious activities, and
persons of humanitarian concern;
(F) to release the 11th Panchen Lama identified by Dalai
Lama and allow him to undertake his rightful role;
(G) to allow the Chinese people to practice freely and
openly their religious beliefs;
(H) to adhere to the provisions and guidelines of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of
Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the
1951 Convention Relating to Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;
and
(I) to allow, immediately and without restrictions, visits
to China by the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on
Religious Intolerance and Torture, the United Nations Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the International Committee
of the Red Cross.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Despite the hopes and expectations of some that robust trade with
China would usher in at least a modicum of respect for basic human
rights and fundamental liberties, the simple fact of the matter is that
the dictatorship in China oppresses, tortures and mistreats tens of
millions of its own citizens.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the government's human
rights record remains poor, and the government continued to commit
numerous and serious abuses, and the repression is getting worse. The
State Department Human Rights Report went on to say there was
backsliding, their word, backsliding on key human rights issues,
including arrests. Abuses include killing, torture, mistreatment of
prisoners, and forced confessions.
Amazingly, many years, 15 years after Tiananmen Square when we saw
[[Page H718]]
people protesting the government asking for simple liberties and simple
rights, carrying around a facsimile of the Statue of Liberty, 15 years
after that there are still some 2,000 people remaining incarcerated in
prison camps and detention centers. That is unconscionable this many
years afterwards.
I remind my colleagues that people who argue that if we just traded
with the Chinese, that things would get better. Back in 1989, the trade
deficit was about $6 billion. Now it is $124 billion and counting. It
goes up by the day. We trade; they torture, abuse, incarcerate, arrest
and mistreat.
Some years ago soon after Tiananmen Square, it brought this to life
to me and I was thinking about it this morning, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and I went to Beijing Prison No. 1, a prison where
40 Tiananmen Square prisoners were being held. They were like modern-
day concentration camp victims. Their heads were shaved. Men who had
been out there protesting, asking peacefully that the government allow
just some basic liberties that we take for granted in the United States
and in many other nations of the world, and yet for that the book was
thrown at them and there they were making jelly shoes and socks for
export to the United States.
The torture does not stop with those who demand political freedoms.
On the religious front there is ongoing aggressive repression of those
who want to practice their faith as they see fit. We see Falun Gong
practitioners who are routinely rounded up and beaten and abused, and
hundreds have been tortured to death while held in captivity.
I remember meeting in 1994 with a Catholic bishop by the name of
Bishop Su. He now, counting all of the years to date he was in Chinese
prisons, has spent 27 years of his life being mistreated in Chinese
prison and detention centers. Here is a man whose only violation of the
law was to practice his faith with faithfulness. He is a very holy man.
In 1994 when he was out of prison briefly, I met with him, and there
was not one ounce of malice or hate in him for the dictatorship that
was so abusing him. He spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation and how
he hoped some day China would be free; and for that, he has been
severely punished.
After I left, he was made a captive again and spent 9 days. Then he
went into hiding, and in 1997 was recaptured again and put back into
prison. In mid-November, we discovered that this great man was still
alive and was getting some medical care under heavy guard. Here he is
27 years, a Roman Catholic bishop, and he is just a tip of the iceberg.
Protestant underground believers, Catholics who are underground Falun
Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims who have been rounded up
under the pretext of post-9/11 saying somehow they are committing acts
of terrorism, they are good, honest people, and the government of China
enslaves them and mistreats them.
As my colleagues know, China has been designated a CPC country, a
country of particular concern, by the U.S. State Department because of
its ongoing violations of religious liberties and rights. And as my
colleagues know, since 1979 there has been the one-child per family
policy. The policy says if the second child happens to come along, he
or she has to be aborted. Heavy fines are imposed upon the women,
particularly. They call it social compensation fees. Sometimes it is
six times the annual salaries of the parents compelling them to abort
that baby. Forced abortion and forced sterilization are commonplace in
China.
This resolution calls upon the government to cease that horrific
attack on the human family and upon women. It is a violation of their
basic human rights. It is violence against women, and the child as
well.
What this resolution does in a nutshell, it calls on the
administration, it calls on all interested parties at the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights, which will convene in mid-March, to take up
a resolution to just bring out the facts and bring out the basic lack
of human rights in China today and not bury it under the table, which
unfortunately all of us have done to some extent; and certainly, the
U.N. has done it for years.
I would hope that the administration, and I believe they will, will
try to get such a resolution passed. We have tried six times. We have
not succeeded. One reason is that the Chinese government is very adroit
at intimidating other countries or giving them foreign aid so they will
back what we call a no-action motion that is offered in Geneva. Even
with that as a possibility, and most likely a probability, I think we
have a moral duty and obligation to raise it and raise it as
aggressively as we can for the victims and those who will be victimized
in the future.
Madam Speaker, despite the hopes and expectations of some that robust
trade with China would usher in at least a modicum of respect for basic
human rights and fundamental liberties, the simple fact of the matter
is that the dictatorship in China oppresses, tortures and mistreats
tens of millions of its own citizens.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the government's human
rights record remains ``poor,'' and the government continued ``to
commit numerous and serious abuses,'' and the repression is getting
worse. The State Department Human Rights Report went on to say there
was ``backsliding, on key human rights issues, including arrests.
Abuses include killing, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and forced
confessions.''
