Smith, Chris RSS Articles

Smith introduces resolution condemning the CCP’s campaign to erase ethnic and religious minorities

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), introduced legislation condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intensified repression of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as Beijing’s new law—the so-called Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress—scheduled to take effect on July 1^st. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is the lead Democrat on the resolution.

The Smith-McGovern resolution (H.Res.1400), first reported by The Epoch Times, warns that the bogus statute, adopted by China’s National People’s Congress in March, gives unprecedented legal force and cover to the CCP’s ongoing campaign to eliminate distinct ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities into a single Party-defined national identity. It condemns the CCP’s forced assimilation targeting Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hui Muslims, Manchus, and other communities, whose languages, faiths, families, and histories are under siege.

The legislation also asserts that Beijing’s law reaches beyond China’s borders, threatening Uyghurs, Tibetans, Chinese dissidents, journalists, scholars, religious leaders, and former political prisoners abroad. In effect, the resolution argues, the CCP is unjustly claiming the authority to punish lawful and peaceful speech, advocacy, scholarship, and religious practice, even on free soil.

“Beijing’s message is chilling: abandon your faith, forget your language, obey the Party—or face punishment, even abroad,” said Smith.

“This is not unity. It is tyranny—and it turns cultural and religious erasure into official policy. Congress must act decisively to condemn the CCP’s atrocities and protect Americans and diaspora communities from transnational repression,” continued Smith, who has chaired countless congressional hearings on human rights abuses in China.

Smith and McGovern’s resolution urges sanctions and visa restrictions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials and entities responsible for forced assimilation, religious repression, forced labor, arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, coercive boarding-school systems, and transnational repression.

The legislation also calls for continued U.S. advocacy on behalf of political prisoners, including Ilham Tohti, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Hada, and others detained for peaceful advocacy, religious practice, scholarship, or cultural preservation.

Furthermore, the measure calls for stronger protections for China’s diaspora communities in the United States, who remain under the threat of transnational repression from the CCP.

It also gives expanded support for endangered languages, religious traditions, independent media, diaspora-led cultural education, documentation of cultural repression, and local-language broadcasting.

Finally, the Smith-McGovern resolution affirms that the recognition and succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders are religious matters that must be decided exclusively by Tibetan Buddhists, free from interference by the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party.

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The Epoch Times exclusive article on Smith's new legislation'CCP Expanding International Repression Through New "Ethnic Unity Law," Warns House Resolution'

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Eva Fu & Dorothy Li
Published July 1, 2026

WASHINGTON—House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning China’s new ethnic unity law, saying it will expand the regime’s efforts to enforce the regime’s ideology internationally and eliminate cultural and religious rights.

The measure by Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) comes amid growing concerns in Congress about the Chinese law, which allows Beijing to target people in the United States and beyond.

The Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress law, enacted on July 1, formalizes a longstanding push to prioritize Mandarin Chinese in education from kindergarten and promotes a unified national identity among the country’s 55 officially recognized ethnic minority groups.

It also contains a clause that allows the Chinese authorities to prosecute individuals and entities abroad if their actions are deemed by Beijing to undermine “national unity” or incite “separatism.”

Chinese military honour guards await the arrival of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Nov. 7, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

“Beijing’s message is chilling: Abandon your faith, forget your language, obey the Party—or face punishment, even abroad,” Smith told The Epoch Times in a statement. “This is not unity. It is tyranny—and it turns cultural and religious erasure into official policy.”

The resolution, shared with The Epoch Times ahead of its public release, denounces the new law and the regime’s broader repression of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and other ethnic minority groups.

The law “elevates Chinese Communist Party ideology,” and its vague prohibitions risk criminalizing a broad range of activities, including peaceful expression, religious worship, reporting, and minority right advocacy, the resolution said.

It noted the law’s sweeping provisions could be used to punish or intimidate people the regime dislikes abroad, including in the United States.

Taiwanese officials have warned that the regime could use the law against individuals for expressing Taiwanese identity and history, or opposing Beijing’s official narratives around Taiwan, the resolution noted.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 4, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The lawmakers expressed support for advocating the release of those imprisoned for religious beliefs, cultural preservation, or peace activism, including Uyghur economics professor Ilham Tohti and Uyghur ethnographer Rahile Dawut, both serving life sentences under existing law.

The resolution encourages President Donald Trump and executive branch officials to impose sanctions or visa restrictions on Chinese officials and entities responsible for enforcing the ethnic unity law and other forced-assimilation polices.

In addition, it urges the secretary of state to work with U.S. allies, such as the European Union, Canada, and Australia, to monitor implementation of China’s new law and assess its effects.

