[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1475-E1476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIP TO BEIJING, CHINA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2008

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, over the Fourth of July recess, 
Representative Chris Smith and I traveled to Beijing, China.
  We had become increasingly disturbed by reports of harsh crackdowns 
by Chinese security forces on the dissident community in the run up to 
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
  Although both Representative Smith and I have been outspoken critics 
of the Chinese government over the years, we embarked on this trip with 
open minds ready to be convinced that the Chinese government had taken 
steps to improve its abysmal human rights record.
  Unfortunately, what we saw while we were on the ground cannot be 
considered by any stretch of the imagination to be progress.
  Upon our arrival, we were informed that the three people that we had 
invited to have dinner with us that evening were threatened by Chinese 
security forces not to attend and placed under house arrest. One of 
these individuals, a prominent human rights lawyer to whom I had 
presented the National Endowment for Democracy Award just weeks earlier 
on Capitol Hill, was taken several hours outside of Beijing and 
detained for the duration of our trip.
  I insert two articles for the record from The New York Times and The 
Washington Post, which further detail the detention of these 
individuals.
  We also visited a ``house church,'' an underground Protestant church 
which is forced to operate illegally out of private homes because the 
Chinese government refuses to recognize these churches as legitimate 
places of worship.
  It was clear that we were being followed to the house church by 
Chinese security forces so we were only able to stay a short time 
because we did not want to endanger members of the congregation.
  House church members and leaders are often targeted for harassment 
and detention by the Chinese security forces because they are viewed by 
the government as a threat to the stability and control of the 
communist regime.
  One example of this repressive policy is Pastor Zhang Rongliang, also 
known as Uncle Liang. Paster Zhang is the leader of the China for 
Christ Church, a network of house churches that is estimated to have 
over 10 million members throughout China.
  Chinese authorities raided Pastor Zhang's home on New Year's Eve 2005 
and formally arrested him. He was detained for 6 months without being 
charged. On June 29, 2006, Pastor Zhang was charged and convicted of 
fraudulently obtaining border exit documents and sentenced to 7\1/2\ 
years in prison. Pastor Zhang is currently being held at Henan Prison 
Number One and has reportedly been subjected to electric shock while 
imprisoned. He suffers from diabetes and hypertension. He is only 
allowed one 30-minute visit a month from members of his family and 
prison guards surround him during these visits.
  During a two-hour meeting with Ambassador Li Zhaoxing, the former 
Chinese foreign minister who now chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee 
of the National People's Congress, Congressman Smith and I both pressed 
for the release of detained individuals, such as Pastor Zhang. We 
presented Ambassador Li with a partial list of political prisoners 
compiled by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and asked 
for the immediate release of all 734 individuals on the list. A copy of 
this list is available online at www.cecc.gov.
 I have met with many former political and religious prisoners and 
dissidents like Pastor Zhang. These are peaceful people. They are not 
violent rogues seeking to overthrow the Chinese government. All they 
ask for is freedom; they yearn for freedom--the freedom to gather 
together and worship and celebrate and share their religious beliefs.
  But the Chinese government will not allow this. They throw their own 
people in jail and subject them to the most base and violent forms of 
torture. And despite all this, the government of China was awarded the 
honor of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games.
  In 1988, in the midst of the cold war, President Ronald Reagan 
publicly addressed religious leaders at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow 
and called on the Soviet Union to promote religious tolerance.
  I call on President Bush to follow the example of Ronald Reagan. 
While he is in Beijing for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, he 
should make a public speech calling on the Chinese government to 
release all the political and religious dissidents who languish in 
labor camps and prisons across China.
  The people of China, and the dissidents who sit in their jail cells 
day after day, week after week, year after year, should know that the 
President of the United States of America and leader of the free world 
stands with them in their quest for freedom, and not with the 
repressive communist regime of China.