Amazingly, 15 years after Tiananmen Square when we witnessed
courageous Chinese protesting government abuse, asking for simple
liberties and elemental rights, even carrying around Tiananmen a
facsimile of the Statue of Liberty, 15 years after that historic
outpouring there are still some 2,000 people incarcerated in prison
camps and detention centers. That is unconscionable.
I remind my colleagues that the people who argued that if we just
traded more with the Chinese, that things would get better on the human
rights front. Back in 1989, the trade deficit was about $6 billion. Now
it is $124 billion and counting. It worsens by the day. We trade, they
torture; we trade, they abuse; we trade, they incarcerate; we trade,
they arrest and mistreat.
Right after Tiananmen Square, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf)
and I went to Beijing and visited Prison No. 1, a prison where 40
Tiananmen Square prisoners were being held. They were like modern-day
Nazi concentration camp victims. Their heads were shaved. These men had
been out there in Tiananmen protesting, asking peacefully that the
government allow some basic liberties that we take for granted in the
United States and in many other nations of the world, and yet for that
they where hunted down, tortured and jailed. In the prison they were
making shoes and socks for export to the United States.
By now most Members know that the torture does not stop with those
who demand political freedoms. On the religious front there is ongoing
aggressive repression of those who want to practice their faith as they
see fit. We see Falun Gong practitioners who are routinely rounded up
and beaten and abused, and hundreds have been tortured to death while
held in captivity.
I remember meeting in 1994 with a Catholic bishop by the name of
Bishop Su. Bishop Su is a saintly man of God who has spent 27 years of
his life being mistreated, tortured and oppressed in Chinese prison and
detention centers. Here is a man whose only violation of the law was to
practice his faith with faithfulness. He is a very holy man. In 1994
when he was out of prison briefly, I met with him in Beijing and there
was not one ounce of malice or hate in him for the dictatorship that
was so harsh and cruel to him. It was stunning. He spoke of forgiveness
and reconciliation and how he hoped some day China would permit
religious freedom; and for that, he has been severely punished.
After I left, he was arrested again and spent 9 days in jail. He was
released and then he went into hiding, and in 1997 was recaptured again
and put back into prison. In mid-November, we discovered that this
great man was still alive, for we feared he might be dead, and was
getting some medical care under heavy guard. Here he is 27 years in
Chinese jails, a Roman Catholic bishop, a holy man, and he is just one
example of many.
Protestant underground believers, Catholics, Falun Gong, Tibetan
Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims who have been repressed and even more so
recently under the pretext of post-9/11 they are good, honest people,
and the government of China enslaves them and mistreats them.
As my colleagues know, China has been designated a CPC country, a
country of particular concern, by the U.S. State Department because of
its ongoing violations of religious liberties and rights. That's a
serious designation shared by rogue states. And as my colleagues know,
since 1979 there has been the one-child per family policy. The policy
says that any child who happens to come along without explicit
government permission is to be aborted. Heavy fines and pressure are
imposed upon the women, particularly. They call
[[Page H719]]
it social compensation fees. The fee can be six times the annual
salaries of the parents, compelling them to abort that baby. Forced
abortion and forced sterilization are commonplace in China.
This resolution calls upon the government to cease their horrific
attack on the human family and upon women. It is a violation of their
basic human rights. It is violence against women, and violence against
the child as well.
What this resolution does in sum is to call on the administration,
and on all interested parties at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in
Geneva, which will convene in mid-March, to take up a resolution to
bring out the facts and to scrutinize and condemn the lack of human
rights in China today and not bury it under the table, which
unfortunately all of us have done to some extent; and certainly, the
U.N. has done it for years.
I would hope that the administration, and I believe they will, will
try to get such a resolution passed. We have tried six times. We have
not succeeded. One reason is that the Chinese government is very adroit
at intimidating other countries or giving them foreign aid so they will
back what we call a no-action motion that will be offered in Geneva.
Even with that as a possibility, and most likely a probability, I think
we have a moral duty and obligation to raise Chinese human rights
abuses and raise the issue as aggressively as we can for the victims
who cannot speak or fend for themselves.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and
before addressing the substance of the resolution I would like to thank
its author, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). He has been a
leader on human rights issues, particularly as they relate to China.
This resolution calls upon the administration to offer a resolution
on China's human rights record at the upcoming meeting of the Human
Rights Convention in Geneva. Given the human rights situation in China,
it is imperative that the United States take a leadership role in
galvanizing the world community to hold China accountable for gross
violations of internationally recognized human rights.
Last year the administration did not offer a China resolution at the
Human Rights Commission, which has been only the third time since 1989
that the United States had given China a pass on human rights. In
announcing its decision, the administration asserted that China had
made progress on human rights and religious freedoms. Madam Speaker,
this was a profound mistake.
China took America's unwillingness to lead the charge in Geneva as a
sign of weakness, as a statement that China human rights issues had
faded from the consciousness of the American public policymakers. Not
surprisingly, human rights situations in China grew worse over the past
year, not improved. Dissidents jailed remained behind bars; and
incredibly, even some protesters from the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations
continue to be imprisoned. Chinese authorities have arrested average
citizens who download or post politically sensitive materials on the
Internet and have moved to place greater restrictions on Internet
access.
The Chinese government also continues its brutal crackdown on the
Falun Gong spiritual movement and unregistered Christian churches.
