San Francisco Chronicle: Washington report blasts China on rights

Friday, October 4, 2002

Washington -- Just weeks before President Bush is set to meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin at his Texas ranch, a commission of U.S. lawmakers and administration officials has issued a scathing report accusing the Chinese government of "persistent violations" of the human rights of its people.

The 78-page report, released Wednesday, criticizes Chinese officials for blocking religious expression, jailing political opponents and workers' rights advocates, and setting tight controls on press freedom and the access of Chinese citizens to the Internet.

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The report is the first annual review of China's human rights record by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a panel of nine senators, nine House members and five administration officials. Congress created the commission in 2000 after China was granted permanent normal trade relations, ending the contentious annual debate by lawmakers over whether to renew China's most-favored-nation trading status.

The report urged the White House and Congress to work with Chinese authorities to bolster the country's legal system -- an approach that drew praise from California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a commission member.

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But Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., one of five commission members who refused to sign the report, argued that the United States should take a harder line against the Chinese government.

"The root problem in China is not just a faulty legal system, but a corrupt, totalitarian, oppressive, communist ruling regime," Wolf said.

Among the commission's findings:

-- While China officially recognizes five religions -- Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism -- government officials have cracked down on religious practitioners at churches not sanctioned by the state. By labeling outside groups such as the Falun Gong as "cults" officials have arrested thousands of practitioners and sentenced some religious leaders to death.

-- Chinese authorities have repeatedly broken up demonstrations by workers asking for better conditions, outlawed labor unions and imprisoned those who have tried to organize workers.

-- The government bars criticism of the Communist Party and has demoted or fired journalists who report on sensitive topics. Authorities regularly block access to international news Web sites, and Chinese law imposes fines and jail time for anyone who posts information on the Internet that, in the government's view, "harms social stability."

-- Chinese police and prosecutors regularly use torture to extract confessions from suspects, though the practice is officially banned. Authorities often detain criminal suspects and political dissidents for long periods without a trial and deny them access to a lawyer.

Bush plans to meet Oct. 25 with the Chinese president at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. White House officials said the main topics of discussion are the war on terrorism and nonproliferation, but the president also is likely to bring up the human rights issue.

Human rights advocates generally praised the report's findings, but criticized the commission for not pushing U.S. officials more forcefully to demand the release of imprisoned Chinese dissidents.

John Kamm, chairman of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, who has spent years trying to free jailed Chinese political detainees, said: "After years of doing this work, I have come to the conclusion that the most important thing we can do to support systemic change and reform in China is to help get people out of prison who themselves, as Chinese, are trying to bring about reform and change. It's that basic."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/10/04/MN92086.DTL