China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - October 2006
Announcements
Commission Releases 2006 Annual Report
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China released its 2006 Annual Report on human rights conditions and the development of the rule of law in China to the President and the Congress on Wednesday, September 20.
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.
The report is available on the Commission's Web site in Adobe Acrobat PDF and plain text format (note these files are over 1mb, and may take some time to download). Readers in China may be unable to view the report using these links, as the Chinese government is currently blocking the Commission's Web site. Those who are unable to access the Commission's Web site can try viewing the report via the Government Printing Office.
CECC link: https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/human-rights-and-rule-of-law-in-china
GPO link: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/joint/prccommission/index.html
Hearing: Human Rights and Rule of Law in China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a Commission hearing entitled Human Rights and Rule of Law in China, on Wednesday, September 20. Senator Chuck Hagel, Chairman of the Commission, presided. Commission Members attending the hearing included:
U.S. Senate
- Senator Sam Brownback
- Senator Mel Martinez
U.S. House of Representatives
- Representative Jim Leach - Cochairman
- Representative Joseph R. Pitts
- Representative Robert B. Aderholt
- Representative Sander M. Levin - Ranking Member
- Representative Michael M. Honda
Executive Branch
- Steven J. Law, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
- Franklin L. Lavin, Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce
The witnesses were: Jerome A. Cohen, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; John Kamm, Executive Director, The Dui Hua Foundation; Minxin Pei, Director, China Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Xiao Qiang, Director, China Internet Project, University of California at Berkeley.
A webcast of the hearing is available (requires RealPlayer. The hearing begins at minute 32).
Hearing link: https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/human-rights-and-rule-of-law-in-china
Hearing webcast: rtsp://video.webcastcenter.com/srs_g2/hagel092006.rm (paste in Realplayer)