According to the State Department's 2003 Human Rights Report, China
continues to deny internationally recognized labor rights, the rights
of workers to organize. In addition, forced labor prisons remain a
serious concern and a problem.
Labor leaders in northeastern China fighting for the rights of
unemployed workers from state-owned enterprises were tried and
sentenced to long jail terms for their advocacy. Furthermore, China has
not adopted a comprehensive policy to combat child labor. In urban
areas children often work as street laborers. The State Department
notes that children work in coal mines which often operate far from
urban centers out of the view of law enforcement officials. This
unacceptable policy puts the health and safety of children at risk. It
is time for China to address this issue for once and all.
Finally, this resolution will send a strong message to China that the
imprisonment of Tibetan political prisoners is unacceptable. The
release of one of Tibet's most prominent political prisoners and the
longest serving female political prisoner was a positive step, but it
is not sufficient. Hundreds of Tibetans remain imprisoned for their
political or religious beliefs, detainees are regularly tortured and
exiled Tibetans have only limited access to their country. We must
continue to put pressure on China to promote the human rights of the
Tibetan people.
In short, Madam Speaker, the decision last year to treat China with
kid gloves produced a backsliding on human rights, not progress. I hope
the administration does not make this mistake again. True political
change and representative government will eventually come to China.
But, unfortunately, we cannot know whether it will take 5 years or 25
years. But regardless of how long it takes, leaders of a new democratic
China must believe that the United States stood with them in their time
of darkness. An American-sponsored resolution in Geneva exposing
China's poor human rights record accomplishes this vital task. I urge
my colleagues to support this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the man who authored
the International Religious Freedom Act 5 years ago.
Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Smith), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lantos) and others who have been strong supporters with
regard to speaking out on behalf of those being persecuted in China.
I heard the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) talk about the
Tiananmen Square demonstrators. We saw them making socks. I still have
the socks in my office. That was 15 years ago.
Madam Speaker, I ask Members, what were they doing 15 years ago? For
the last 15 years, what were you doing? For the last 15 years, these
men and women have been in prison, and very few people really speak
out.
I rise in strong support of this resolution. Every Member of Congress
should be outraged that the men and women in China are routinely being
persecuted by the government. Every Member of Congress and everyone in
the administration ought to imagine a country and think about a country
where factory workers have no workplace safety, labor and environmental
protections, and are required to work 80 hours a week for no more than
$110 per month for goods exported. Imagine a country which boldly
supplies missile and chemical weapons technology to countries that
harbor terrorists.
{time} 1445
Imagine a country that oversees a network of espionage operations
against American companies. The Chinese have a spying program against
American industry second to none. The KGB could not hold a candle to
what the Chinese Government is doing. Imagine a country which is
plundering a neighbor and wiping out its religion-based culture.
Imagine a country which tortures and imprisons Catholic bishops. There
are 11 Catholic bishops according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation in
prison today. Eleven. You almost never hear anybody speak out on behalf
of them. You have a large number, 250, 300 Protestant house church
leaders. I had a Protestant pastor come by to see me 2 weeks ago, a
pastor that we had helped and worked with; he had been in prison 10
years. He said his last job in a slave labor camp was making Christmas
tree lights. A Protestant pastor in a Chinese prison making Christmas
tree lights to celebrate the birth of Jesus. What is wrong? Yet you
never really hear anybody speak out with regard to that.
Buddhist monks and nuns, persecuted severely. Keep in mind the leader
of the Chinese Government now is the guy who brought down all of the
persecution of those who were Buddhists with regard to the Drapchi
prison and what took place in Tibet. As the gentleman from New Jersey
said, the Muslims are being pounded left and right. If you need a new
organ or kidney, you can go to China and for $50,000, they will go into
the prison, take your blood type, take his blood type, find a match,
kill him, take him away, transplant the kidney for $50,000.
[[Page H720]]
Slave labor camps. There are more slave labor camps in China today
than there were when Solzhenitsyn wrote that Nobel Prize-winning book,
``Gulag Archipelago.'' There are more in China today than there were
then. We all know what country this imaginary country is. It is China.
The other day I was coming in and I heard Simon and Garfunkel on the
radio sing the words of ``The Boxer.'' It really struck me: ``Man hears
what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.'' This administration
and this Congress hears only what it wants to hear and disregards the
rest.
I had an opportunity several weeks ago to go to Berlin. We went to a
train stop called Grunewald Station. It is where they took people who
were Jewish and put them on trains and sent them away. I was there kind
of late. As it was getting dark, I looked out, I looked at big, large
homes that were all around this station. I said to myself, these people
must have known what was taking place in 1941 and 1942 and 1943. They
had little signs of how many were put on the trains in 1942 and 1943.
Thousands and thousands. It got down to 1944 and 1945, in one train 17
or 18. But the people that lived in the neighborhood had to know what
was taking place.
We have a 71-page report that the State Department has put out. So it
is kind of like saying, We did not know. But we know. We cannot now
say, We do not know what's taking place in China. The one-child per
family, the human organ transplants, the slave labor camps. We cannot
say we do not know because you get the 71-page report and you read it,
71 pages about China.
Later on when the Chinese Government falls, and it will fall, they
will go the way of the Ceausescu government; and God bless Ronald
Reagan when he spoke out and called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire
and put the cruise missiles into Europe when nobody else wanted them.
