[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E127-E128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CHINA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 17, 2007

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of the 
House the following assessment of the current human rights situation in 
China. Harry Wu, a renowned human rights activists who survived 19 
years in China's notorious laogai labor camps, has detailed in this 
assessment the current level of human rights abuses by China's brutal 
dictatorship.
  As we approach the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and China continues to 
grow as an economic and political powerhouse, we must remind ourselves 
of China's abusive and oppressive treatment of innocent civilians, and 
fight against the tyranny of the communist regime in Beijing.

       The Current Human Rights Situation in China, January 2007

                             (By Harry Wu)

       The People's Republic of China (PRC) continues to awe the 
     world with its rapid economic development attracting foreign 
     investment from all over the world. Recently, China's power 
     and influence in international politics has also grown. China 
     has been extolled for taking the lead in negotiations with 
     North Korea, and the world looks forward to the 2008 Olympic 
     Games in Beijing. However the international community has 
     overlooked the most important fact--the Chinese government is 
     still a ruthless dictatorship.
       China may be involved in the Six-Party talks with North 
     Korea but it is still the nation's closest ally and biggest 
     supplier. China is embracing capitalism but that does not 
     equal freedom and democracy. This memo provides a brief 
     description of human rights violations in China that are 
     occurring

[[Page E128]]

     on a large scale. China's brutal system of forced labor camps 
     is thriving and remains a tool for repression and economic 
     profit. Religious freedom is nonexistent without government 
     approval, and independent trade unions are forbidden. The 
     government refuses to reveal how many prisoners are executed 
     each year, and organs are harvested from prisoners for money. 
     Women and their families are being persecuted for violating 
     the national one-child policy, and are subject to forced 
     abortions and sterilization, detention and other punishments. 
     Internet access is censored and cyber-dissidents are 
     frequently monitored and arrested with the help of American 
     companies. The number of political prisoners is on the rise 
     as the Chinese people speak out against freedom of speech, 
     press, and religion, the one-child policy, labor conditions, 
     and property rights.
       The truth is that a more democratic and free China that 
     respects human rights and the rule of law would lead to a 
     more stable region, and ultimately would be better for US 
     interests and national security.


                           The Laogai System

       The Laogai is a vast system of prison camps in the PRC 
     consisting of a network of more than 1,045 prisons, labor 
     camps, and mental institutions. The fundamental role of the 
     Laogai is the same as it was during Chairman Mao Zedong's 
     reign--reform through labor. Labor camps are used as a 
     mechanism to suppress political dissent, human rights 
     activists, religious and spiritual believers, ethnic 
     minorities, and common law offenders. The UN Special 
     Rapporteur on Torture has confirmed that prisoners are 
     frequently tortured to extract false confessions to be used 
     to convict in court.
       Although some judicial reforms have been made, China's 
     legal system is still rule by law not rule of law. The 
     administrative detention system that the rest of the world 
     has deemed a violation of international law, is still used. 
     Laojiao (re-education through labor) allows individuals to be 
     held for up to 3 years without legal proceedings. Anyone who 
     speaks out against the Chinese Communist Party is falsely 
     arrested and charged with the vague crimes of ``endangering 
     state security'' or `revealing state secrets', and 99 
     percent of those who are charged with these crimes are 
     convicted.
       The Laogai is an integral sector of the PRC's export 
     economy and its forced labor products are frequently sold in 
     U.S., European and world markets. Despite the 1992 Memorandum 
     of Understanding (MOU) safeguarding against the export of 
     prison labor goods between the U.S. and China, little has 
     been done to enforce this policy. U.S. customs stated that it 
     could not conduct independent investigations in China because 
     the Chinese government refuses to comply. Yet the U.S. has 
     done nothing to encourage compliance. American businesses 
     often claim to be unaware that their subcontractors are using 
     prison labor, but this should no longer be an excuse.


                                Religion

       The PRC does not permit religious freedom. Roman 
     Catholicism is still outlawed and the Chinese government 
     continues to defy the Vatican by ordaining church officials 
     without its permission. In late November 2006 the Chinese 
     Patriotic Catholic Association ordained Bishop Wang in 
     Jiangsu province, the third incident of this kind in a year. 
     The government controls all religious activities and any new 
     groups must apply for permission to practice and to publish 
     literature. The spiritual practice of Falun gong is banned as 
     a cult. Falun Gong followers and underground ``house church'' 
     Christians are persecuted daily. They are put under house 
     arrest, detained without public trial, and imprisoned and 
     tortured for their beliefs under the auspices of various 
     government campaigns. The Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang 
     province has been targeted and arrested according to an 
     ``anti-terrorism'' campaign, while Tibetans monks and nuns 
     have been forced to sign declarations denouncing the Dalai 
     Lama as a dangerous separatist or face arrest according to a 
     ``patriotic education'' campaign.


