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Despite the hopes and expectations of some that robust trade with China would usher in at least a modicum of respect for basic human rights and fundamental liberties, the simple fact of the matter is that the dictatorship in China oppresses, tortures, and mistreats tens of millions of its own citizens.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the government's human rights record remains poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses, and the repression is getting worse. The State Department Human Rights Report went on to say there was backsliding, their word, backsliding on key human rights issues, including arrests. Abuses include killing, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and forced confessions.
Amazingly, many years, 15 years after Tiananmen Square when we saw people protesting the government asking for simple liberties and simple rights, carrying around a facsimile of the Statue of Liberty, 15 years after that there are still some 2,000 people remaining incarcerated in prison camps and detention centers. That is unconscionable this many years afterwards.
I remind my colleagues that people who argue that if we just traded with the Chinese, that things would get better. Back in 1989, the trade deficit was about $6 billion. Now it is $124 billion and counting. It goes up by the day. We trade; they torture, abuse, incarcerate, arrest and mistreat.
Some years ago soon after Tiananmen Square, it brought this to life to me and I was thinking about it this morning, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and I went to Beijing Prison No. 1, a prison where 40 Tiananmen Square prisoners were being held. They were like modern-day concentration camp victims. Their heads were shaved. Men who had been out there protesting, asking peacefully that the government allow just some basic liberties that we take for granted in the United States and in many other nations of the world, and yet for that the book was thrown at them and there they were making jelly shoes and socks for export to the United States.
The torture does not stop with those who demand political freedoms. On the religious front there is ongoing aggressive repression of those who want to practice their faith as they see fit. We see Falun Gong practitioners who are routinely rounded up and beaten and abused, and hundreds have been tortured to death while held in captivity.
I remember meeting in 1994 with a Catholic bishop by the name of Bishop Su. He now, counting all of the years to date he was in Chinese prisons, has spent 27 years of his life being mistreated in Chinese prison and detention centers. Here is a man whose only violation of the law was to practice his faith with faithfulness. He is a very holy man. In 1994 when he was out of prison briefly, I met with him, and there was not one ounce of malice or hate in him for the dictatorship that was so abusing him. He spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation and how he hoped some day China would be free; and for that, he has been severely punished.
After I left, he was made a captive again and spent 9 days. Then he went into hiding, and in 1997 was recaptured again and put back into prison. In mid-November, we discovered that this great man was still alive and was getting some medical care under heavy guard. Here he is 27 years, a Roman Catholic bishop, and he is just a tip of the iceberg.
Protestant underground believers, Catholics who are underground Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims who have been rounded up under the pretext of post-9/11 saying somehow they are committing acts of terrorism, they are good, honest people, and the government of China enslaves them and mistreats them.
As my colleagues know, China has been designated a CPC country, a country of particular concern, by the U.S. State Department because of its ongoing violations of religious liberties and rights. And as my colleagues know, since 1979 there has been the one-child per family policy. The policy says if the second child happens to come along, he or she has to be aborted. Heavy fines are imposed upon the women, particularly. They call it social compensation fees. Sometimes it is six times the annual salaries of the parents compelling them to abort that baby. Forced abortion and forced sterilization are commonplace in China.
This resolution calls upon the government to cease that horrific attack on the human family and upon women. It is a violation of their basic human rights. It is violence against women, and the child as well.
What this resolution does in a nutshell, it calls on the administration, it calls on all interested parties at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which will convene in mid-March, to take up a resolution to just bring out the facts and bring out the basic lack of human rights in China today and not bury it under the table, which unfortunately all of us have done to some extent; and certainly, the U.N. has done it for years.
I would hope that the administration, and I believe they will, will try to get such a resolution passed. We have tried six times. We have not succeeded. One reason is that the Chinese government is very adroit at intimidating other countries or giving them foreign aid so they will back what we call a no-action motion that is offered in Geneva. Even with that as a possibility, and most likely a probability, I think we have a moral duty and obligation to raise it and raise it as aggressively as we can for the victims and those who will be victimized in the future.
