Press Release
Smith chairs commission hearingPersecution of China’s Religious Groups Topic of Commission HearingSmith: ‘religious freedom is under siege,’ asks whether President Xi ‘deserves...red carpet treatment in Washington’ during September visit; Calls the ‘massive crackdown on human rights lawyers…anundeniable setback in U.S-China relations.’
At a hearing today on the persecution of religious communities in China at the hands of the government, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) said that the freedom of religion is “under siege” in China. Given President Xi Jinping’s “bold disregard” for human rights he questioned whether the planned September summit between President Obama and President Xi should be canceled. Witnesses included a Chinese Muslim and Christian and advocates for religious freedom for Tibetans and Falung Gong practitioners.
“The freedom of religion is the key human right…each citizen should have the precious right to follow their conscience peacefully and without fear and no government should deny or suppress religious liberty,” said Smith, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the chairman of the House panel that oversees international human rights. “The reality is that governments and terrorist groups restrict the freedom of religion, sometimes in the most brutal and public ways. The freedom of religion is under siege in many places of the world, including in China.”
The hearing, entitled “Religious with ‘Chinese Characteristics’: Persecution and Control in Xi Jinping’s China,” was held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which Congressman Smith chairs, along with co-chairman Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (link to hearing video archive)
“China continues to rank up there with Iran, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia in terms of the sheer misery it inflicts on members of its diverse religious communities,” Smith said. “We are in the midst of a coordinated and often brutal campaign to manage, control, or crush China’s many religious groups, including Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners. Human rights conditions in China are as bad as anytime in the past thirty years.” Congressman Smith’s opening statement can be found here.
The hearing included expert witnesses including the current Miss World Canada 2015, Anastasia Lin, a human rights advocate; Rebiya Kadeer, President, the World Uyghur Congress; Losang Gyatso, Service Chief, the Tibetan Service, Voice of America, and; Bob Fu, President and Founder, ChinaAid. Their testimony can be found here.
Smith also talked about the “massive crackdown on human rights lawyers” saying it was “unjustified” and “an undeniable set-back in U.S.-China relations.” Many of China’s human rights lawyers are Christians who are fired by their religious convictions to protect the vulnerable and persecuted. Smith and Senator Rubio issued a statement last week condemning the arrests and detention of rights lawyers in China.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China, established by the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 as China prepared to enter the WTO, is mandated by law to monitor human rights, including worker rights, and the development of the rule of law in China. Its members are a bipartisan combination of Congress and White House appointees.
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