2002/10/3

The China Post, Washington D.C. ---- Presenting its inaugural report in a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, the bipartisan Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) sharply criticized the authorities in mainland China for persistently and routinely abusing the human rights and freedoms of the Chinese people.
While isolated improvements exist and progress has been made in developing a modern legal system, this progress is "overshadowed by the Chinese government's persistent violations of fundamental, internationally recognized human rights," states the report, released just weeks ahead of a visit to the U.S. by mainland President Jiang Zemin.

"Chinese citizens today enjoy greater individual autonomy and more personal freedom than they could have imagined during the days of Chairman Mao Zedong. Nevertheless, China's leaders still do not respect fundamental international standards on many human rights for the Chinese people," the report continues.

The CECC, created by Congress under the United States-China Relations Act of 2000, aims to monitor mainland China's compliance with international human rights standards, encourage the development of the rule of law, establish and maintain a list of victims of human rights abuses and promote bilateral cooperation.

The commission's activities have focused on religious freedom, labor rights, free flow of information, criminal justice, the rights of ethnic minorities and the rule of law. Since Feb. 2002 the commission, made up of members of Congress and Bush administration officials, has held three public hearings and 12 staff led roundtables involving 63 witnesses.

Even though laws exist on paper and certain freedoms are guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution, in practice suspects and defendants often have little legal protection and fundamental liberties are undermined, according to the report.

The authorities in mainland China, obsessed with clinging to power, particularly following the violent 1989 suppression of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, routinely manipulate the criminal justice system and place "political considerations" ahead of other legal protections, states the report. Furthermore, despite being illegal, torture "remains widespread" as a way of extracting confessions from suspects. Many suspects are detained for long periods without trial and can be sent to
"re-education through labor" camps for up to four years, states the report.

The Chinese government is also "keenly aware of the role that labor unions played in undermining Communist Party rule in Eastern Europe" and China's leaders "are determined to prevent similar challenges in China," according to the report.

In addition, as a result of the "deliberate manipulation" of the legal system by the government, official corruption, decentralization and China's sheer size ensures that the public remains largely ignorant of their supposed legal rights.

Unrelenting in its condemnation of the Beijing government, the report denounces government restrictions on religious and cultural practices [...]

Government controls on the dissemination of information also remains "strict," states the report. While reporting of official corruption has been permitted as part of the government's attempt to crack down on corruption, direct criticism of the Communist Party is prohibited. Limits are imposed on topics deemed sensitive, including workers' protests, rural unrest, Taiwan independence, Falun Gong, corruption at high levels and the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The authorities also regularly block foreign government radio and television from being broadcast in the mainland, including the
recent blocking of the popular AltaVista and Google Web sites.

Particular hardships are endured by women in China despite women's equal rights being enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, according to the report.

Turning to mainland China's membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the report congratulates Beijing for demonstrating "an unprecedented willingness to make fundamental changes to its system of government in response to the dictates of an international body." However, the report criticizes many foreign businesses that operate in China, eager to cash-in on the opportunities to boost profits while paying little attention to the promotion human rights.

Touching on conditions in Hong Kong, the reports states that five years after the territory's return to China under the so-called "one country, two systems" formula, "many in Hong Kong and elsewhere continue to voice concerns about the direction of the territory's development as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China."

In its 41 recommendations for legislative and executive branch action, the commission suggests a dual approach of "Dialogue and high-level advocacy on human rights and cases of political prisoners ... coupled with enhanced financial and technical support for efforts to build a system based on the rule of law."

Although "the Chinese people will ultimately determine China's direction" the commission believes the U.S. should work to provide the mainland government and China's people with enhanced understanding of the law and with a range of legal tools to protect human rights.

Among its recommendations the commission recommends that the U.S. president, senior executive branch officials and members of Congress should continue to raise human rights issues whenever they meet Chinese government officials.

The U.S. should work "multilaterally to encourage China to cooperate fully with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and promote the dissemination of information in China relating to human rights, worker rights and the rule of law.

The Bush administration should also sponsor programs with key mainland officials and policymakers to "examine the role of religion in society and to promote the concept of religious tolerance," states the report.

[...]

The commission, noting that the U.S. lags well behind other nations in providing financial assistance for initiatives in China, recommends that Congress authorize funds for technical assistance to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS in the mainland and increase funding to U.S. faith based organizations with links to religious groups in China.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/detail.asp?ID=31107&GRP=A