But they will fall and when they go back and open up the records,
nobody will be able to say, we did not know, because now we know. We
read the human rights report that came out of the State Department 3
days ago.
Madam Speaker, I am going to put the rest in the Record and just say
this administration ought to follow this resolution. If it does not
follow the resolution and yet it followed that 71-page report, I do not
see how it can live with itself. Let me just say, as Dietrich
Bonhoeffer said, it is cheap grace for the Congress just to pass a
resolution urging them to do a resolution. We ought to be doing a lot
more and speaking out on behalf of those who are being persecuted.
Many people will tell you when the Reagan administration and the
Carter administration used to go to the Soviet Union, they always met
with the dissidents. They went into their apartments. They had them
into the embassy. Somewhere there are bracelets with their names on
them. They stood in solidarity with the people in the Soviet Union that
were being persecuted. I find that when delegations, both congressional
and executive branch, go to China, they meet with the leaders. They
have their shark fin soup, and they meet in the big halls; but they do
not meet with the people.
We have a lot to learn, we in Congress and in the administration, to
emulate President Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan always spoke out on
behalf of the persecuted. Sharansky will tell you that his life got
better when Ronald Reagan and the Congress, both Republicans and
Democrats, raised the Sharansky case. He sometimes just got more food.
He got more visitations. We need the administration, one, to introduce
a resolution. Secondly, this Congress ought to do more or else the
words from Simon and Garfunkel, ``The Boxer,'' ``Man hears what he
wants to hear and disregards the rest,'' will in essence be the theme
song for us in the United States where we say Congress hears only what
it wants to hear and disregards the rest.
Madam Speaker, there are 71 pages. We cannot ever again say we did
not know, because now we know. I urge the strong passage of this
resolution.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 530 urging the
United States to introduce a resolution highlighting China's human
rights record at the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights this month. Every Member of Congress should be outraged
that men and women in China are routinely persecuted by the Chinese
Government.
Imagine a country where factory workers have no workplace safety,
labor, or environmental protections and are required to work 80 hour-
weeks for no more than $110 per month to produce goods for export.
Imagine a country which boldly supplies missile and chemical weapons
technology to countries that support or harbor terrorists.
Imagine a country that oversees a network of espionage operations
against American companies.
Imagine a country which is plundering a neighbor and wiping out its
religion-based culture.
Imagine a country which tortures and imprisons Catholic bishops,
Protestant church leaders, Muslim worshipers, Falun Gong followers, and
Buddhist monks and nuns just because of their faith and systematically
destroys churches and confiscates bibles.
Imagine a country which has a thriving business of harvesting and
selling for transplant kidneys, corneas, and other human organs from
executed prisoners who are thrown in prison with no trial or sentencing
procedures.
Imagine a country which maintains an extensive system of gulags--
slave labor camps--as large as existed in the former Soviet Union that
are used for brainwashing and ``reeducation through labor.''
That country is not imaginary. It is the People's Republic of China.
I was appalled last year when the United States administration chose
not to introduce a resolution condemning China at the U.N. Commission
on Human Rights meeting in Geneva. We were told over and over again
that China's human rights record was improving and that change was
coming.
The recently released State Department country reports on human
rights unequivocally states that over the last year China didn't
improve its human rights record. In fact, there was backsliding.
I would like to share with you some facts from that 71-page report.
The Chinese government has failed to demonstrate its
willingness to abide by the internationally accepted norms of
freedom of belief, expression, and association.
Citizens lacked both the freedom peacefully to express
opposition to the political system or the right to change the
system.
Violence against women (including imposition of a birth
limitation policy coercive in nature that resulted in
instances of forced abortion and forced sterilization)
continued.
Last year alone the government executed more prisoners than
any other country.
All over China Catholic Bishops and Priests are in jail,
some for decades at a time, simply for practicing their
faith.
Over 250,000 persons are serving sentences in ``reeducation
through labor'' camps.
As many as 2,000 people remained in prison for their
activities during the June 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations.
The government used the international war on terror as a
justification for cracking down harshly on suspected Uighur
separatists.
The government continues to deport thousands of North
Koreans, who face persecution upon their return.
And the list goes on.
China cannot fool the international community any longer. The Chinese
Government continues to commit well-documented human rights abuses
against the Chinese people.
America must be a country that stands up for basic decency and human
rights. America must speak out on behalf of those who cannot speak for
themselves--men and women who are being persecuted on account of their
religious or political beliefs.
Our foreign policy must be a policy that helps promote human rights
and freedom. Not a policy that sides with dictators who oppress their
own citizens.
The facts are before us. The United States can no longer say that
things are improving in China.
Each day we fail to speak out is another day that a Catholic Priest
is arrested.
Another day a Falun Gong practitioner is tortured. Another day that
innocent voices are silenced.
Will the United States step up as the leader of the free world and
sponsor a resolution on China, or will the world sit by and watch China
suppress its citizens for another year?
How will history judge us? We must not be afraid to act.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chairman of the
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution
that outlines the deplorable record of China's authoritarian regime, a
regime which continues to systematically violate the most basic human
rights of all of its people and the civil and political
[[Page H721]]
liberties of all of its citizens. State security personnel are
responsible for extensive abuses such as political and extrajudicial
killings, lengthy incommunicado detentions, and the use of torture.
