May 16, 2011 – Washington, DC
On May 13th, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights held a hearing on “China’s Latest Crackdown on Dissent.” The hearing was chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Representatives Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) also delivered opening statements. Harry Wu, Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation, was one of several witnesses; other witnesses included Chinese democracy activist Wei Jingsheng, Jing Zhang (Director at All Girls Allowed), Steven Mosher (President of the Population Research Institute), Philem Kine (Asia Researcher at Human Rights Watch), and Andrea Warden (Professor of Law at American University).
 

In his opening statement, Rep. Smith drew attention to the increasingly harsh crackdown China is waging against activists, human rights lawyers, and bloggers. He also expressed outrage at the growing oppression of religious groups and coercion of mothers under the one child policy. Rep. Payne echoed these calls, noting that there has been a substantial rise in social unrest, and that “the Chinese cannot enforce stability at the expense of human rights.” Rep. Fortenberry emphasized that the U.S., a nation founded on principles of freedom of speech and religion, must stand up to China, regardless of the country’s importance to U.S. economic interests and tell China that, “global trade is inseparable from global responsibility.”
 

Harry Wu’s testimony focused on China’s continual repression of its people, noting that since the Communist Party rose to power in 1949, “by depriving its people of basic rights and freedoms and keeping its people in the dark and in a constant state of fear, the CCP has managed to maintain its sovereignty.” He condemned the total neglect of the law in the government’s suppression of dissidents like Liu Xiaobo, Ai Weiwei, Tan Zuoren, and Liu Xianbin who have been disappeared or imprisoned for expressing their ideas on the internet. Mr. Wu also explained that through extrajudicial means, the CCP has illegally detained not only common people, but even Communist Party cadres through a system called ‘double regulation’, in which suspects are held in detention prior to formal arrest and required to make a confession outside of court.

 
On February 1, 2011, Human Rights In China announced its “Take Action in the Year of the Rabbit” campaign to encourage expressions of support for imprisoned activists and rights defenders in China. Harry Wu and the Laogai Research Foundation fully support HRIC’s efforts to encourage people to send messages of support to those who cannot be with their families this New Year because of their courageous advocacy in the fight for human rights. Please visit HRIC’s website for a list of political prisoners and their mailing addresses.
 

There appear to be fewer people in China.  In a disturbing trend, the government has recently seemingly lost track of some of its most ardent critics. Most recently, the government’s inability to “locate” prominent human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng and 20 Uyghurs who were forcibly returned to China from Cambodia has become a cause for great concern in the international community. 

Despite its immense system of internal travel controls and required registration, known as the Hukou system , the CCP has an extensive history of “losing” those who are hard to ignore.  Prominent figures such as Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng were lost for significant periods of time during discord within the government, the Panchen Lama has been missing for over a decade, and, more recently, China has continued to lose NGO workers and protestors who portray the regime in a less than flattering light. 

Largely, the cases of these “missing” persons have been met with outrage in the international community.  Rosanne Rife of Amnesty International put it best when she offered, “It is a disgrace that Chinese law enforcement agencies disobey the law in such a blatant manner.”  Not only is “losing” people against Chinese domestic law, but it is a blatant violation of international law as well.  Hopefully, pressure from the international community can render these lost persons found before the CCP’s absent-mindedness continues.