The Trump administration needs to take stronger action against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) use of the new law to harass, surveil, or take any other efforts to silence the Chinese diaspora’s advocacy activities in the United States, the resolution said.

Smith said Congress “must act decisively to condemn the CCP’s atrocities and protect Americans and diaspora communities from transnational repression.”

Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced a similar measure in the Senate last week.

Smith, McGovern, and a dozen other House lawmakers also expressed alarm to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the issue. In a letter dated June 29, they asked Rubio to condemn the ethnic unity law as “a tool of forced assimilation, ideological control, and transnational repression.”

The law is part of the Chinese regime’s broader pattern of transnational repression and a “direct threat to the rights and safety of diaspora communities and human rights advocates, including American civil society organizations and lawmakers,” they said.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept.16, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Rights groups have also raised alarms that the law could give the CCP a legal basis to go after dissidents and other targets abroad. Freedom House said on X on June 30 that China’s new law threatens to “further extend” its transnational repression efforts against members of ethnic and religious minority groups.

The CCP has been identified among the world’s most prolific perpetrators of transnational repression since 2014, according to Freedom House.

Falun Dafa Information Center, in its latest report released on June 30, identifies hundreds of transnational repression cases targeting Falun Gong practitioners in the United States from 2020 to 2025.

This article was published on July 1, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/exclusive-ccp-expanding-international-repression-through-new-ethnic-unity-law-warns-house-resolution-6055395

Opening statement of Co-Chairman Smith at hearing on CyprusHuman Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdogan’s Record & Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s June 30^th hearing, entitled “Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdoğan’s Record & Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit”:

Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on “Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdoğan’s Record and Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit.” This hearing follows another, which I chaired on June 3, “Can Turkey Find Its Way Back to Freedom? Authoritarian Consolidation versus the Defense of Turkish Democracy.”

That is how serious and various the dangers are posed by the government of Turkey today – to people within Turkey, to its diaspora abroad, and to the human rights of people in neighboring countries – above all, Cyprus.

I particularly want to thank Ambassador Evangelos Savva of the Republic of Cyprus, who will brief us on the situation before we turn to our hearing with expert witnesses.

As leaders prepare to gather in Ankara for the NATO Summit, it is appropriate that we examine not only President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s words, but also his record. It has now been twenty-three years since Erdoğan came to power in Turkey, first as prime minister, and then as president.

It’s also appropriate that we talk about Cyprus. During these 23 years, no territory neighboring Turkey has provided a clearer window into Erdoğan’s worldview, his ambitions, and his approach to power than Cyprus. The island of Cyprus is home to approximately 1.4 million people.

The island is divided into the south, which is legally governed and administered by the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, and a northern zone, where the Republic has legal sovereignty but is unable to govern, as it is occupied by Turkey, which has set up a “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” unrecognized by any government, save Erdoğan’s. This division originates in Turkey’s 1974 invasion of the island and remains one of the longest-running unresolved conflicts in the world.

Cyprus serves as an important object lesson as we assess Erdoğan’s intentions toward Greece, Armenia, Israel, Syria, Iraq, and even parts of the Balkans and Europe. What we see in his Cyprus policy is not reassuring.

Much of the world has treated Cyprus as a frozen conflict. Erdoğan has not. During his twenty-three years in power, he has systematically changed facts on the ground in ways that have made a negotiated settlement more difficult and have raised new human rights concerns.

Erdoğan has taken apart the post-1974 status quo piece by piece. Rather than preserving the status quo while negotiations continued, Erdoğan has systematically dismantled it.

One of the clearest examples is demographic change. Successive Turkish governments encouraged settlement from mainland Turkey, but under Erdoğan, that policy has accelerated dramatically. As Michael Rubin notes in his written testimony, “There has been a surge in settlement since Erdoğan came to power.”

Many Turkish Cypriots themselves now fear that they are becoming a minority in their own community, with political, cultural, and economic decisions increasingly shaped in Ankara rather than in Northern Cyprus. What began as an occupation has increasingly become a project of demographic transformation.

Erdoğan’s policies have also placed growing pressure on the distinct identity of the Turkish Cypriot community. Turkish Cypriots have long been known for a comparatively secular and pluralistic political culture. Yet journalists, academics, trade unionists, civil society leaders, and elected officials have repeatedly warned that they face increasing political pressure, diminished local autonomy, and efforts to reshape their society and culture according to the narrow nationalism of Ankara.

The same pattern is evident in Erdoğan’s treatment of Greek Cypriot rights and heritage. International courts have repeatedly recognized violations involving property rights, missing persons, and other continuing consequences of the island’s division.

Churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and archaeological sites in the occupied north continue to suffer neglect, desecration, inappropriate conversion, or restricted access. These are not simply historic monuments. They are living expressions of a people’s religious faith, identity, and historical memory.