Police target certain dissidents for incarceration in psychiatric
facilities, subjecting them to unspeakable punishment. National,
racial, and ethnic minorities remain subject to intense persecution and
discrimination. Thugs employed by the regime frequently launch
campaigns to crack down on opposition and pro-democracy groups. Freedom
of movement, speech, assembly, and association are severely restricted.
The controls on religious worship have intensified. Church leaders and
other faithful are harassed and repressed with fines, detentions,
physical abuse and, yes, torture. Many houses of worship have been
destroyed. Catholic and Protestant leaders and believers have been
imprisoned or subjected to house arrest.
This cowardly, dictatorial regime has harassed, imprisoned, and
tortured members of the Falun Gong group, sending women, children and
men to torture camps for doing nothing but exercising their most basic,
fundamental rights of freedom of conscience and belief. This deplorable
action by the Chinese authorities has included the brutal torture of
followers, particularly women, who have been arrested, gang-raped, and
brutally beaten. They have been demoted or dismissed from their
employment. They have been held in prison. They have been sent to labor
camps and psychiatric hospitals, all because they chose to live by the
strength of their convictions and refused to renounce their beliefs.
Additionally, trafficking in persons, mainly women and children, for
forced prostitution or illegal forced labor continues, placing this
segment of the population in constant risk of slavery. The gross
violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Chinese
regime and the deteriorating situation in China are highlighted in the
Department of State's Human Rights Report released last week. The China
report says: ``The government continued to commit numerous and serious
abuses. There was backsliding on key human rights issues during the
year.''
The People's Republic of China must be held accountable for its
deplorable actions. Constant pressure from the U.S. and the
international community is vital if any improvements are to take place
in China.
Madam Speaker, we must support the Chinese people in their efforts
and send a clear message to their oppressors that the U.S. is committed
to the defense of democratic principles and human rights. This
resolution before us is an important part of that strategy. As the U.S.
delegation works to ensure debate on human rights conditions in China
and to secure the votes for a resolution at the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights calling on China to end its terrible human
rights practices, let us show them our full support by voting in favor
of the resolution in front of us, House Resolution 530.
I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) as well as the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for their steadfast support for the
Chinese people to live free one day soon.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cox).
Mr. COX. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 530, which urges
the representative of the United States to the 60th session of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a resolution
calling upon the government of the People's Republic of China to end
its human rights violations.
A year ago, the government of the PRC agreed to invite three
international human rights organizations to China without conditions.
Those three organizations were the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom, the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on Religious
Intolerance and Torture, and the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention. Two visits were scheduled, but the arrangement was that they
were supposed to come without conditions and none of those visits has
taken place precisely because of unacceptable preconditions imposed in
violation of its own promises by the government of the People's
Republic of China.
The failure of the PRC government to follow through on its promises
once again is instructive. First, it demonstrates the lack of
commitment and good faith on the part of the PRC to acknowledge and
improve the human rights conditions for the Chinese people. Second, it
reveals a PRC strategy to assuage international concerns with bare
rhetoric and deceptive practices in order to advance the political and
economic interests of its rulers. Most importantly, it shows that
additional pressure is necessary to improve human rights in the PRC.
Several cases have been cited. In fact, the pattern of hundreds and
thousands of cases has been cited during this debate. I will add just
one more, the case of Dr. Yang Jianli, the U.S.-educated scholar of
democracy. In June 2003, this House unanimously approved legislation
calling for Dr. Yang's release. His case is one more example of the
unwillingness of the PRC government to fulfill its promise, or to
follow its own law. The PRC has held Dr. Yang Jianli, whose wife and
children are citizens of the United States, without access to a lawyer,
without the right to contact his family, and even without a court
ruling against him. This indefinite detention is a violation of
international standards and the PRC's own criminal law.
Since 1997, the denial of basic rights is beginning to extend even to
Hong Kong. Just today, we read in The Washington Post that the PRC is
secretly holding a group of Hong Kong residents, including at least
three British citizens, and prosecuting them for espionage. What have
they done? According to The Post, the charges include discussion of the
Tiananmen Square massacre. Madam Speaker, there are many people who
should be prosecuted for the Tiananmen Square massacre, but they are
most assuredly not citizens of China or British citizens living in Hong
Kong; and they are not people who simply talk about this abomination.
They are, instead, the rulers who perpetrated this assault on the
Chinese people and who continue to occupy positions of high power in
Beijing.
We ask the government of the PRC to accomplish simple and humane
goals: stop the persecution of religious practitioners; stop the forced
return of Korean refugees to the totalitarian half of the peninsula;
end forced abortions and forced sterilization of women; adhere to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the U.N.
Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the 1951 Convention Relating to
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
Madam Speaker, today there appears in the news the fact that the
People's Republic of China has announced it is going to change its
constitution to include private property as a right of the Chinese
people. In practice, the National People's Congress exists mainly to
carry out the will of the party leadership; and if the party leadership
will not observe its own laws, we can expect nothing to come of this as
well.
Article 35 of the existing state constitution proclaims that citizens
of the PRC enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of
association, of procession, and of demonstration; and that is a lie.
{time} 1500
We are here today to urge our government to work to see to it that
these lies come to an end and that the People's Republic of China
honors the citizens of China with basic fundamental human rights.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
the time.
