U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, Chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees Global Human Rights, led a hearing earlier today that examined China’s human rights record – including areas such as China’s compliance with international labor standards, censorship of the internet, implementation of the right of Chinese citizens to worship freely, and the destructive effects on Chinese society of its government’s coercive one-child policy.

    "I have eternal hope that President Bush will raise these fundamental human rights concerns in his meetings with President Hu," said Smith. "The Chinese government simply cannot let their population increasingly experience the freedom to buy, sell and produce while denying them the right to assemble, speak and worship as they choose."

    "Over the years, I have held 25 hearings on human rights abuses in China, and while China’s economy has improved somewhat, the human rights situation remains abysmal. So-called economic reform has utterly failed to result in the protection of freedom of speech, expression, or assembly," said Smith. 

    "It is important to note that the freedoms that we enjoy in America allow individuals to publish information and news on the Web unfiltered – even from within the walls of Congress," Smith said. "Those freedoms do not exist in China and individuals who attempt to speak freely are imprisoned and even tortured, and US corporations should not be aiding in that process." 

BACKGROUND: The visit of President Hu Jintao of China to the United States provides the Congress an opportunity to review human rights conditions in China. In previous years before high profile visits, the PRC government has released from prison political dissidents such as Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, sentenced to eight years prison in 2000 for sending press cuttings overseas and "endangering national security" and who was released March 14, 2005 before the Beijing visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 

    State Department human rights reports and other NGOs indicate that Chinese government repression of its citizens continues. Beijing has increasingly viewed the information available on the internet as a potential threat to the central government's ability to control the population and has created one of the most internet restrictive countries in the world, where cyber-dissidents like Shi Tao are arrested and imprisoned. China’s continued repression of religion is among the most despotic in the world. In February, the BBC reported that China had warned Hong Kong's newly-appointed Cardinal, Joseph Zen, a well-known critic of China's suppression of religious freedoms, to remain quiet on political issues. Citizens practicing a faith other than officially sanctioned religions are often subject to torture, imprisonment, and death, at which time prisoner organs are frequently harvested to meet demand. Those that dare to question China’s forced abortions and sterilizations face beatings and imprisonment, such as Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer who has publicly opposed China’s coercive one-child policies. Finally, there is no recourse for millions of Chinese laborers trapped in poor working conditions, as those who protest unjust wage and labor practices outside of the government-sponsored labor union are arrested and imprisoned. 

WITNESSES:

Ms. Thea Lee, Assistant Director of Public Policy, AFL-CIO
Steven Mosher, Ph.D., President, Population Research Institute
Mr. Ethan Gutmann, Author, Losing the New China: a Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal,
Mr. Harry Wu, Executive Director, Laogai Research Foundation
Mr. Lu Decheng, 1989 Tiananmen Square Protestor
Mr. Joseph Kung, Director, Cardinal Kung Foundation
Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, President, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation