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CECC Press Releases
| 2006-03-06 - | Opening Statement by CECC Chairman U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel: Combating Human Trafficking in China: Domestic and International Efforts |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mike Buttry or Beth Tiehen 202/224-4224
Monday, March 6, 2006
Opening Statement by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
Chairman, Congressional-Executive Commission on China
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Combating Human Trafficking in China: Domestic and International Efforts
March 6, 2006
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"The Congressional-Executive Commission on China meets today to examine human trafficking in China. The Commission will also consider domestic and international efforts to help stop human trafficking in and through China and to help rehabilitate victims of trafficking.
Human trafficking in China is a serious problem. According to a 2002 United Nations Children¡¯s Fund (UNICEF) estimate, there are approximately 250,000 victims of trafficking in China. Traffickers are increasingly linked to organized crime and specialize in abducting girls and women both for the bridal market in China's poorest areas and for sale as prostitutes in urban areas. North Korean refugees are an especially vulnerable group. Today's Administration witness, Ambassador John Miller, has estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the refugees from North Korea, particularly women and children, end up as trafficking victims.
The Chinese government has publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and has taken steps to stop trafficking and aid victims. Chinese experts and officials have cooperated with international agencies including the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF to combat trafficking. China's Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women outlaws trafficking, and Article 240 of the Criminal Law outlines harsh penalties for those convicted of human trafficking related crimes.
These steps reflect a serious effort, but the Chinese government needs to do more. The Commission is concerned that China fell from "Tier 2" to "Tier 2 Watch Status" in the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report for 2005 because of inadequate protection of trafficking victims. The Chinese government must uphold international agreements and grant the U.N. High Commission for Refugees unimpeded access to screen the refugee petitions of North Koreans in China. The Chinese government has not signed the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
The United States can do more. In its 2005 Annual Report, the Commission recommended that the President and Congress continue to support international programs to build law enforcement capacity to prevent trafficking in and through China, and additionally should develop and fund programs led by U.S.-based Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that focus on the protection and rehabilitation of victims, especially legal and educational assistance programs. But the Chinese government must become more open to cooperation with foreign NGOs.
To help us better understand the human trafficking problem in China, and international and domestic efforts to fight trafficking and assist victims, we turn to our witnesses.
Representative Chris Smith has been a leader in Congressional efforts to combat trafficking worldwide and assist victims of trafficking. Earlier this year, President Bush signed into law Representative Smith's third anti-trafficking bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. This new law provides significant additional anti-trafficking and protection measures for victims and potential victims of trafficking. Representative Smith is Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Chairman of the International Relations subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations. The Commission is very pleased that Mr. Smith will be making a statement at today's hearing.
Speaking on behalf of the Administration will be Ambassador John R. Miller, who is Director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on human trafficking. From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Miller served in the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Washington. While in Congress, Mr. Miller held a seat on the Committee on International Relations and was a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
After Ambassador Miller, we will hear from a distinguished panel of experts who will share their knowledge and expertise. Mr. Roger Plant will lead Panel Two. Mr. Plant is the Head of the ILO's Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor. Mr. Plant has been a leading investigator and activist on forced labor and modern slavery for more than 30 years. Prior to joining the ILO Mr. Plant worked with the Asian Development Bank, United Kingdom Department for International Development; Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Officer of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Shell International, Danish International Development Agency, and several international human rights NGOs.
Ms. Wenchi Yu Perkins will provide perspectives on the problem of human trafficking to and from China. Ms. Perkins is the Director of Anti-Trafficking and Human Rights Programs at Vital Voices. Prior to joining Vital Voices, Ms. Perkins worked with victims of trafficking and conducted training for law enforcement and NGOs in the Midwest. She was also a foreign policy assistant in Taiwan's parliament and worked in the Taiwan representative office in Chicago. She has an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a BA in Political Science from National Taiwan University.