I want to thank, first of all, the gentleman from California (Mr.
Cox) of the Select Committee on Homeland Security for his very eloquent
statement and to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and to
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentlewoman from
Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) and especially to the gentleman from Illinois
(Chairman Hyde), who is a very strong and steadfast supporter of human
rights around the globe, including China, and of course the gentleman
from California (Mr. Lantos), who also speaks out boldly on these
issues.
I would just say finally, Mr. Speaker, that one of the great leaders
of the
[[Page H722]]
whole human rights movement in China is a man by the name of Harry Wu.
Most people know about him. He is a man who has an impeccable
reputation for honesty, for courage. He spent 19 years in the Chinese
laogai system and suffered immensely for it. I will never forget when
he helped us organize one of our first committee hearings when I
chaired the Committee on International Operations and Human Rights on
the laogai. He brought in six survivors of the laogai. One of those
survivors was Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk who tried to get through
security into the Rayburn Building bringing the instruments of torture
that are routinely used and deployed to abuse prisoners in the laogai,
including cattle prods and the like, horrible, horrific implements, and
he was stopped, obviously, by the guards who were wondering what is
this all about. We had to go down and usher him through. Those kinds of
instruments, Mr. Speaker, are commonplace. Torture is commonplace.
The gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) talked about all these
promises that are made time after time. They sign covenants. They say
they are going to do this. The Chinese government routinely does not
follow through, and so it will be with the most recent property rights.
They make promises, and routinely it is predictable they do not follow
through. And I just want to pay a special tribute to Harry Wu for his
great leadership.
The ICRC has been trying for years, the Red Cross, to get into the
Chinese prisons. They cannot get in because it is closed, because
torture is routinely used against political and religious prisoners and
against other prisoners as well. If they are arrested for just about
anything, the way they get their conviction is to compel a confession
out of them by torturing them.
Let me also remind Members, too, and the gentleman from California
(Mr. Cox) made mention of this as well, forced abortion is commonplace
in China. Brothers and sisters are illegal. Women are compelled to have
their children destroyed because they do not fit into a grandiose plan
by this dictatorship. That too is an egregious human rights abuse. At
the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal it was construed to be a crime
against humanity. It is a crime against humanity in 2004 as it is
practiced in the People's Republic of China. This resolution puts us on
record against it and says let us take our case to the UN Human Rights
Commission and hopefully we can garner sufficient votes to censure this
despicable behavior. I hope we have unanimous support for this
resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank, first of all, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cox) of the Select Committee on Homeland Security for
his very eloquent statement and to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
Ros-Lehtinen) and to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) and especially to the
gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), who is a very strong and
steadfast supporter of human rights around the globe, including China,
and of course the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who also
speaks out boldly on these issues.
Mr. Speaker, one of the great leaders in the whole human rights
movement in China is a man by the name of Harry Wu. Most people know
about him. He is a man who has an impeccable reputation for honesty,
persistence, and courage. He is a hero of democracy. He spent 19 years
in the Chinese laogai system and suffered immensely for it. His witness
is a rebuke to the hardliners in Beijing. I will never forget when he
helped us organize one of our first committee hearings on PRC abuse
back when I chaired the Committee on International Operations and Human
Rights. The hearing was on the laogai. He brought in six survivors of
the laogai. One of those survivors was Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk
who tried to get through security into the Rayburn Building bringing
the instruments of torture that are routinely used and deployed to
abuse prisoners in the laogai, including cattle prods and the like,
horrible, horrific implements. He was stopped, obviously, by the guards
who were wondering what is this all about. We had to go down and usher
him through. Sadly those kinds of torture instruments, Mr. Speaker, are
commonplace in the PRC. Torture is commonplace.--An everyday
occurrence.
The gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) talked about PRC promises
made but never kept. They sign covenants. They say they are going to do
this. It makes good headlines. The Chinese government, however,
routinely does not follow through, and so it will be with the most
recent property rights announcement. They make promises, and it is
predictable they do not follow through.
The Internation Committee for Red Cross has been trying for years, to
get into the Chinese prisons. To inspect and to hold the PRC to
account. They cannot get in because it is closed, because torture is
routinely used against political and religious prisoners and against
other prisoners as well. If you are arrested for just about anything,
watch out. The way PRC thugs get their conviction is to compel
confessions out of the accused by torturing them.
Let me also remind Members, too, and the gentlelady from Florida (Ms.
Ros-Lehtinen) made mention of this as well, forced abortion is
commonplace in China. Brothers and sisters are illegal because big
brother in Beijing says so. Women are compelled to have their children
destroyed because they do not fit into a grandiose plan of quotas and
permission slips by the dictatorship. That too is an egregious human
rights abuse. At the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal forced abortion was
construed to be a crime against humanity. It is a crime against
humanity in 2004 as it is practiced in the People's Republic of China.
This resolution puts us on record against China's brutal one child per
couple policy. This resolution admonishes the administration to take
our case to the UN Human Rights Commission and work to garner
sufficient votes to censure this despicable government behavior. I hope
we have unanimous support for this resolution.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res.
530, a bill that makes a strong statement of advocacy for human rights
and urges the People's Republic of China to adhere to the principles of
international law and respect for the fundamental human rights of
individuals. This bill is timely in light of the equally urgent crisis
that occurs today in Haiti.
