“The Chinese government will continue to brutally control family life as it does most other aspects of Chinese life,” said Smith. “The ‘one-child policy’ may possibly become a ‘two-child policy’ but China’s police state population control policies will not end anytime soon. The Chinese government retains the power to tell couples what their families must look like and the power to punish those who disobey birth quotas.  For the past 35 years the Chinese government has wasted precious human potential and sanctioned state-sponsored violence against women and children--enabled by pro-abortion groups globally and the United Nations Population Fund. No one should applaud China’s announced ‘two-child’ policy, instead we should be insisting they abolish intrusive and abusive birth restrictions forever.” Click here to read Chairman Smith’s testimony.

    The hearing, entitled “China’s Announced ‘Two-Child Policy’ & the Continuation of Massive Crimes Against Women and Children” was held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which Congressman Smith chairs with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (click here for Co-Chairman Rubio’s statement). The hearing examined the October 2015 announcement by the Chinese Communist Party that it may adopt a universal two-child policy for married couples in order to address the massive demographic and economic problems associated with a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce.  The hearing webcast can be watched here.

    The hearing included expert witnesses including Nicholas Eberstadt from the American Enterprise Institute, Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute. The hearing also included two women’s rights activists from China, who have worked to help women facing forced or coerced abortion in China, Jennifer Li and Sarah Huang. The witnesses provided evidence that a “two-child policy” will have minimal impact on China’s demographic problems and will not fundamentally change the dynamics on the ground.  Chinese couples are still not free to decide the size of their own families and the human rights abuses associated with coercive enforcement of birth restrictions will continue. Witnesses also provided testimony about grass-roots efforts to help Chinese women and families circumvent birth limitation policies and forced abortions and evidence that Chinese officials are currently coercively enforcing birth restrictions, despite the announced policy revision.     

    “Forcible birth control looks to be the Chinese government's preferred policy path for the indefinite future,” said Nicholas Eberstadt. Click here to read Eberstadt’s testimony.

    “I saw tears. I felt their fears,” said Li. “I held their hands and I hold their stories in my heart.  I want the world to see the reality of the heartbreak population control has brought.”  Click here to read Li’s testimony.

    “A Chinese mother’s womb is one of the most dangerous places for an unborn child,” said Huang. “I have been in hiding since becoming pregnant. My husband's employer said that an abortion would be mandatory for me or he would lose his job.” Click here to read Huang’s testimony.

    “Coercion is the core of the policy,” said Littlejohn. “A two- child policy will not end any of the human rights abuses caused by the One-Child Policy, including forced abortions, involuntary sterilization or sex-selective abortions of baby girls.” Click here to read Littlejohn’s testimony.

    “Xi Jinping has not suddenly developed a conscience,” said Mosher. “The underlying policy has not, and probably will not, change. What will happen if the Chinese people don't procreate according to plan?  A government bent on regulating its population will do whatever is necessary to 'produce' the number of children it has ordered reproduced.” Click here to read Mosher’s testimony.

    Smith also announced at the hearing that he was sending a letter to President Obama, asking that he implement the Admiral Nance and Meg Donovan Act, authored by Smith, and deny U.S. entry visas to Chinese officials responsible for implementing China’s population control policies.  “It has been a gross failure for the Obama Administration to fail to enforce existing law. We already have a law in place that will bar visas to Chinese officials, but unfortunately, it is not being used.” Text of letter can be found here.

    “In the long line of Chinese Communist Party mistakes, the brutal enforcement of population control may be one of the deadliest and most hated,” said Smith. “The international community, led by the U.S., must insist that China abolish all birth restrictions, dismantle its family planning apparatus, compensate the victims of forced abortions and sterilizations, raise the legal and inheritance status of girls, and permanently close a dark and deadly chapter in Chinese history.”

    The bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) chaired by Smith and co-chaired by Senator Marco Rubio recently released its 2015 Annual Report which shows that Chinese provincial governments continued to coercively enforce birth restrictions and monitor family size in the past year.  The report also showed that population control policies created a sex ratio imbalance resulting in the birth of significantly more males, millions of whom will be unable to find wives. The severe imbalance drives regional human trafficking throughout Asia for the purposes of forced marriage and sexual exploitation. The CECC Annual Report can be found at www.cecc.gov.

    The CECC consists of nine bi-partisan Senators, eight bi-partisan Members of the House of Representatives, and five senior Administration officials appointed by the President. The Annual Report was approved unanimously by all of the CECC’s members.

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