Finally, Mr. Abraham Lee will testify to the Commission on the problems faced by North Korean refugees in China. Mr. Lee is Director of Public Affairs for Crossing Borders, an NGO devoted to assisting North Korean refugees in Northeast China. Mr. Lee has been in China for the past three years working with North Korean refugees and teaching college English. He received his BA in Economics from the University of Maryland in 1999 and his JD from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2002.
We welcome all of our witnesses today and appreciate their time and presentations."
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| 2005-11-17 - | CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Human Rights in Xinjiang Roundtable |
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
November 17, 2005
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766
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CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Human Rights in Xinjiang Roundtable
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables, entitled "China's Changing Security Concerns: The Impact on Human Rights in Xinjiang," on Wednesday, November 16. The panelists, James Millward, Associate Professor of History, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; Daniel Southerland, Vice-President of Programming/Executive Editor at Radio Free Asia; and S. Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, spoke about increasingly repressive Chinese government controls over ethnic Uighur residents in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region since the launch of the Global War on Terrorism. Following the roundtable U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Chairman of the Commission, said:
"The Chinese government continues to equate the peaceful expression of ethnic identity and religion by minorities living in western China with terrorism and extremism. The recent sentencing of Korash Huseyin again raises these concerns. We should acknowledge China's contribution to the global war on terrorism, but China's leaders must not use the threat of terror as a pretext to suppress minorities' legitimate, peaceful exercise of their rights protected by the Chinese Constitution and national law."
Additional information regarding this roundtable is available on the CECC's web site at: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/111605/index.php
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| 2005-10-07 - | CECC Topic Paper: China's Household Registration System: Sustained Reform Needed to Protect China's Rural Migrants |
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China is pleased to announce the release of the Commission's latest topic paper: "China's Household Registration System: Sustained Reform Needed to Protect China's Rural Migrants." This topic paper is available on the Commission's Web site in HTML and Adobe Acrobat PDF formats.
China's household registration (hukou) system has imposed strict limits on ordinary Chinese citizens changing their permanent place of residence since it was instituted in the 1950s. Beginning with the reform period in the late 1970s and accelerating during the late 1990s, national and local authorities relaxed restrictions on obtaining urban residence permits. While these moves are a step forward, recent reforms often contain high income and strict housing requirements that work against rural migrants who seek to move to China's cities. Migrants who do not meet these requirements usually cannot obtain public services such as health care and schooling for their children on an equal basis with other residents.
The Commission encourages the Chinese government to continue reforms to the household registration system, building on positive steps already taken, by focusing on measures that would protect the interests of China's poor migrants and enhance their upward mobility. The Commission recommends that the Chinese government:- Continue to liberalize requirements for urban residence permits, but emphasize non-discriminatory criteria;
- Steadily eliminate current rules that link residence status to public services;
- Support private efforts to provide social services to migrants;
- Engage in international dialogue on internal migration and reform of the household registration system;
- Eliminate restrictions linked to the household registration system that contravene domestic and international law;
- Remove structural barriers limiting the voices of migrants and rural residents.
The publication of this topic paper follows the Commission's recent roundtable, China's Household Registration (Hukou) System: Discrimination and Reform, which was held on September 2, 2005.
Topic paper in HTML format: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/news/hukou.php
Topic paper in Adobe Acrobat PDF format: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/news/hukou.pdf
Roundtable statements and transcripts: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/090205/index.php
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| 2005-06-24 - | CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Forced Labor in China Roundtable |
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
June 24, 2005
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766
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CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Forced Labor in China Roundtable
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Roundtables, entitled, "Forced Labor in China," on Wednesday, June 22. The panelists Harry Wu, founder of the Laogai Foundation; Jeff Fiedler, President, Food and Allied Services Trades Department, AFL-CIO, and co-founder of the Laogai Foundation; and Gregory Xu, Falun Gong researcher, spoke about China's continued use of forced labor to produce goods for export and Chinese authorities' lack of cooperation in implementing the 1992 Memorandum of Understanding to assure that goods made by forced labor do not enter the U.S. market.