We must work to ensure that all of our international neighbors uphold
the principles of international law. On July 9th of last year, I
participated in a rally held on the Capitol lawn to uphold justice and
freedom for the practitioners of the Falun Gong religion.
As I stood that day to support the practitioners of Falun Gong and
their unwarranted persecution, I stand today to request that Congress
must insist that China adheres to worldwide standards on human rights
and toleration.
We as a nation have a unique relationship with the People's Republic
of China, and we must take every action to maintain and foster that
relationship. Yet we cannot overlook the injustices committed in that
nation. The persecution of the Falun Gong, an organization whose three
principles are truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, is a prime
example of that very injustice I speak of.
I must preempt my statement by clarifying that this bill will not
serve to diminish the strength of our two great nations' relationship;
rather it will cultivate an environment of peace and regional security.
This bill will send the People's Republic of China a clear message that
it must alter its current position on Human rights in order to be a
true member of the world community.
As one of our largest trading partners our relationship with China
has become closer then ever. We are constantly building new bridges of
communication; politically, socially, and economically. Yet we cannot
be content with these developments. We cannot sit idly by while China
forces women to abort their children and imprisons people based on
their religious beliefs. The World Community has set general principles
for human rights. The simple fact is that China is not meeting these
standards.
The fear of change and diversity has infected the minds of those who
are in a position to wield power and physical strength. The situation
will not change until we take a clear position condemning China for its
human rights abuses.
Because of our unique relationship with the People's Republic of
China we have a strong footing upon which to make these claims. By
working with China, with the explicit goals of improving human rights
conditions in that country, we can make China a better, safer country
and create a new and stronger relationship between the United States
and China. Our demands that China meet internationally accepted levels
for human rights will not serve to hinder China's development, rather
it will enable China to flourish.
I will end by saying that we as Americans have a duty to stand up for
those who are less fortunate, for those who voices are forced into
silence, and for those shackled down by tyranny. We espouse and will
constantly fight for human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of
religion in this country as well as internationally. Join me in
supporting H. Res. 530.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on
International Relations and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and
as a friend of the Chinese people, I am proud to be an original
cosponsor of this resolution.
[[Page H723]]
In the three decades since President Nixon made his historic trip to
China, that country has undergone a remarkable transformation that all
of us in this House should applaud.
Gone are the Red Guards, the mass rallies, and the ubiquitous Mao
Suits. Today's, young Chinese enjoy a far better standard of living
than their parents. They are often dressed in stylish western fashions.
They have access to western movies, books, and the Internet. Bicycles,
once the primary means of transportation for millions of urban Chinese,
are being replaced by scooters, motorcycles and growing numbers of
cars.
But, Mr. Speaker, there is one area where the China of 2004 is little
changed from the China of 1972: the Chinese government's persistent and
systematic abuse of the human rights of its citizens. Even as we deepen
and broaden the commercial, diplomatic, and cultural ties with China,
the United States must not sacrifice its commitment to freedom,
democracy, the rule of law, human rights and religious freedom.
Chinese prisons, labor camps, and psychiatric hospitals are filled
with political prisoners. Fifteen years after the 1989 pro-democracy
demonstrations in Tiananment Square, many protesters remain in prison
and Beijing has continued its efforts to extinguish expressions of
protest or criticism and have detained and sentenced scores of Chinese
citizens associated with attempts to organize peaceful protests, to
expose corruption, to preserve their ethnic minority identity, and to
use the Internet for the free exchange of ideas.
China's persecution of religious minorities has been especially
cruel. China's small Christian population has been subject to
persecution and many Catholic and Protestant leaders have been
imprisoned or placed under house arrest. Practitioners of Falun Gong,
which Chinese authorities denounce as an illegal cult, have been
singled out for especially harsh treatment. Some Falun Gong adherents
have been tortured to death in Chinese prisons; others have been sent
to reeducation camps that have changed little since the days of the
Cultural Revolution.
Beijing's obsession with eradicating the Falun Gong has not been
confined to China. The FBI is investigating possible links between the
Chinese government and attacks upon Falun Gong practitioners here in
the United States.
The Chinese government has continued its brutal repression of Tibet.
The whereabouts of the boy identified by the Dalai Lama as the 11th
Panchen Lama are unknown. Tibetans caught displaying photos of this
child or of the Dalai Lama face fines or imprisonment. Tibetan
prisoners have been executed without due process and others remain on
death row. Beijing continues to move ethnic Chinese citizens into Tibet
in order to dilute and gradually extinguish the cultural and social
identity of the Tibetan people.
During the December 2002 session of the United States-China Bilateral
Human Rights Dialogue, Beijing agreed to invite, without conditions,
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the
United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Religious Intolerance and
Torture, and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to
visit China. None of these visits have taken place and, in the case of
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, two
agreed upon trips were canceled because of unacceptable conditions
placed on the visit by the Government of the People's Republic of
China, including refusing the Commission entry into Hong Kong.
China's refusal to live up to its promises to cooperate with American
and United Nations human rights representatives is especially troubling
as the United States decision not to introduce a resolution calling
upon the People's Republic of China to end its human rights violations
in China at last year's session of United Nations Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva was based, in part, on the belief that the
aforementioned agreements signaled a good faith commitment on the part
of Chinese officials to improve human rights practice in China.
