By Congressman Christopher H. Smith, June 04 2020 12:01 am OPINION Thirty-one years ago today, the world watched with a mixture of hope and anticipation as over a million people gathered peacefully to demand democracy and human rights in the streets of Beijing and over 400 other Chinese cities. The promise of those heady days ended tragically with broken bodies and broken dreams. Dreams that were brutally suppressed by a Chinese Communist Party that will go to any length to keep its grip on pow... Read more

Commissioners from the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) introduced a resolution on the thirty-first anniversary of the Tiananmen protests and their violent suppression. The resolution condemns the Chinese government’s efforts to dismantle the promised freedoms and autonomy of Hong Kong, including through the arbitrary arrest of democracy advocates and the forced imposition of national security legislation and it calls on the Administration to build an i... Read more

June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday said legislation targeting Chinese officials over treatment of the country's Uighur Muslim minority sent a "clear message" of support from Washington, seeking to prod the Trump administration to push Beijing on human rights. "Over the years, there has been a real commitment to shine a bright light on human rights in China and to say to those who are affected by that, 'you are not alone,'" House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a signing... Read more

By Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) The murder of George Floyd while in custody by a Minneapolis police officer demands justice—and an absolute recommitment by law enforcement and policymakers to always ensure that any person taken into custody is treated with respect, nonviolence and professionalism. I watched the video of Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of Mr. Floyd who pleaded “I can’t breathe” with horror and disbelief. Chauvin not only betrayed his solemn duty to serve and protect but he betrayed... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Payments for canceled trips that haven’t been refunded. Products ordered online but were never received. Texts touting fake cures for the coronavirus. Americans have filed more than 31,000 complaints with the Federal Trade Commission claiming losses of more than $40 million through Tuesday due to fraud, newly released statistics show. The category includes travel expenses that haven’t been refunded, and online purchases that show up late or no... Read more

By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman, TRENTONIAN STAFF - Democrats and Republicans have increasingly become more critical of China as the COVID-19 pandemic endures. But GOP Congressman Chris Smith, a longtime New Jersey politician, has been sounding the alarm on Chinese Communist Party politics for years. The state-affiliated Global Times newspaper, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many others describe as the official “Chinese government’s mouthpiece,” has blasted Smith in a recent English language arti... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of the House-passed Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and who has promoted human rights as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for forty years, said: "Xi Jinping’s dictatorship is an existential threat to the people of Hong Kong, China itself, countries in the region and over time, the world. After years of human rights admonishment and cheap rhetoric devoid of any meaningful penalties, Xi has concluded that the West is all talk, no action. Presid... Read more

By Paul D. Shinkman, Senior Writer, National Security May 29, 2020, at 6:00 a.m. WHEN PRESIDENT BILL Clinton was pushing for a trade deal with China in 2000, he referenced Hong Kong to address broad concerns about Beijing's civil rights abuses and territorial threats, specifically a letter he received from the founder of Hong Kong's Democratic Party and longtime human rights activist Martin Lee. Clinton read from Lee's letter in a speech at Johns Hopkins University that March: "'This agreement,'... Read more

More federal funding to combat opioid addiction and other addictions in Monmouth and Ocean counties has been announced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). “This grant funding comes at a crucial time for people who are recovering from addictions or facing mental illness in the Ocean County and Monmouth County areas,” Smith said. /* custom css */ .td_uid_2_5eda4aea81e38_rand.td-a-rec-img { text-align: left; } .td_uid_2_5eda4aea81e38_rand.td-a-rec-img img { margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “The isolation that ... Read more

Key bipartisan legislation to extend and enhance the Paycheck Protection Program, which is helping sustain businesses and pay workers during the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19, passed the House of Representatives May 28. Rep. Chris Smith, who supported the creation of the PPP and subsequent legislation nearly doubling its funding, said the new Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, HR 7010, is needed to make the program easier, more accessible and more realistic as businesses dea... Read more