                [From the Washington Post, July 1, 2008]

         U.S. Lawmakers Decry Olympics After Dissidents Blocked

                           (By Chris Buckley)

       Beijing.--Two U.S. Congressmen on Tuesday urged President 
     George W. Bush to rethink attending the Beijing Olympic Games 
     after they were prevented from meeting Chinese human rights 
     activists.
       Republican Congressmen Frank Wolf from Virginia and Chris 
     Smith from New Jersey said they had come to Beijing to meet 
     Chinese citizens pressing for greater political and religious 
     freedoms, including two who recently met the U.S. president.
       But Chinese authorities pressured or forced nine activists 
     from meeting them at a dinner on Sunday or subsequently, 
     according to a document handed out by the lawmakers.
       They said such actions, and other repressive steps taken by 
     the Chinese Communist Party, have cast a shadow over the 
     Games and over Bush's vow to attend them.
       ``Tragically, the Olympics has triggered a massive 
     crackdown designed to silence and put beyond reach all those 
     whose views differ from the official `harmonious' government 
     line,'' Smith told a news conference held in the U.S. embassy 
     in Beijing.
       The friction between the visitors and wary Chinese 
     authorities has underscored the political tensions of the 
     Games, with Beijing under criticism from Western politicians 
     and international rights groups over Tibet, censorship and 
     restrictions on religion and political dissent.
       Wolf, who with Smith presented Chinese officials with a 
     list of 734 Chinese prisoners they said were jailed for 
     dissent, said Bush should not attend the Games unless there 
     were big changes.
       ``I personally believe that unless there's tremendous 
     progress over the next few weeks whereby they release some of 
     these prisoners, I personally do not believe the president 
     should attend. Nor do I think the Secretary of State should 
     attend,'' said Wolf.


                         ``SIMPLY RIDICULOUS''

       China later hit back, saying the politicians' attempted 
     meetings violated the claimed purpose of their visit.
       ``The two U.S. Congressmen came to China as guests of the 
     United States Embassy to engage in internal communications 
     and consultations,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu 
     Jianchao told a news conference.
       ``They should not engage in activities incompatible with 
     the objective of their visit and with their status.''
       Speaking by telephone before leaving Beijing, Wolf called 
     China's explanation ``simply ridiculous'' and said he 
     expected the U.S. ambassador to Beijing to take up the issue.
       Two of the Chinese citizens who could not meet the 
     lawmakers, Beijing-based lawyers Li Baiguang and Li Heping, 
     met Bush at the White House on June 23 after receiving awards 
     from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy.
       Li Heping said security officers had ostentatiously tailed 
     him and told him not to meet the U.S. politicians. He said by 
     telephone that he was surprised the audience with Bush had 
     not given him and Li Baiguang some immunity.
       ``He said he was very concerned about human rights and the 
     rule of law in China, especially religious freedom and the 
     freedom of the press,'' Li Heping said of the meeting.
       ``He also said that when he comes to Beijing for the 
     Olympics he will raise these issues with President Hu.''
       Li Baiguang, an evangelical Christian who has now met Bush 
     twice, could not be contacted. His mobile telephone was cut 
     off and

[[Page E1476]]

     other activists said he has been held by state security 
     police on the outskirts of Beijing.
       Wolf said the U.S. government should apply more public 
     pressure to seek the release of jailed Chinese dissidents.
       ``I think you need to do it publicly,'' he said. ``Frankly, 
     they have to be done the way we used to do it with regard to 
     the Soviet Union.''

                [From the New York Times, July 2, 2008]

                 China Blocks U.S. Legislators' Meeting

                            (By Jim Yardley)

