CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA

Congressional-Executive Commission Releases Annual Report on China

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has released its 2003 Annual Report, which is now available on the Commission’s website – www.cecc.gov. The report spotlights inadequate protection of worker rights, repression of religious freedom, intolerance of political dissent, strict controls on media freedoms and the Internet, and a lack of autonomy for Tibetans and other ethnic minorities as primary areas of concern to the United States.  The Commission’s 22 members approved the report by a vote of 21-1.

“This document takes a hard look at current human rights conditions in China.” said Rep. James A. Leach, (R-IA), the Commission’s Chairman.  “Chinese government behavior violates China’s own laws and falls short of international standards,” he said, adding, however, that “recent legal reforms in China may result over time in an improved human rights record.”

“This is an honest report,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the Commission’s Co-Chairman.  “China’s new leadership must seize this moment to lead China into a future that includes human rights for all its citizens.  China’s future development will impact all of Asia, and the world.  Respect for human rights must be part of that future,” Hagel said.

The report’s 13 recommendations include calls for:

• Increased efforts to hold China to human rights commitments it made to the United States last December, especially the release of those arbitrarily detained, and unconditional invitations to the UN special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
• Expanded programs to educate Chinese workers regarding their rights under Chinese law.
• Stepped-up U.S. efforts to ensure that goods made in Chinese prisons do not enter the United States.
• Additional funding for U.S. NGOs to develop programs that improve the health, education and economic conditions of Tibetans living in China.
• An unrestricted visit to China by the U.S. International Commission on Religious Freedom and the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance.

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 Senators, nine House members and five senior Administration officials appointed by President Bush.