[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 79 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 PRESIDENT OBAMA: SERIOUSLY PUSH HUMAN RIGHTS ON FRIDAY WITH XI JINPING

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2013

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, this week, the world remembers 
the dream that was and is the ``Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989'' and 
deeply honors the sacrifice endured by an extraordinarily brave group 
of pro-democracy Chinese women and men who dared to demand fundamental 
human rights for all Chinese.
   Twenty-four years ago this week, the world watched in awe and wonder 
as it had since mid-April of '89 as hundreds of thousands of mostly 
young people peacefully petitioned the Chinese government to reform and 
democratize. China seemed to be the next impending triumph for freedom 
and democracy, especially after the collapse of the dictatorships in 
the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. But when the People's Liberation 
Army poured into and around the Square on June 3rd, the wonder of 
Tiananmen turned to shock, tears, fear and helplessness.
   On June 3rd and 4th and for days, weeks and years after, right up 
until today, the Chinese dictatorship delivered a barbaric response--
mass murder, torture, incarceration, cover-up and the systematic 
suppression of fundamental human rights.
   The Chinese government not only continues to inflict unspeakable 
pain and suffering on its own people, but the cover--up of the 
Tiananmen massacre is without precedent in modern history. Even though 
journalists and live television and radio documented the massacre, the 
Chinese Communist Party line continues to deny, obfuscate and threaten.
   In December of 1996 General Chi Haotian, the operational commander 
who ordered the murder of the Tiananmen protestors, visited Washington, 
DC as the Chinese Defense Minister. Minister Chi was welcomed by 
President Clinton at the White House with full honors including a 19-
gun salute--a bizarre spectacle I and others strongly protested. Why do 
I bring this up? Minister Chi addressed the Army War College on that 
trip and in answer to a question said ``not a single person lost his 
life in Tiananmen Square'' and claimed that the People's Liberation 
Army did nothing more violent than the ``pushing of people'' during 
1989 protests. Not a single person lost his life? Are you kidding? That 
big lie and countless others like it was--and is--the Chinese Communist 
Party's line.
   As chair of Foreign Affairs' human rights subcommittee, I put 
together a congressional hearing within a couple of days--December 
18th, 1996--with witnesses who were there on the Square in 1989 
including Yang Jianli--a leader and survivor of the massacre--and Time 
magazine bureau chief David Aikman, two of the witnesses who testified 
at a hearing I held earlier this week. I also invited Minister Chi or 
anyone the Chinese Embassy might want to send to the hearing. He--
they--refused.
  I guess Minister Chi thought he was back in Beijing where the big lie 
is king and no one ever dares to do a fact check.
  A few days ago, the U.S. State Department asked the Chinese 
government to ``end harassment of those who participated in the 
protests and fully account for those killed, detained or missing.'' The 
response? The Chinese Foreign Ministry acrimoniously said that the U.S. 
should ``stop interfering in China's internal affairs so as not to 
sabotage China-U.S. relations.''
   ``Sabotage'' Sino-American relations because our side requests an 
end to harassment and an accounting? Sounds like they have much to 
hide.
   President Obama is scheduled to meet with China's President Xi 
Jinping on Friday to discuss security and economic issues. A robust 
discussion of human rights abuses in China must be on the agenda and 
not in a superfluous or superficial way. It's time to get serious about 
China's flagrant abuse.
   Can a government that crushes the rights and freedoms of its own 
people be trusted on trade and security?
   China today is the torture capital of the world and victims include 
religious believers, ethnic minorities, human rights defenders like 
Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng and political dissidents.
   Hundreds of millions of women have been forced to abort their 
precious babies pursuant to the draconian one-child policy which has 
led to gendercide, the violent extermination of unborn baby girls 
simply because they are girls. The slaughter of the girl-child in China 
is not only a massive gender crime but a ``security'' issue as well. A 
witness at one of my earlier hearings, Valerie Hudson, author of Bare 
Branches, testified that the gender imbalance will lead to instability 
and chaos--even war, ``that the One--Child policy has not enhanced 
China's security, but demonstrably weakened it.'' As Nick Eberstadt 
famously phrased it, what are the consequences for a society that has 
chosen to become, simultaneously, both more gray and more male . . . 
The other face of the coin from the missing daughters of China, are the 
excess sons of China . . . the abnormal sex ratios of China do not bode 
well for its future.''
   I hope policymakers pay close attention to the witnesses who 
testified earlier this week because Tiananmen was a tipping point and 
the lessons learned and employed ever since by the Chinese government 
required much better understanding and due diligence and a more 
effective response from us.
   One of our witnesses, Dr. Yang Jianli, testified that soon after 
Tiananmen the Communist Party embraced a ubiquitous code of corruption 
to enrich the elite at the expense of the general public, believing 
that ``economic growth means everything'' to the survival and 
sustainability of the dictatorship. ``All this was made possible thanks 
to the Tiananmen massacre and the political terror that was imposed on 
the entire country in the years following. . . .''
   Earlier this week, we heard from activists who were in Beijing in 
June of 1989, another democracy advocate who was serving an 18-year 
sentence in prison at that time and a former Time Magazine Beijing 
reporter who was an eyewitness to these events.
   Dr. Yang Jianli is a former political prisoner and survivor of the 
massacre. His insights into the repercussions on China from Tiananmen, 
the ongoing corruption and the unfinished business are elucidating.
   Chai Ling was one of the most effective--and most wanted--leaders of 
the protest movement in Tiananmen Square. Her courage and fight for 
democracy and remarkable escape is the stuff of legend. As a strong 
woman of faith, her testimony is a message of remembering the lessons 
of the past but also giving hope for the future.
   Wei Jingsheng has been advocating for democracy in China for decades 
and has paid a heavy price in serving over 18 years in prison for his 
activities in fighting for freedom of the Chinese people. His 
perceptive and frequent analyses of the Chinese Communist system and 
the changing views of the population offer a profound view today of the 
events surrounding Tiananmen.
   And we are also grateful to have heard from Dr. Sophie Richardson of 
Human Rights Watch who for many years has been an expert and advocate 
of political reform and democratization and human rights in China.
   Dr. David Aikman, former Beijing Bureau Chief for Time Magazine, was 
also present during the Tiananmen massacre and covered the student 
protests prior to the conflict. He has also studied extensively on the 
status of religious freedom in China and the situation of Christianity 
in China today and the historical influences on its development. And we 
appreciated his insights and testimony.
   We will not forget what took place in Tiananmen Square 24 years ago. 
The struggle for freedom in China continues. Someday the people of 
China will enjoy all of their God-given rights. And a nation of free 
Chinese women and men will someday honor and applaud and thank the 
heroes of Tiananmen and all those who sacrificed so much for so long 
for freedom.

                          ____________________