       Beijing.--Two United States congressmen who were in Beijing 
     to lobby for the release of more than 700 political prisoners 
     had hoped to have dinner on Sunday with a group of Chinese 
     human rights lawyers. But security agents had a different 
     idea: they detained some of the lawyers and warned the others 
     to stay away.
       The incident is the latest example of how Chinese security 
     agents are increasing pressure on dissidents in advance of 
     the Beijing Olympics in August. The ruling Communist Party 
     has issued broader orders for local governments to defuse 
     public protests, as a violent demonstration involving an 
     estimated 30,000 people erupted last weekend in southwestern 
     China.
       In Beijing, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said the 
     congressmen, Republicans Frank R. Wolf of Virginia and 
     Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey, had overstepped their 
     visas in arranging to meet the lawyers. The legislators, both 
     sharp critics of China, expressed outrage over the 
     interference by security agents.
       ``The people we were supposed to have dinner with all got 
     stopped,'' said Mr. Smith in a telephone interview on Tuesday 
     afternoon. ``All of the world is watching, and this kind of 
     behavior doesn't bring anything but more scrutiny to their 
     human rights abuses.''
       Mr. Wolf called on President Bush to boycott the Olympic 
     opening ceremonies if the detained lawyers were not released 
     and if there was ``no progress'' on releasing 734 political 
     prisoners on a list the two congressmen presented to the 
     Chinese.
       President Bush has been invited to the opening ceremony by 
     Chinese president Hu Jintao and has rejected calls that he 
     not attend.
       On Tuesday afternoon, Liu Jianchao, the Foreign Ministry 
     spokesman, said the two legislators, who had travel visas, 
     should not have tried to meet with the lawyers. ``They should 
     not intervene in China's internal affairs or conduct 
     something that is harmful to China-U.S. relations,'' he said 
     during a regular news briefing.
       Asked if visiting congressmen must get approval from the 
     Chinese government to meet with private citizens, Mr. Liu 
     added: ``The two congressmen applied to come to China to get 
     in touch with the United States consulate. We hope the two 
     U.S. congressmen can respect the country they visit and obey 
     Chinese laws. Regarding the issues on religion and human 
     rights, the exchange between the two countries is more 
     meaningful than meeting private citizens.''
       The congressmen said they came to Beijing to discuss human 
     rights, religious freedom, the Olympics and Darfur. Mr. Smith 
     said they met Monday with the country's former foreign 
     minister, Li Zhaoxing, and gave him their list of political 
     prisoners. ``He took it and said they would look at it,'' Mr. 
     Smith said. ``Our argument is that these people have done 
     nothing wrong.''
       The guest list at the Sunday night dinner was supposed to 
     include three activist lawyers, Li Baiguang, Teng Biao and Li 
     Heping. They were among this year's winners of the 
     ``Democracy Award'' by the National Endowment of Democracy in 
     Washington. Li Baiguang and Li Heping have met with President 
     Bush.
       On Sunday afternoon, authorities took Li Baiguang to a 
     Beijing suburb, where he was placed under house arrest, 
     according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy 
     group. Mr. Teng, who was also detained earlier this year, was 
     taken to the same Beijing suburb but later returned to his 
     apartment under house arrest. Another well-known lawyer, 
     Jiang Tianyong, was blocked from leaving his apartment by two 
     Beijing police officers, the advocacy group said. Still 
     another lawyer, Li Fangping, said three police officers were 
     stationed outside his apartment and threatened to follow him 
     wherever he went.
       The two representatives did manage to meet with a Chinese 
     pastor, Zhang Mingxuan, but Mr. Smith said security agents 
     placed the pastor under house arrest afterward.
       The tightened scrutiny of dissidents comes as China is 
     making broader efforts to increase security and curb public 
     protests as the Olympics draw near. On June 8, the central 
     government held a video conference to launch a national 
     campaign to prevent petition campaigns by disgruntled 
     citizens and to stop demonstrations and other ``mass 
     incidents'' in the name of preserving harmony for the 
     Olympics.
       Localized demonstrations have become common in China, 
     especially in rural areas where peasants protest against 
     illegal land seizures and corruption. Often, peasants 
     organize petition campaigns and travel to Beijing to present 
     their grievances. But authorities, concerned about a 
     potentially embarrassing spectacle during the Games, are 
     calling on local officials to solve problems and prevent 
     petitioners from coming to the capital.
       The potential for unexpected protests was illustrated over 
     the weekend when thousands of people burned government 
     buildings in the county of Weng'an in Guizhou Province. China 
     Daily, the official English-language newspaper, reported that 
     30,000 people participated in a ``mass action'' after a 
     smaller group protested against possible police malfeasance 
     in handling a case that involved the death of a local teenage 
     girl.
       Family members of the girl believe she was killed by 
     relatives of local officials. The riot erupted after the 
     police ruled her death a drowning and cleared the officials' 
     relatives. Rioters burned government buildings and smashed 
     police cars. Paramilitary police have since been dispatched 
     to the county to restore order.

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