                              Trade Unions

       The PRC outlaws all independent trade unions, forcing its 
     workers to join the statesponsored All China Federation Trade 
     Union (ACFTU), which by international standards is useless 
     and only serves the Communist Party's needs. Most recently 
     Wal-mart, a company that has opened 62 stores in China, 
     capitulated to ACFTU demands and agreed to let the union set 
     up branches in its stores. This fact is alarming because Wal-
     mart does not allow its employees to unionize in any other 
     country. This is a vivid example that disproves the common 
     theory that economic development is a catalyst for 
     democratization in China. In contrast, the more companies 
     that cooperate with the Communist Party's demands, such as 
     Wal-mart, Cisco. Google. and Yahoo, the more the totalitarian 
     regime is strengthened.


                   Death Penalty and Organ Harvesting

       China executes anywhere from 3,500-10,000 people per year, 
     more than the combined total of all the countries in the 
     entire world. The true number is impossible to ascertain 
     because this information is not made public, making it 
     difficult for NGOs such as Amnesty International to keep 
     records.
       After decades of organ harvesting, the PRC's Vice Minister 
     of Health, Mr. Huang Jiefu, in November 2005 officially 
     admitted that organs are taken from executed prisoners, 
     but still insists that the prisoner or his family always 
     gives informed consent. However, this usually never 
     occurs. Families are often not notified when their 
     relative will be executed and afterwards they are given 
     the cremated remains to cover up any signs of organ 
     removal, or are not given the body at all Whether or not 
     consent is actually given by the prisoner is irrelevant 
     because even if death row prisoners give permission they 
     are coerced and threatened by prison officials to comply. 
     Although government legislation to regulate organ trade 
     went into force in July 2006 prisoners' organs are still 
     sold to wealthy Chinese nationals and foreigners with the 
     profits going directly to the Chinese government. Multi-
     lingual websites boast about the ease of receiving an 
     organ transplant in China.


                           Population Control

       The PRC government continues to implement the inhumane one-
     child policy that began in 1976. No other country has such a 
     draconian family planning policy that is offensive to all 
     religions and all cultural backgrounds, and affects all of 
     China's 1.3 billion members. Despite other social reforms, 
     China's population policy still does not conform to 
     international human rights standards. With few exceptions, 
     only married couples that obtain pre-approval, i.e. a birth 
     permit, may legally have a child even if it is their first 
     child. A majority of Chinese women are required to use 
     intrauterine devices (IUDs), and in villages women's 
     menstrual cycles are monitored. Violators, if discovered to 
     be pregnant, are coerced into having an abortion and to 
     undergo sterilization. Occasionally the men are sterilized as 
     well. Doctors who do not perform IUD insertion or 
     sterilization. or who fake these operations, are jailed. 
     Family members of violators are often imprisoned if they do 
     not reveal their relative's whereabouts. Despite relaxation 
     of certain aspects of China's family planning regulations, 
     enforcement of the one-child policy continues to be coercive.


                          Internet Censorship

       The crackdown of Internet dissidents remains widespread. 
     American software companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Google, 
     and Yahoo continue to cooperate with the Chinese government 
     to censor Internet use. These companies have agreed to 
     restrict access to certain websites and terms, and to reveal 
     the identities of users. As a result of these policies, 
     according to Amnesty International at least 57 people have 
     been arrested for discussing democracy on the Internet. 
     Journalist Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for 
     writing an e-mail on Yahoo to a China pro-democracy group in 
     the U.S. Cisco in particular has funded over us $700 million 
     telecom ventures in China including selling software to the 
     Chinese police who use it to arrest dissenters.
       Directly after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, the 
     US government banned the export of crime control and 
     detection products to China, such as guns and handcuffs. 
     However these sanctions are out of date. Today these 
     restrictions must be expanded to include software and 
     technology products that are used to censor the Internet.


                   Dissidents and Political Prisoners

       Human rights activists in China are frequently imprisoned 
     for various reasons. Some recent examples include Sun Xiaodi, 
     who has petitioned authorities to stop radioactive 
     contamination in Gansu province Three Gorges activist Fu 
     Xiancai who was assaulted and paralyzed after being 
     questioned at a police station, numerous journalists such 
     as New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, and religious 
     practitioners and ethnic minorities. Not only are 
     dissidents imprisoned for criticizing China's totalitarian 
     regime, but the lawyers who defend them are being 
     persecuted as well. For instance blind lawyer Chen 
     Guangcheng is imprisoned for defending victims of forced 
     abortions and sterilizations, as is Gao Zhisheng for 
     sending a letter to the government condemning its 
     practices. Moreover, these cases are only the ones of 
     which the international community is aware; the reality is 
     that unknown numbers are currently being harassed, 
     arrested, tortured and imprisoned. The Chinese government 
     will continue to quell political and civil unrest to 
     maintain power and control.


                               conclusion

  The U.S. Congress should send a strong signal to the Chinese 
government that the world will not accept the human rights violations 
that are occurring in China. The Chinese people deserve the fundamental 
rights to a just legal system, to practice religion, to unionize, to 
plan their families, and to freely express themselves. While economic 
improvements have been made, China continues to deny its people dignity 
and basic rights. The U.S. must not remain silent any longer.

                          ____________________