Madam Speaker, despite the hopes and expectations of some that robust trade with China would usher in at least a modicum of respect for basic human rights and fundamental liberties, the simple fact of the matter is that the dictatorship in China oppresses, tortures and mistreats tens of millions of its own citizens.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the government's human rights record remains ``poor,'' and the government continued ``to commit numerous and serious abuses,'' and the repression is getting worse. The State Department Human Rights Report went on to say there was ``backsliding, on key human rights issues, including arrests. Abuses include killing, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and forced confessions.''
Amazingly, 15 years after Tiananmen Square when we witnessed courageous Chinese protesting government abuse, asking for simple liberties and elemental rights, even carrying around Tiananmen a facsimile of the Statue of Liberty, 15 years after that historic outpouring there are still some 2,000 people incarcerated in prison camps and detention centers. That is unconscionable.
I remind my colleagues that the people who argued that if we just traded more with the Chinese, that things would get better on the human rights front. Back in 1989, the trade deficit was about $6 billion. Now it is $124 billion and counting. It worsens by the day. We trade, they torture; we trade, they abuse; we trade, they incarcerate; we trade, they arrest and mistreat.
Right after Tiananmen Square, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and I went to Beijing and visited Prison No. 1, a prison where 40 Tiananmen Square prisoners were being held. They were like modern-day Nazi concentration camp victims. Their heads were shaved. These men had been out there in Tiananmen protesting, asking peacefully that the government allow some basic liberties that we take for granted in the United States and in many other nations of the world, and yet for that they where hunted down, tortured and jailed. In the prison they were making shoes and socks for export to the United States.
By now most Members know that the torture does not stop with those who demand political freedoms. On the religious front there is ongoing aggressive repression of those who want to practice their faith as they see fit. We see Falun Gong practitioners who are routinely rounded up and beaten and abused, and hundreds have been tortured to death while held in captivity.
I remember meeting in 1994 with a Catholic bishop by the name of Bishop Su. Bishop Su is a saintly man of God who has spent 27 years of his life being mistreated, tortured and oppressed in Chinese prison and detention centers. Here is a man whose only violation of the law was to practice his faith with faithfulness. He is a very holy man. In 1994 when he was out of prison briefly, I met with him in Beijing and there was not one ounce of malice or hate in him for the dictatorship that was so harsh and cruel to him. It was stunning. He spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation and how he hoped some day China would permit religious freedom; and for that, he has been severely punished.
After I left, he was arrested again and spent 9 days in jail. He was released and then he went into hiding, and in 1997 was recaptured again and put back into prison. In mid-November, we discovered that this great man was still alive, for we feared he might be dead, and was getting some medical care under heavy guard. Here he is 27 years in Chinese jails, a Roman Catholic bishop, a holy man, and he is just one example of many.
Protestant underground believers, Catholics, Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims who have been repressed and even more so recently under the pretext of post-9/11 they are good, honest people, and the government of China enslaves them and mistreats them.
As my colleagues know, China has been designated a CPC country, a country of particular concern, by the U.S. State Department because of its ongoing violations of religious liberties and rights. That's a serious designation shared by rogue states. And as my colleagues know, since 1979 there has been the one-child per family policy. The policy says that any child who happens to come along without explicit government permission is to be aborted. Heavy fines and pressure are imposed upon the women, particularly. They call it social compensation fees. The fee can be six times the annual salaries of the parents, compelling them to abort that baby. Forced abortion and forced sterilization are commonplace in China.
This resolution calls upon the government to cease their horrific attack on the human family and upon women. It is a violation of their basic human rights. It is violence against women, and violence against the child as well.
What this resolution does in sum is to call on the administration, and on all interested parties at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, which will convene in mid-March, to take up a resolution to bring out the facts and to scrutinize and condemn the lack of human rights in China today and not bury it under the table, which unfortunately all of us have done to some extent; and certainly, the U.N. has done it for years.
I would hope that the administration, and I believe they will, will try to get such a resolution passed. We have tried six times. We have not succeeded. One reason is that the Chinese government is very adroit at intimidating other countries or giving them foreign aid so they will back what we call a no-action motion that will be offered in Geneva. Even with that as a possibility, and most likely a probability, I think we have a moral duty and obligation to raise Chinese human rights abuses and raise the issue as aggressively as we can for the victims who cannot speak or fend for themselves. | 