In fact, since the last session of the United States-China Bilateral
Human Rights Dialogue, a number of very troubling incidents have
occurred, including: arrests of democracy advocates; the detention and
torture of 18 Tibetans who were forcibly repatriated from Nepal with
the cooperation of Chinese officials, in contravention of international
law; ongoing forced repatriation of North Korean nationals, who upon
return to North Korea will face almost certain arrest, torture, or even
death; arrest and sentencing of Internet essayists and labor
protesters; and the continued refusal to allow access by United States
diplomats and family members of the accused to the trials of those
detained for political or religious activities.
China's continued abysmal human rights record has convinced me that
Beijing will not take the necessary steps to improve its human rights
record absent the external pressure and exposure of a U.S.-sponsored
resolution in Geneva. The late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
famously said, ``Sunlight is the best disinfectant.'' The Chinese
leadership will doubtless resist our efforts to open the shutters to
allow that light to illuminate its repression, but I believe that China
will be better for it in the end. The Chinese government would do well
to remember that the eyes of the world will be focused on China in four
years' time when Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympic Games. For China,
readying itself to host the world must mean more than building an
Olympic Village and sporting venues. China must also rise to meet the
aspirations of the Olympic movement by dismantling the systems of
repression that stifle dissent, free expression, and religious
observance.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle in urging the Members of this House to support this important
Resolution.
As I remarked in a speech on trade relations nearly four years ago,
the most powerful nation on earth cannot ignore the most populous
nation of earth. The United States, in my view, must use its best
efforts to move the People's Republic of China toward democratic
reform, market economics and the rule of law.
However, even as we seek to engage the People's Republic on issues of
mutual interest and concern, we have a continuing obligation, in my
view, to hold the communist regime in Beijing accountable for its
unjustified and indefensible human rights violations.
Just today, Mr. Speaker, the Washington Post reported that China has
detained a group of Hong Kong residents--including at least three
British citizens--and has begun to prosecute them on espionage charges.
One of the British citizens charged is accused of, among other
things, discussing he 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre with a British
agent.
And it remains unclear how these British citizens are being
prosecuted under Chinese law for activities that allegedly took place
in Hong Kong before China resumed control of that territory.
And just last week, the State Department's 2003 Human Rights Report
Scored Beijing on this issue. The report stated:
``We began 2003 with hopes that the incremental but unprecedented
progress in China seen in 2002 would be continued and expanded;
however, throughout the year, we saw backsliding on key human rights
issues. Arrests of democracy activists, individuals discussing subjects
deemed sensitive by the Government on the Internet, HIV/AIDS activists,
protesting workers, defense lawyers advocating on behalf of dissidents
or the dispossessed, house church members and others seeking to take
advantage of the space created by Chinese reforms increased.''
In short, this Resolution urges the United States to introduce a
resolution at the 60th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission that
calls on China to end its human rights violations and to meet
internationally recognized standards for human rights.
Furthermore, it states that the United States should take the lead in
organizing support for the passage of such a resolution, and that
American officials continue to speak out against religious and
political persecution in China, as well as coercive family planning
practices, forced labor camps, the forced repatriation of North Korean
nationals and other abuses.
Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleagues from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for
introducing this Resolution. And I urge all my Members to support it.
The People's Republic has made great economic progress over the last
half century. But its persistent pattern of human rights abuses is a
dark stain on its record. As a beacon of liberty and democracy, we have
an obligation to ensure that it is held accountable for such abuses.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for
yielding. I rise in support of H. Res. 530, and I'd like to commend my
colleague, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, for sponsoring this important and
timely resolution. This bill urges the U.S. Representative to the 60th
Session of a the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce
a resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of
China to end its human rights abuses. H. Res. 530 also urges the
People's Republic of China to safeguard fundamental human rights.
Last year at the 59th Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights
in Geneva, the United States did not sponsor a resolution on the
People's Republic of China. The United States refrained from doing so
in part because of commitments which the Government of China made to
the United States during bilateral talks in December of 2002 that it
would improve its human rights record and would allow greater access of
international monitors into the country. However, these commitments
were not fulfilled.
[[Page H724]]
In fact, during the past year we witnessed continued disturbing
trends in the human rights situation in China. Indeed, in last week's
release of the State Department's annual Country Reports of Human
Rights Practices, referring to China, it notes that, ``We saw
backsliding on key human rights issues.''
Unfortunately, there are far too many examples of their
``backsliding.'' In January, Tibetan activist Lobsang Dhondup (Lob-sang
Dun-op) was executed without due process. Arrests and harsh sentencing
of democracy activists, critics on the Internet, and labor organizers
continued throughout the year. And other than the lone release of
Tibetan prisoner of conscience, Phuntsog Nyidrol (Putt-sok Nee-droo),
last week--the day after the State Department's Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices was released--there have been no recent releases
of political prisoners. Further, religious adherents continue to be
persecuted, and Falun Gong followers remain targeted by the government.
Another area of grave concern is Beijing's forced repatriation of North
Korean refugees in China and other human rights abuses directed against
these refugees, including the trafficking of women and children.
Mr. Speaker, the People's Republic of China must understand that
increased bilateral cooperation in other areas, including security,
does not in any way negate or lessen obligations to uphold basic human
rights. I encourage my colleagues to support H. Res. 530.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schrock). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 530, 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. SMITH of New Jersey. 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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