Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
September 20, 2006
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766

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Congressional-Executive Commission on China Releases 2006 Annual Report

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has released its 2006 Annual Report to the President and the Congress on human right conditions and the development of the rule of law in China.  The Annual Report is now available on the Commission's Web site - www.cecc.gov.

The Commission is deeply concerned that some Chinese government policies designed to address growing social unrest and bolster Communist Party authority are resulting in a period of declining human rights for China's citizens. The Commission identified limited improvements in the Chinese government's human rights practices in 2004, but backward-stepping government decisions in 2005 and 2006 are leading the Commission to reevaluate the Chinese leadership's commitment to additional human rights improvements in the near term. The Commission's 23 Legislative and Executive Branch members approved the report by a vote of 22-1.

"This is a comprehensive and carefully documented report that provides an honest and balanced look at human rights and rule of law in China," said Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the Commission's Chairman. "It is important to acknowledge that the Chinese government has made progress in building a political system based on rule of law and respect for human rights. Nevertheless, the restrictions on fundamental human rights such as freedom of religion and freedom of the press that the Commission highlighted in its 2005 Annual Report remain in place, and in some cases, the government has strengthened their enforcement," Hagel said.

"The Commission continues to deepen its understanding of the current state of human rights and the rule of law in China, and this report is a reflection of those efforts," said CECC Co-Chairman Representative James A. Leach (R-IA). "This report comprehensively identifies those areas where more remains to be done to give the Chinese people the rights that the Chinese Constitution and laws guarantee to them," Leach said.

The report's 14 recommendations include calls for:

• The UN Human Rights Council to fight human rights abuses and to speak on behalf of Chinese prisoners of conscience who have had their voices silenced;
• The Chinese government to to cease its harassment, surveillance, imprisonment, and abuse of defense lawyers and rights defenders;
• Funding to support the full range of activities envisioned in new Sino-U.S. bilateral and international efforts to protect the environment like the Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate;
• Funding to the International Labor Organization's  cooperative programs with China on forced labor and human trafficking;
  Expansion of cooperative programs between the U.S. and Chinese governments to improve labor conditions for Chinese workers;
• Funding for U.S. programs to develop technologies that would help Chinese citizens access Internet-based information currently unavailable to them;
• The Chinese government to be transparent as it progresses in drafting and adopting its new regulations on refugees, and to work closely with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to ensure that this legislation will protect North Korean refugees in full accordance with international law.

Congress created the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in 2000 to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China. The Commission is made up of nine members of the Senate, nine members of the House of Representatives, and five senior Administration officials appointed by the President.