Perhaps nowhere has Erdoğan’s determination to create irreversible facts on the ground been more visible than in the abandoned Greek Cypriot city of Varosha (Ammochostos) in the Turkish-occupied zone of Famagusta.

Varosha was occupied by Turkey in 1974, when its Greek Cypriot residents were forced to flee. For decades, the city remained sealed off and untouched because the international community understood that its lawful inhabitants—not new settlers or developers—must one day return. The emptiness of the city symbolized the hope that a comprehensive settlement might someday permit its lawful inhabitants to return.

Under Erdoğan, however, Turkey has begun opening portions of Varosha to new inhabitants and encouraging development, in total disregard of longstanding United Nations Security Council resolutions 550 and 789 calling for the area to be resettled only by its original and lawful residents.

As Savas Tsivicos notes in his written testimony, “In total disregard of the repeated calls by the United Nations Security Council, Turkey proceeded to the reopening of a part of the fenced-off area of Varosha, in an effort to prevent the prospect of its return to the lawful inhabitants, thus undermining the prospects for a peaceful settlement.” Erdoğan has treated Varosha as yet another opportunity to create irreversible facts on the ground, replacing diplomacy with unilateral action.

Nor has Erdoğan limited himself to political and demographic change. Erdoğan has also transformed occupied Northern Cyprus from a territorial dispute into a forward operating platform for projecting Turkish military power across the Eastern Mediterranean.

The construction of a major drone base, followed by additional deployments of advanced military assets, demonstrates that Cyprus is no longer merely occupied territory. Under Erdoğan, it has become an instrument of regional power projection, a potential threat to Greece, Syria, and Israel, and to the very NATO alliance of which Erdoğan is a member.

This hearing is, therefore, not primarily about history. It is about policy. The Cyprus we see today is not simply the product of events in 1974. It is also the product of twenty-three years of deliberate decisions by President Erdoğan—decisions that have reshaped the island, weakened the prospects for reconciliation, undermined the rights of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and offer an important window into how Erdoğan exercises power beyond Turkey’s borders.

As NATO leaders prepare to gather in Ankara, that record deserves careful scrutiny.

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On the eve of Ankara NATO SummitSmith hearing exposes dire state of human rights in Turkish-occupied Cyprus under Erdogan

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

At a Capitol Hill hearing chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), expert witnesses detailed the declining human rights situation in Northern Cyprus since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rose to power 23 years ago.

“During these 23 years, no territory neighboring Turkey has provided a clearer window into Erdoğan’s worldview, his ambitions, and his approach to power than Cyprus,” said Smith during his opening statement. “Cyprus serves as an important object lesson as we assess Erdoğan’s intentions toward Greece, Armenia, Israel, Syria, Iraq, and even parts of the Balkans and Europe. What we see in his Cyprus policy is not reassuring.”

“The evidence against Turkey in the case of Cyprus is overwhelming and irrefutable... As Turkey seeks to present itself as a responsible actor within the transatlantic alliance, its conduct in Cyprus exposes a persistent contradiction between its stated commitments and its actions on the ground. A nation cannot credibly claim leadership within NATO while disregarding international law, undermining the sovereignty of a fellow European state, and pursuing policies that perpetuate division, instability, and the denial of fundamental rights.”
— Testimony by Savas Tsivicos

With the Ankara NATO Summit slated to take place next week—July 7^th and 8^th—Smith stressed the need to thoroughly scrutinize Erdoğan’s disgraceful record on human rights, noting that the Turkish President’s decisions have “reshaped the island, weakened the prospects for reconciliation, undermined the rights of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and offer an important window into how [he] exercises power beyond Turkey’s borders.”

“The people of Cyprus have exhibited great perseverance in the face of this 52-years long adversity, firm believers evidently in the maxim so eloquently articulated by Martin Luther King Jr., that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’”
— Testimony by Ambassador H.E. Evangelos Savva

The Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States, His Excellency Evangelos Savva, testified about how Erdoğan’s policies have led to the continued displacement of almost 1/3 of the population of Cyprus and the illegal usurpation of these displaced persons’ property rights; the ongoing harassment and intimidation of the enclaved population in occupied areas; the continued desecration and destruction of cultural sites; and the illegal settlement of occupied areas.

The second panel of witnesses testify at the TLHRC’s June 30^th hearing, entitled “Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdoğan’s Record & Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit.” From left to right: Michael Rubin, Savas Tsivicos, and Sinan Ciddi.

Ambassador Savva further explained that “the gross violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots, regardless of ethnic or religious background, are the direct result of the two phases of the Turkish military invasion in July and August of 1974 and subsequent, ongoing occupation of more than 36% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Savas Tsivicos—the Alternate President of the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus, the former Supreme President of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, and a Monmouth County, NJ resident—reiterated and expanded upon these points, arguing that “more than five decades after Turkey's military intervention in Cyprus in 1974, 52 years to be exact, the island remains occupied, and many of the core human rights issues arising from that division remain unresolved.

