[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 156 (Tuesday, October 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12893-S12894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. DORGAN. I don't have enough time, but I want to show my 
colleagues something I find absolutely fascinating. Let me suggest on a 
different subject I will consume the 3.5 minutes.
  This is the Nail House. This house is in the middle of a whole dug-
out excavation area. This is in China. The Chinese Government, the 
developers, decided we are going to go in, and we are clearing this 
whole place out. One family said: No, you can't do that to me. It is 
not legal. It is not fair. We are not going to move. So they came in 
and excavated around the entire house. Here is the little house in 
China.
  I tell you that because we just released, last week, the Congress 
Executive Commission on China Annual Report. It is the 2007 annual 
report. I am a cochairman, Sandy Levin, Congressman Sandy Levin, is the 
chairman. I am the cochairman of the Congressional Executive Commission 
on China. This describes a whole series of things on China, those who 
are in prison today in China as a result of advocating for human rights 
and other related issues.
  I will tell this story about the Nail House. They call it the Nail 
House because it is stuck right up out of the excavation. The story did 
not have such a happy ending for the Nail House. The Chinese, 
eventually--they must have thought this was funny, the Chinese 
authorities, by digging around this fellow's house--but they eventually 
came in and tore the whole thing down and this property was lost. It is 
pretty hard to take on the Chinese Government.
  But one of the things in this report we talk about is what is 
happening with technology in China, and the ability, outside of the 
purview of the Communist Government, to control everything; the ability 
of people to communicate.
  Now, the Chinese have thousands of thought police trying to figure 
out who is visiting the Internet and trying to prevent them from 
visiting certain sites on the Internet. But there is a trend that is 
going on in China that is very interesting. Internet use rose from 
620,000 in the last 10 years, 620,000, to 160 million Internet users.
  Mobile phone ownership went from 3 million to 500 million in the last 
12 years, 500 million. China has an estimated 20 million blogs, where 
people are talking among bloggers' personalized Web pages. In the 
entire year of 2003, about 4 years ago, the Chinese people sent 137 
billion text messages.
  Now, I tell you all of that because I think it is going to change 
things in China. Part of this China Executive Commission is trying to 
understand what is happening in China. What does that mean for our 
future? But there are some striking examples of citizen activism these 
days which are very interesting. This is one, the ``nail house,'' this 
family, that did not end so well.
  But the local officials ignored the mass complaints. But what 
happened was this picture was on all of the blogs in China, it stirred 
up a hornet's nest of people willing to demonstrate in the streets on 
behalf of this family.
  But there is one other issue, chemical factory protests in the 
southeast corner of Xiamen. The local government planned to build a 
hazardous chemical plant near the center of town. They publicized the 
information on Web sites and blogs, and citizens responded by 
overwhelming the local Chinese officials with a million text messages. 
Later they used blogs and text messages. They organized massive 
protests and marches that attracted thousands, and finally the local 
officials suspended the building of a chemical factory in the middle of 
Xiamen.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 2 additional minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Another use of the Internet in China was on a slave labor 
scandal. In May and June of this year, citizen activists broke open a 
scandal that rocked China. Thousands of brick kilns were using kidnaped 
slave labor. They were men, boys, mentally ill, forced to work under 
heavy guard, often with no pay and very little food.
  Parents looking for their missing sons organized on the Internet in 
China, and they were pleading for Government assistance. They were 
forced to cover the story in the Chinese press because there was such a 
mass uprising here. Finally, the Chinese Prime Minister ordered an 
investigation. Five hundred workers were freed. One hundred sixty 
people who ran the kilns were arrested. Very few party officials were 
seriously punished.
  But the point is, things are changing. The technology is changing in 
China. The Burmese monks protest, the activism continues right up to 
today. While the Chinese Government is attempting to shut down this 
open and free communications with the thought police, they have got 
thousands of people trying to regulate Internet use, the fact is, it is 
not working, and technology and communications are having a profound 
impact and I believe will continue to have a significant impact in

[[Page S12894]]

the future. But I would say to my colleagues, we have some very skilled 
people who have worked with Congressman Levin and myself on the 
Congressional Executive Commission on China, the Annual Report, 2007.
  We have the most complete list of those who are being held prisoner 
in China, particularly as a result of human rights issues. This 
booklet, if you have a chance to read it, is a great description put 
together by some very skilled people on exactly what is happening in 
China.
  There is some progress, and there are areas that are of great 
concern. We continue to monitor and work on these issues.
  I yield the floor, and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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