[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E370-E371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              LI BAIGUANG

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 26, 2018

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, today I remember Dr. Li 
Baiguang who died

[[Page E371]]

unexpectedly on February 25, 2018. Dr. Li was a father and a husband, a 
lawyer and scholar, and he was a committed Christian who used his legal 
skills to defend the poor and oppressed in China. He was a true friend 
of freedom and a kindred spirit in the fight to protect religious 
freedom and other human rights in China. Though his work made him a 
frequent target of harassment and violence, until his death he remained 
passionately committed to the fight for the rights of Chinese citizens 
under the law. Dr. Li was truly one of China's best and brightest. He 
will be missed.
  Li Baiguang was born in Hunan province in 1968 and received his 
doctoral degree in law from Peking University in 1997. Motivated by his 
Christian faith, Dr. Li defended farmers, migrant workers, and those 
persecuted by the Chinese government because of their religious belief. 
In 2006, Dr. Li met with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office. 
In 2008, he received the Democracy Award from the National Endowment 
for Democracy (NED).
  Dr. Li was in Washington DC, just a few weeks before his death. He 
expressed concern about the Chinese government's brutal crackdown on 
human rights lawyers and the possibility that new religious regulations 
would give the government an excuse to close all Protestant ``house 
churches.'' I share these concerns and find China's deteriorating human 
rights situation deeply problematic. President Xi has presided over an 
extraordinary assault on the rule of law and civil society using 
repressive policies and new laws that threaten rights defenders in 
China and challenge both U.S. interests and U.S.-China cooperation and 
goodwill.
  Dr. Li also spoke that day about a savage beating he received in 
October at the hands of Zhejiang province police. He was taken to a 
forest and tortured and warned to end his defense of a group of farmers 
dispossessed of their land by the Chinese government. To his credit, he 
did not back down from this threat.
  He faced such dangers willingly and with a strong Christian faith. He 
fought daily for what was good and what was right and dreamed of a day 
when China would be more democratic and free. For his courage, he 
should be admired as a true champion of liberty and the rule of law.
  Dr. Li is survived by his wife, Xu Hanmei, and their eight-year-old 
son Li Quingxin.
  I believe that someday China will be free. Someday, the people of 
China will be able to enjoy all of their God-given rights. And a nation 
of free Chinese men and women will honor Li Baiguang as a hero. He will 
be honored along with all others like him who have sacrificed so much, 
and so long, for freedom.

                          ____________________