“As Turkey seeks to present itself as a responsible actor within the transatlantic alliance, its conduct in Cyprus exposes a persistent contradiction between its stated commitments and its actions on the ground. A nation cannot credibly claim leadership within NATO while disregarding international law, undermining the sovereignty of a fellow European state, and pursuing policies that perpetuate division, instability, and the denial of fundamental rights,” Tsivicos continued.

After Ambassador Savva and Tsivicos delivered compelling testimony about the worsening state of human rights in Northern Cyprus, Michael Rubin, the Director of Policy Analysis at the Middle East Forum, and Sinan Ciddi, the Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Turkey Program, provided strong recommendations for U.S. Congress on how to approach foreign policy with Turkey.

“It is time to make ending Turkey’s illegal occupation of Cyprus and, for that matter, portions of Syria and Iraq, core components of U.S. foreign policy.”
— Testimony by Michael Rubin

Rubin—who provided an extensive overview of Erdoğan’s foreign policy in Cyprus and the region at large—recommended that the State Department “state clearly that Turkey illegally occupies Cyprus,” “only grant Turkish Cypriots visas to the United States on Cypriot passports,” and “shutter any Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus offices in the United States.”

Rubin also stressed that the U.S. must hold Turkey accountable for its financial irregularities and money laundering in Northern Cyprus, as well as pressure the United Kingdom to abandon its Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus.

“The best diplomacy is bipartisan, rooted in moral clarity and respect for human rights and backed, when necessary, by force. It is time to make ending Turkey’s illegal occupation of Cyprus and, for that matter, portions of Syria and Iraq, core components of U.S. foreign policy,” he concluded.

“The summit Turkey hosts will showcase a Turkey that does not exist.”
— Testimony by Sinan Ciddi

In a like manner, Ciddi emphasized that “the NATO summit in Ankara should not become a platform that launders Erdogan’s record” and that the U.S. should hold Turkey accountable for its egregious human rights abuses in Norther Cyprus during the transatlantic meeting.

Rep. Smith, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, questions witnesses during the June 30^th hearing on human rights in Turkish-occupied Cyprus.

Ciddi argued that the U.S. should push Turkey to publicly recognize the established sovereign borders of Cyprus and Greece; maintain CAATSA sanctions and Section 1245 restrictions; investigate whether Turkey’s deployment of U.S.-origin F-16s to occupied Cyprus violated end-user agreements and ITAR restrictions; treat Turkey’s behavior as a NATO-wide concern; hold Ankara accountable for its sanctuary to Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood networks and scrutinize Turkey’s role in weapons transfers and paramilitary operations from Sudan to the Horn of Africa; press for Turkey’s return to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list; and require the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to report on religious freedom violations in occupied Cyprus under its chapter on Turkey.

“The summit Turkey hosts will showcase a Turkey that does not exist — a loyal Western ally devoted to common defense,” said Ciddi. “The real Turkey is a state pursuing strategic autonomy in order to advance revisionist and irredentist goals that undermine American, European, and Israeli security, and that is precisely why it courts Western technology while deepening its ties to Russia, China, and Hamas.

“The gap between Erdogan’s marketing and his conduct is wide, and the cost of failing to recognize it will be borne by the very allies—Greece, Cyprus, and Israel—whose security the transatlantic alliance is meant to guarantee.”

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The Telegraph article featuring Smith's commentary'Inside New York's first secret Chinese police station'

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Iona Cleave
Published June 26, 2026 at 10:00 AM BST

In a drab office block in Manhattan’s Chinatown, sandwiched between a ramen bar and a supermarket, the long arm of the Chinese state had been hiding in plain sight.

A banner on one of its wall identified it as “The Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station”.

In the first case of its kind, the man accused of running the first known Chinese outpost on American soil was convicted of acting as an “illegal foreign agent” on May 13.

US prosecutors said the police station in the heart of New York City – which was disguised as a community centre – was under orders from Beijing to monitor, harass and silence Chinese dissidents.

The Chinese government operated a secret police station in a building in New York City’s Chinatown Credit: Getty Images

One of its targets was Xi Jie, a pro-Democracy activist who fled China and now lives in California.

Mr Xi, the key witness at the trial, told The Telegraph: “I was targeted with messages, death threats and calls – once more than 170 in one day. I called the police, but there was not much they could do.”

A banner on the wall identifies the building as ‘The Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station’ Credit: US District Court for the Eastern District of NY

The police station was raided by the FBI in October 2022, sending shockwaves through the intelligence community and raising the obvious question: “Where are the rest?”

Laura Harth leads research on China at Safeguard Defenders, the human rights organisation that tipped off the FBI about the building. She said: “We know this is the tip of the iceberg, and there will be more.”

The New York outpost is believed to have been part of a network of 102 covert police stations around the world acting under the command of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

Xi Jie, a pro-democracy activist, fled China and was targeted by the Chinese policing operations in the US

A 2022 report by Safeguard Defenders exposed three such operations in the UK. In 2023, Britain said that China had closed the alleged stations.

Last week, a court revealed that Beijing had been running shadow police operations at an outpost in Central London. Bill Yuen, 66, was jailed for eight years on a charge of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the world’s most prolific and sophisticated perpetrator of transnational repression. It targets dissidents, journalists and ethnic and religious minorities across the globe in an effort to control its diaspora and silence protests.

Yana Gorokhovskaia, director of research at Freedom House, an independent watchdog, told The Telegraph: “Embedded in its policy towards Chinese citizens overseas is the idea that China and its laws extend far beyond its borders.”

The Chinese secret police station operated above a ramen shop in East Broadway in Manhattan Credit: New York Daily News

Ms Gorokhovskaia said the campaign was “very extensive” in the US, but rarely documented.

Representative Chris Smith, a senior member of the House foreign affairs committee and co-chairman of the congressional-executive commission on China, told The Telegraph it was “an active and pressing danger to the American people”.

Mr Smith said: “With complete impunity, the CCP harasses, intimidates and stalks Chinese dissidents – including US citizens of Chinese descent – and their families, both in-person and online, all within the United States’ borders.

“We cannot stand idly by while our citizens and lawful residents are being targeted and harassed by foreign governments on our soil.”

In 2014, Beijing launched Operation Fox Hunt, a programme to track, threaten and coerce overseas dissidents and repatriate alleged fugitives.

Outposts used for ‘espionage and intimidation’

The global repression campaign then moved its focus towards Chinese overseas police stations, coordinated through the United Front Work Department. The outposts are mostly a mix of community centres and surveillance centres.

Ms Gorokhovskaia said: “They accomplish the goals together. One part provides consular services, the other espionage and intimidation.”

Beijing has long denied the presence of clandestine overseas outposts, dismissing reports as part of a Western smear campaign. According to court documents, Lu Jianwang, 64, a Chinese-American citizen, founded the police station in early 2022.

In March, the outpost received instructions to start tracking Mr Xi, beginning a campaign of harassment.

‘I’ve been persecuted by the CCP for years’

He said: “I was not too scared, I have become used to it. I have been facing persecution from the Chinese Communist Party for so many years now.”

Mr Xi, 60, who took part in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, said he was continuously persecuted and detained until he fled China in 2013.

After moving to the US in 2018, he said he was continuously targeted by intimidation and harassment, largely online, including death threats. After the outpost opened, he said it started getting much worse.

He said: “This will not be the only Chinese outpost in the US, I’m sure there may be many more.”

Three years on, The Telegraph visited the unassuming office in Chinatown.

Inside were two rooms, both filled with older Chinese women playing mahjong. Tea and snacks were spread on a table, and red decorations were hung on the walls.

By all accounts, it looked like the community centre it had always claimed to be.

Only one door was shut. Its sign read: Law Office. The Telegraph was told no representatives would be available to speak now, or in the future.

Along the bustling street of nearby businesses, a dozen or so people The Telegraph spoke to said they either didn’t know about the case or did not want to comment on it.

Trial and conviction of Lu Jianwang

The week-long trial in New York in May pitted fears about Beijing’s crackdown on dissidents against the defence’s argument that Lu was a well-meaning community leader being unduly targeted.

John Carman, his lawyer, claimed in court he had only been helping members of the Chinese diaspora renew their driving licences. He pledge to appeal after arguing that prosecutors had dressed up a mundane case of misfiled paperwork into an international espionage thriller.

After Lu’s 2022 arrest, the court heard he had admitted to FBI agents that he established the outpost and kept in touch with his handler using a messaging platform.

He was convicted of being a foreign agent and of obstructing justice by deleting text messages that included orders from Beijing to intimidate dissidents.

Chinese-American citizen Lu Jianwang is alleged to have founded the police station in 2022 Credit: Seth Wenig / AP

He faces up to 30 years in prison. His legal team was approached for comment. His co-defendant Chen Jinping, who was also accused of founding the police station, pleaded guilty, too.

Joseph Nocella Jr, the US attorney, said: “A police station operating in New York City at the direction of the Chinese government has been exposed, its sinister purpose disrupted, and its founder held accountable for blatantly disregarding the law and our country’s sovereignty.”

In response, Beijing said it firmly opposed “the US’s slanders and smears”.

Ms Harth, of Safeguard Defenders, said governments needed to wake up to this threat. She said: “We are not seeing concrete, decisive action. This is not just about transnational repression, but about global influence operations. And we need to take a very hard stance.”

This article was published on June 26, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/06/26/new-york-city-chinese-police-station/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first

Tues., June 30: Rep. Chris Smith to chair hearing on Cyprus“Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdogan’s Record and Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit”

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, June 30^th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), will chair a congressional hearing on the worsening human rights situation in Cyprus following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rise to power.

The hearing will examine the Government of Turkey’s Cyprus policies under President Erdoğan within the broader trends of foreign policy—including the human rights and humanitarian implications relating to nationalism—the ongoing closure of Turkey’s border with Armenia and genocide denial, support for Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, revisionist claims to large sea areas in the eastern Mediterranean, and its policies toward Europe.

WHAT: Congressional hearing on the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, including restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression; pressure on journalists, critics, and civil society actors; and destruction and abuse of Greek Cypriot cultural and religious heritage.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 10:00 AM

WITNESSES: (Partial list)

Panel I

His Excellency Evangelos Savva, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus

Panel II

Michael Rubin, Director of Policy Analysis, Middle East Forum
Savas Tsivicos, Alternate President, International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus; former Supreme President, American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association
Sinan Ciddi, Director, Turkey Program, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

WHERE: 2255 Rayburn House Office Building and livestreamed here

WHO: Co-Chairs of the TLHRC, other members of the Commission, and witnesses

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Breitbart article featuring Smith's commentary'Exclusive: On Dobbs Anniversary, Rep. Andy Ogles Introduces Bill that Would Remove FACE Act Protections For Abortion Clinics'

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Katherine Hamilton
Published June 25, 2026

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) introduced a bill on Wednesday designed to keep future Democrat presidential administrations from weaponizing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act to target pro-lifers who pray and peacefully demonstrate outside of abortion clinics.

The bill is called the “Saving FACE Act of 2026,” and would “remove criminal penalties for obstructing access to abortion services” from the FACE Act, Breitbart News first learned. Ogles introduced the bill on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion invented 50 years ago under Roe v. Wade, and sent the issue back to states and their elected representatives.

In the lead-up to and after the Dobbs decision was released, the Biden administration used the FACE Act to target and even imprison dozens of pro-life activists, most of whom peacefully demonstrated and prayed in front of abortion clinics. The FACE Act is a 1994 law that “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services or to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.” The act was written to equally protect abortion clinics, pro-life pregnancy resource centers, and churches; however, data indicate that 97 percent of FACE Act cases since the law’s inception have been against pro-life advocates.

“Democrats have used the FACE Act as a tool for political persecution and discrimination against countless pro-life Americans,” Ogles told Breitbart News.

“When Christians peacefully prayed in front of abortion clinics, Joe Biden’s DOJ hauled them off to jail using the FACE Act to charge them. My bill will end this. The government has no right to arrest those who disagree with the murder of children,” he continued.

Under the Trump administration, the DOJ released a “Weaponization Working Group” report confirming that the Biden administration was laser-focused on jailing pro-life activists and “largely ignored attacks on pro-life pregnancy resource centers, only charging five people for vandalism and attacks…” despite the flood of violence against churches and pregnancy centers following the Dobbs decision. The report also alleges the DOJ collaborated with abortion organizations to target pro-life activists.

“During the four years under President Biden, DOJ charged more than 45 pro-life defendants in over 20 cases with violating the FACE Act in connection with pro-life demonstrations. This was a significant increase in FACE Act prosecutions compared to prior administrations,” the report notes, adding that Biden’s DOJ targeted some Christian pro-life activists more than once.

The Biden DOJ also often paired FACE Act charges with “conspiracy against rights” charges in an attempt to bolster potential sentencing time for some activists. In several cases, the activists could have been sentenced to a maximum of 11 years behind bars for peacefully demonstrating because of the addition of the KKK-era conspiracy charge.

“I have led the effort against the FACE Act from the very start — and in 1993, I offered a key amendment against it — because it was always intended to silence and penalize peaceful pro-life activists with ruinous prosecution and civil suits,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, told Breitbart News.

“The Biden Administration weaponized this law against non-violent pro-life protesters, while ignoring the violence suffered by pregnancy care centers and churches. The new Saving FACE Act will prevent unlawful discrimination against peaceful pro-life advocacy and protect the vital functions of pregnancy care centers and places of worship,” Smith continued.

Some Republicans have proposed doing away with the FACE Act altogether, similarly arguing that it has always been a political tool to use against pro-lifers. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) repeatedly proposed such legislation, also contending that the FACE Act allows unnecessary federal intervention in cases where state and local law enforcement is often sufficient.

For now, the law remains on the books, and the Trump DOJ has used the FACE Act to charge anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Minnesota church in January.

In the first month of his second term, President Trump notably pardoned more than 20 pro-life activists who were prosecuted, and some imprisoned, by the Biden DOJ. The Trump DOJ also said it dismissed three civil lawsuits against pro-life activists and issued a directive that prosecutors may only bring abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions under extraordinary circumstances.

This article was published on June 25, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/06/25/exclusive-on-dobbs-anniversary-rep-andy-ogles-introduces-bill-that-would-remove-face-act-protections-for-abortion-clinics/

Celebrating the millions of lives saved from abortionRep. Smith, Sen. Daines introduce resolutions commemorating the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

On the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced companion resolutions (H.Res.1382) in both the House and the Senate to celebrate the reversal of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.

Smith’s and Daines’ resolutions call upon both chambers of Congress to passionately “[protect] the unalienable right to life,” strongly support new and expectant mothers and their children, and proudly “[proclaim] the humanity of the unborn, consistent with the findings of modern science and the unswerving demands of justice.”

Ahead of America’s 250^th birthday next week, the measure draws upon the Declaration of Independence for inspiration, reiterating the pro-life argument that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” with the first of those Rights being the right to life.

In their legislation, Smith and Daines firmly condemn the Supreme Court’s “grave injustice” in Roe v. Wade, wherein the Court falsely ascribed a constitutional right to abortion and “den[ied] a class of innocent people their right to life,” ultimately resulting in the loss of 63,000,000 unborn lives due to abortion.

The Supreme Court’s brilliant decision in Dobbs, however, “corrected the grave error committed in Roe” by “holding that ‘the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion,’” the legislation reads. The Smith-Daines resolutions state that “‘the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives’” and thank pro-life states for taking steps to protect unborn life.

Although Dobbs returned the right to regulate abortion back to the states, Smith’s and Daines’ legislation highlights how the Biden Administration’s dangerous and ill-advised mail-order abortion policy continues to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision, making it exceedingly difficult for pro-life states to enforce their laws and protect women and unborn children from the serious dangers of chemical abortion drugs.

The resolutions also recognize and applaud the great, life-saving work of the more than 2,700 pregnancy care centers in the United States—which provide life-affirming resources and services to women and families navigating unexpected pregnancies—to push back against this reckless Biden-era policy.

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A humanitarian appealSmith urges immediate medical care for Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, welcomes nomination of new U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), highlighted recent reports that Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu—an imprisoned Azerbaijani economist and anti-corruption advocate, whom Smith sponsors through the Defending Freedoms Project—has been unable to obtain urgently needed medical testing and treatment for a potentially life-threatening condition.

Dr. Ibadoghlu reportedly requires a contrast-enhanced CT scan to assess a potentially dangerous enlargement of his aorta. After waiting two weeks for a scheduled appointment on May 30^th, he was turned away from Yeni Klinika Hospital in Baku without examination because the hospital allegedly lacked the necessary contrast material.

“We offer a humanitarian appeal to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to ensure that Dr. Ibadoghlu receives immediate access to comprehensive medical care, lift all restrictions preventing him from seeking treatment abroad, and allow him to leave the country immediately,” said Smith.

Welcomes new U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan nomination

Smith also welcomed President Trump's nomination of Alexander Alden as the next U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, who will fill the year-plus vacancy left by former U.S. Ambassador Mark Libby.

“I am confident that Ambassador-designate Alden will be an outstanding advocate for Dr. Ibadoghlu and the hundreds of other political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” continued Smith.

“The continued persecution of political prisoners, independent journalists, anti-corruption advocates, and other peaceful critics of the Azerbaijani government demands sustained U.S. attention.

“In addition to ethnic Azerbaijani political prisoners, the U.S. government will continue to work to obtain the release of ethnic Armenian hostages, captives, and POWs still held by the government of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities must act before it is too late,” he concluded.

Smith has long advocated for Azerbaijanis persecuted for exposing official corruption and defending fundamental freedoms. Since 2023, he has chaired annual hearings on human rights abuses in Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In 2015, Smith led a congressional hearing on the persecution of Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, and that same year, introduced the Azerbaijan Democracy Act of 2015 (HR 4264) to promote democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights in Azerbaijan.

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The Epoch Times article featuring Smith's commentary'Supreme Court Sides With Cisco, Shuts Down Human Rights Case'

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Eva Fu
Published June 24, 2026

The Supreme Court on June 23 ruled in favor of tech giant Cisco, shutting down a human rights lawsuit accusing the firm of facilitating abuses in China.

The suit, brought by Falun Gong practitioners in 2011, alleged that Cisco knowingly created and customized technology for the Chinese regime to surveil and persecute Falun Gong.

In a 6–3 ruling, the court reversed a lower court decision that had sided with the Falun Gong practitioners, an outcome that could shield U.S. corporations from litigation over complicity in abuses abroad.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the lawsuit cannot go forward—as the plaintiffs had argued—under the 237-year-old Alien Tort Statute and the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act.

The Supreme Court in Washington on April 28, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The Alien Tort Statute has been a vehicle for decades for lawyers to file international human rights cases in U.S. courts. The Supreme Court, in recent years, has been narrowing the scope of the law, restricting its reach to cases with direct, substantial U.S. connections.

More than a dozen plaintiffs have argued that a significant portion of Cisco’s alleged actions took place on U.S. soil.

Internal documents viewed by The Epoch Times show that Cisco had boasted about its products’ capabilities to identify Falun Gong materials online. Another used a phrase targeting Falun Gong that aligned with the Chinese regime’s propaganda against the belief.

Cisco has denied wrongdoing.

Barrett said in the decision that the Torture Victim Protection Act does not expressly mention the aiding-and-abetting liability.

“Courts cannot create new rights of action to remedy violations of international law, so there is necessarily no liability for aiding and abetting such violations,” she wrote.

A Door Shuts to Victims

All six conservative justices joined in the majority opinion, while the three liberal justices expressed dissenting views as to the Alien Tort Statute.

Sotomayor said that the court erred by “ignoring the plain meaning of the Torture Victim Protection Act” and “slamming the door completely shut to claims by U.S. citizens against those who aid and abet torture.”

The decision now effectively bars “almost any claimed violation of international law” under the Alien Tort Statute, including torture, slave labor, and even genocide, she wrote, describing the move as “yet another low point in this Court’s esteem for its precedents.”

Terri Marsh, executive director of the Human Rights Law Foundation, which filed suit against Cisco on behalf of the plaintiffs, said she was greatly disappointed by the majority’s ruling, quoting Sotomayor’s dissent that “proper respect for Congress should have led to a different outcome.”

“As Justice Sotomayor forcefully contended, a ‘straightforward application of this Court’s settled case law’ should have allowed the Plaintiffs’ case to proceed,” Marsh told The Epoch Times.

“It is important to note that the Court’s ruling has nothing to do with the sufficiency of plaintiffs’ factual allegations nor does it cast any doubt on the fact—recognized by Congress and the Executive Branch many times—of China’s campaign of abuses against Falun Gong believers.”

The court ruling also deeply disappointed Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who had chaired a 2006 congressional hearing highlighting Western corporate complicity in China.

The evidence of these firms supplying technology facilitating Beijing’s abuses is “extensive and well-documented,” he said in a statement.

He said the decision to limit the two federal statutes’ reach “creates a dangerous and disheartening precedent.”

The Foreign Policy Question

Barrett wrote that aiding-and-abetting actions could harm U.S. foreign interests.

Sotomayor disagreed in her dissent.

“The political branches have already consistently condemned China’s treatment of Falun Gong members,” Sotomayor wrote, noting that the State Department and Congress have consistently denounced the persecution of Falun Gong.

Any potential foreign policy consequences will be limited because the case focuses on a U.S. company and its conduct in the United States, rather than the Chinese regime, she said.

“That China has not done so here is additional evidence that this case is unlikely to aggravate U.S.–China relations,” Sotomayor said.

Her dissent was joined in part by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Plaintiff lawyer Paul Hoffman said he believes that “the Founding generation would have been shocked” at the court’s interpretation of the statute.

“Only 20 years ago, the same court held the opposite,” he told The Epoch Times.

“The victims of egregious human rights violations should be able to sue U.S. corporations who aid and abet those violations in U.S. courts.”

Hoffman urged Congress to act to make this possible.

Smith commended the plaintiffs for their courage in “taking such a formidable and powerful corporation to court.”

“We must continue to work to hold China accountable on the international stage for its heinous human rights abuses,” he said, adding that he is committed to “fighting for justice for all Falun Gong practitioners, who are harassed, tortured, abused, oppressed, and surveilled at the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party].”

The spiritual practice Falun Gong, which features meditation exercises and three core tenets, gained broad popularity in the 1990s in China, with more than 70 million taking it up by some estimates. The Chinese leadership in 1999 instituted a nationwide campaign to eliminate the faith. Many survivors have described torture, slave labor, and other forms of abuse.

In June, a Senate committee advanced the Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act, which is aimed at sanctioning perpetrators of the state-sanctioned, killing-for-organ industry in China.

This article was published on June 24, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-sides-with-cisco-shuts-down-human-rights-case-6052557