Washington File Staff Writer

Washington - The repression of citizens seeking to exercise fundamental freedoms recognized by the international community continues to be a systemic problem in China, says Gretchen Birkle, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

"Hopes that the pace of political reform would quicken and opportunities for public discourse would expand when the fourth generation of leaders came into power to date have not been realized," Birkle said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations July 21.

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Birkle said that the Chinese government continues to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses - including torture, mistreatment of prisoners, incommunicado detention and denial of due process - and maintains close watch over activities that it perceives to be vehicles for political dissent.

"Chinese authorities remained quick to suppress religious, political and social groups that they perceived as threatening to government authority or national stability," she said.

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Birkle also noted that the Chinese government labeled Falun Gong an "evil cult" in July 1999 and has engaged in a harsh crackdown of its members.

According to the State Department official, whether or not a group is classified as a cult depends on the Chinese authorities and is "based on no discernible criteria other than the Government's desire to maintain control."

Birkle also expressed concern at "overly broad and arbitrarily enforced" laws and regulations that make it "difficult for citizens seeking to express their political or religious views peacefully to ascertain the line between the permissible and the illegal."

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Prior to Birkle's statement, Representative Christopher Smith - the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations - also voiced concerns about China's ongoing campaign against people of different faiths and its treatment of Falun Gong practitioners in particular.

"The suffering of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners has been especially intense," Smith said. "Whatever one may say about the merits of their beliefs, the evidence is very clear that Falun Gong practitioners are peaceful individuals who want to be left alone to practice their beliefs as they see fit."

Smith criticized China's "continuing refusal to adhere to the standards of the civilized world" and urged the international community to take a stand against China's repression of basic rights.

"What is at stake here is not only the rights and dignity of Falun Gong practitioners and the Chinese people, but our own deeply cherished freedoms," he said.

The full text of Birkle's testimony (PDF, 11 pages) is available on the Web site of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations.

Full version of the article can be found at http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20050725-01.html