Following the roundtable U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Chairman of the Commission, said:
"Prisons in China continue to use forced labor despite commitments that Chinese leaders have made to bar its practice. I urge China's government to enforce the provisions of the 1992 Memorandum of Understanding with the United States allowing access to suspect facilities, and to eliminate forced labor. This issue will remain a serious obstacle that affects the U.S.-China relationship until the Chinese live up to their human rights commitments."
Additional information regarding this roundtable, including written statements of the panelists, is available on the CECC's website at: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/062305/index.php
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| 2005-05-24 - | CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Roundtable on Unofficial Religion in China |
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Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
May 24, 2005
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766
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CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Roundtable on Unofficial Religion in China: Beyond the Party's Rules
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables, entitled "Unofficial Religion in China: Beyond the Party's Rules" on Monday, May 23. The panelists were: Patricia M. Thornton, Associate Professor of Political Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, David Ownby, Director of the Center of East Asian Studies at the University of Montreal, and Robert P. Weller, Professor of Anthropology and Research Associate, Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University. They spoke about the growth of religion in China and the state's efforts to control and regulate it.
Regarding the issue of freedom of conscience and religion in China, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Chairman of the Commission, said:
"China's economic growth in recent years has been accompanied by a widespread expansion of citizen interest in religion. The Chinese government should allow China's millions of believers to exercise the freedom of religion guaranteed in their Constitution, and end its control over their forms of worship."
Additional information regarding this roundtable, including written statements of the panelists, is available on the CECC's website at: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/052305/index.php
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| 2005-05-17 - | CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Roundtable on Intellectual Property Law Policy and Enforcement in China |
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
May 17, 2005
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766
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CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel¡¯s Statement on Roundtable on Intellectual Property Law Policy and Enforcement in China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables, entitled ¡°Intellectual Property Protection as Economic Policy: Will China Ever Enforce its IP Laws?¡± on Monday, May 16. The panelists were: Daniel C.K. Chow, Robert J. Nordstrom Designated Professor of Law, Ohio State University Michael E. Mortiz College of Law; Eric H. Smith, President, International Intellectual Property Alliance; and James M. Zimmerman, Partner and Chief Representative, Beijing office, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. They spoke about the current rate of infringement of intellectual property rights in China, the Chinese government¡¯s policies regarding intellectual property, and why these policies have so far been ineffective.
Regarding the issue of intellectual property rights in China, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Chairman of the Commission, said:
¡°Intellectual property rights protect important U.S. industries. China has written new laws and regulations to protect intellectual property, but implementation and enforcement lag far behind. It is in China¡¯s interest to make policy choices that will lead to effective protection of intellectual property rights. These choices need to be made now.¡±
Additional information regarding this roundtable, including written statements of the panelists, is available on the CECC¡¯s website at: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/051605/index.php
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| 2005-04-13 - | CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Chinese Regional Autonomy Law Roundtable |
Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Press Release
April 13, 2005
Contact: CECC Press Assistant
202-226-3766
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CECC Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel's Statement on Chinese Regional Autonomy Law Roundtable
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held another in its series of staff-led Issues Roundtables, entitled "China's Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law: Does it Protect Minority Rights?" on Monday, April 11. The panelists were: David L. Phillips, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Gardner Bovingdon, Assistant Professor, Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University; and Christopher P. Atwood, Associate Professor, Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University. They spoke about China's Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law and its implementation in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia.
Regarding the issue of minority rights in China, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Chairman of the Commission, said:
"China's Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law promises just treatment of minorities, but authorities continue to prohibit China's minorities from exercising many of the rights guaranteed by Chinese law and under China's Constitution. Abuses in the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions are most severe. The Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law is not a perfect instrument. But China's government could ease ethnic tensions and increase stability throughout the country if it granted minorities the substantive autonomy promised them in the Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law."
Additional information regarding this roundtable, including written statements of the panelists, is available on the CECC's website at:
http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/041105/index.php
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