[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 87 (Friday, May 19, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DISAPPEARED, JAILED, AND TORTURED IN CHINA: WIVES PETITION FOR THEIR 
                           HUSBANDS' FREEDOM

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 19, 2017

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, lawyer Xie Yang was tortured 
for the better part of two years because he dared to represent China's 
poor and persecuted. The account of his detention is both harrowing and 
horrible.
  Xie Yang was sleep deprived and kept in isolation. Squads of police 
punched and kicked him for hours at a time. He was forced to sit still 
for hours on a precarious stack of plastic chairs; his feet dangling 
painfully off the ground. Police made threats to his wife and children 
and said they would turn him into an ``invalid'' unless he confessed to 
political crimes.
  Xie Yang and his fellow human rights lawyers wanted the best for 
China, but they got the very worst.
  Since July 2015, almost 250 lawyers and legal assistants were 
detained sending a chilling message to those fighting for legal reforms 
and human rights.
  At yesterday's hearing in the human rights subcommittee that I chair, 
we came together to shine a light on the brutal, illegal, and 
dehumanizing use of torture and forced disappearance of human rights 
lawyers and rights advocates in China.
  We shine a light on dictatorships because nothing good happens in the 
dark. And, as we learned yesterday, there are some very dark places in 
China.
  Chinese officials repeatedly tell me I should focus more on the 
positive aspects of China and not dwell so much on the negative.
  That is a difficult task when you read Xie Yang's story, read Gao 
Zhisheng's account of his torture, or read the accounts of Yu Jie or 
Golog Jigme or Yin Liping.
  It is a difficult task when you look at Li Chunfu and his brother Li 
Heping.
  These are some of China's best and bravest--now with broken bodies, 
shattered minds and faces that have aged 20 years after two years of 
solitary confinement and torture.
  It is shocking, offensive, immoral, and inhumane. It is also 
completely possible that Chinese officials believe the international 
community will not hold them accountable.
  While President Xi Jinping is feted at Davos and lauded in foreign 
capitals for his public commitment to openness, his government is 
torturing and abusing those seeking rights guaranteed by China's own 
Constitution and its international obligations.
  One Oxford university scholar has said that Xi has built the 
``perfect dictatorship''--an increasingly repressive garrison state 
that avoids any international censure.
  Through the UN and the sanctions available in the Global Magnitsky 
Act, we should be seeking to hold accountable any Chinese officials 
complicit in torture and illegal detentions.
  Xie Yang identified at least 10 police officers who tortured him. We 
are in the process of gathering names and identifying information. I 
will then send those names to President Trump, Secretary of State 
Tillerson, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and the Chairs and ranking 
members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee.
  We will seek UN investigations into the torture of China's human 
rights lawyers and human rights defenders because their treatment in 
detention violates China's obligations as signatory of the UN Torture 
Convention.
  We will also seek investigations under the Global Magnitsky Act. I 
introduced the House version of that bill, which was signed into law 
last year.
  That law says explicitly that any foreign government officials who 
engages in or is complicit in torture can be sanctioned--by denying 
entry visas into the United State or by imposing financial sanctions.
  Those who tortured Xie Yang and Li Heping should never benefit from 
access to the United States or our financial system.
  We will hear testimony yesterday from the wives of detained human 
rights lawyers. We also heard from Ms. Li Ching-Yu, the wife of 
detained Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che.
  After entering mainland China in March of this year for a personal 
trip, Mr. Lee went missing for 10 days before Chinese officials 
confirmed that he was being held on so-called ``national security'' 
grounds.
  Many fear Mr. Lee is being detained under a harsh new Chinese law to 
monitor and control foreignfunded NGOs, enforced earlier this year as 
part of a crackdown on civil society. His detention fits the trend of 
the Chinese government targeting activists, dissidents, or even 
scholars based abroad.
  The Taiwan government is working behind the scenes to resolve Lee 
Ming-che's case, though I am sure such efforts are hindered by Taiwan's 
lack of international clout and its complicated diplomatic ties with 
Beijing.
  As I have said before, Taiwan is an important democratic ally and a 
beacon of peace and democracy in Asia. The U.S. should remain committed 
to the Taiwan Relations Act and the ``Six Assurances'' as cornerstones 
of U.S.-Taiwan relations.
  Political issues between China and Taiwan should be resolved through 
appropriate mechanisms between the two sides. The Chinese government 
decision to detain Lee Ming-che signaled Chinese officials' willingness 
to break its international human rights obligations for political 
gains, needlessly straining cross-strait relations.
  We welcomed Ms. Li Ching-Yu's testimony yesterday in order to 
increase the level of international interest and attention to her 
husband's case.
  The Chinese government is facing a new and unexpected phenomenon--
effective advocacy campaigns waged by the wives of tortured and 
detained rights advocates. I truly admire the brave women who are 
challenging the Chinese government to live up to its highest ideals. 
They are an inspiration.
  Through the testimony provided during yesterday's hearing, we 
considered the almost two year effort by President Xi Jinping's 
government to eviscerate China's network of human rights lawyers and 
consider how the continued detention of Lee Ming-che has negatively 
impacted cross-strait relations between Beijing and Taipei.

                          ____________________