Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China

2009-10-07T14:00:00 - 2009-10-07T15:30:00
628 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Transcript (PDF) (Text)

Issues such as information control, climate change and environmental protection, and official responses to Uyghur and Tibetan protests present new challenges for the development of the rule of law and human rights in China. The Commission has asked a distinguished group of experts to assess the current state of criminal and civil rights defense, commercial rule of law, environmental enforcement, ethnic affairs, and political imprisonment in China. Witnesses discussed the implications of developments in these areas for U.S. policy, offering recommendations on how the United States might best engage with the Chinese government through dialogue on human rights and rule of law issues.

View a recorded video of this hearing here.

Opening Statements

Senator Byron Dorgan, Chairman

Representative Tim Walz, Cochairman

Representative Christopher H. Smith

Representative David Wu

Additional Members Present:

Representative Mike Honda

Senator John Barrasso

Witnesses

Mr. John Kamm, Founder and Chairman, Dui Hua Foundation

[ Full text of testimony ]

Dr. Elizabeth Economy, CV Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

[ Full text of testimony ]

Mr. Donald Clarke, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School

[ Full text of testimony ]

Dr. Gardner Bovingdon, Assistant Professor, Indiana University, Bloomington

[ Full text of testimony ]
Issues: Access to Justice Criminal Justice The Environment and Climate Change Ethnic Minority Rights Freedom of Expression Tibet Xinjiang