[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HUMAN RIGHTS WITHOUT BORDERS EXHIBIT & ``HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM 
                       DEFENDER'' AWARD CEREMONY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2018

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to include in the Record my speech at 
yesterday's event, ``Human Rights without Borders,'' organized by the 
Wei Jingsheng Foundation and the European Union Parliamentary Liaison 
Office. It was my privilege to receive the ``Human Rights and Freedom 
Defender'' award.
  We must continue to shine a light on human rights abuses in China. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues on a bipartisan bases to 
continue to carry the torch for liberty in China and globally.

       Thank you all so much for the invitation to this very 
     poignant exhibit, ``Human Rights without Borders.''
       Thank you to Wei Jingsheng as well as Antoine Ripoll of the 
     European Parliament Liaison Office for so graciously hosting 
     this very special event.
       Wei, what a pleasure to see you again. I had the honor of 
     hosting him in my district 16 years ago at the Toledo Labor 
     Day Parade, as well as an event at the University of Toledo.
       And thank you all for continuing to carry forward the flame 
     of human rights in China, and across the world.
       What an honor to receive this reward. I am truly humbled.
       I would like to dedicate it to all the freedom fighters in 
     China and across the world that are being detained, tortured, 
     or persecuted due to their pursuit of liberty.
       As you all know, human rights and democratic principles are 
     not just for wishful thinking.
       These principles are central to our nation's security 
     because we know a more democratic world is a more secure 
     world. We know that countries with strong human rights 
     records are more prosperous, stable, and reliable partners to 
     build world peace.
       Tragically, the Chinese regime has a deeply troubling human 
     rights record.
       As we speak, up to one million Uyghur Muslims are 
     languishing in concentration camps in North West China.
       At least 321 Tibetans have been detained since 2012, yet 
     heroically continue their struggle for self-determination.
       Meanwhile, millions of Chinese workers toil away at penny-
     wages in slave conditions to benefit the Chinese regime and 
     transnational corporations.
       There is no freedom of association to form trade unions, 
     leaving the level of occupational disease and injuries 
     alarmingly high. And also prevents oversight of child labor 
     and severe abuse of migrant and ethnic minority workers.
       During peak production season, workers are forced to cover 
     80-175 overtime hours per month with little to no 
     protections, exposed to hazardous chemicals and deadly 
     working conditions.
       More than 480 million people in China--one third of its 
     population--live on less than $2 a day.
       The lack of an independent judiciary, independent press, 
     rule of law, and due process raise serious concerns of core 
     principals of fundamental human rights.
       With such an ancient and rich culture, the Chinese people 
     deserve better than this brutish and crude oppression.
       As Congress debated allowing China into the World Trade 
     Organization, many argued that welcoming China into the world 
     fold would lead to democratization. They said that a middle 
     class would demand their rights.
       Instead, we've seen more oppression and a more aggressive 
     Chinese foreign policy that can use its new-found riches to 
     challenge American influence abroad.
       China has yet to open its markets to American goods. Our 
     trade deficits have soared, clocking in at over $375 billion 
     in 2017 alone and despite promises from the Trump 
     Administration to correct this gaping imbalance.
       As a result, American workers in Ohio and across the 
     Midwest have lost thousands of jobs to corporate greed and 
     offshoring.
       Free trade with China has surely been a one-sided deal.
       Just as China shows a blatant disdain for human rights and 
     rule of law in their own country, she tramples upon 
     international law and seeks to overturn the global rules-
     based order.
       As a strategic competitor, she seeks to spread its 
     propaganda and tear down the virtues of democracy. She would 
     seek to replace the blessings of liberty and replace it with 
     its oppressive and dark ideology.
       China provides diplomatic cover and assistance to the 
     pariah-state North Korea that threatens global security with 
     nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles.
       China fails to control illicit flows of fentanyl into the 
     United States killing so many unsuspecting victims in my 
     District, Northern Ohio, and across America.
       While the United States takes a step back in global 
     leadership and diplomacy, China is too eager to fill the 
     void. We see China investing millions in developing nations 
     in South American and Africa, spreading its undemocratic and 
     tyrannical influence.
       We watch as Chinese foreign aid and influence pays 
     dividends in nations as they shift to recognize mainland 
     China over a free and democratic Taiwan.
       China seeks to illegally take control of international 
     waters in the South China seaway and undertakes aggressive 
     naval maneuvers to challenge stability in the region provided 
     by our naval fleet.
       China's global strategy and dominance is that of a sleeping 
     dragon. But with its aggressive state-driven Belt and Road 
     Initiative, which will invest $1 trillion on development 
     projects globally, America can no longer tip-toe around the 
     dragon.
       As a Member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on 
     China, I join my colleagues in the commitment to work to hold 
     China accountable on its deeply disturbing human rights 
     record.
       We need to take China's failure to live up to its 
     commitment much more seriously. We need a trade policy that 
     creates jobs in the U.S. And we must continue to check 
     China's revisionist and aggressive foreign policy.
       Thank you all again for this great honor, and I look 
     forward to working with you and my colleagues on a bipartisan 
     basis to continue carrying the torch for human rights in 
     China and globally.

                          ____________________