Freedom of Expression
June 3, 2020
(Washington)--Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) issued the following statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen protests and their violent repression.
May 1, 2020
(Washington)—U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), sent a letter to President Donald Trump expressing their concern about the Chinese government’s “increasingly draconian” restrictions on press freedoms and freedom of expression and asking him to “advocate for the release” of unjustly imprisoned journalists, bloggers, and free speech advocates.
China has one of the most restrictive internet environments in the world. Online censorship and content manipulation are increasing, and reports of physical attacks on domestic human rights defenders and cyberattacks on overseas human rights groups are growing. Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has made control of the internet and media one of his top priorities, viewing it as paramount to internal stability and the Party’s long-term survival.
(Washington, D.C.)— U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), the chair and cochair respectively of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), held a hearing on December 13, 2017 to look at the scope of the Chinese government’s foreign influence operations.
Witnesses included Shanthi Kalathil, the Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy; Glenn Tiffert, a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; and Sophie Richardson, the China Director for Human Rights Watch.
CECC Commissioners Say Transparency About 1989 Events a “Vital Concern” for Those Seeking More Productive U.S.-China Relations
June 1, 2017
(Washington, DC)—A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to lift restrictions on public discussion of the Tiananmen protests and their violent suppression and to release individuals detained for commemorating the June 4 anniversary and human rights lawyers detained in the “709” crackdown.
Concrete improvements in human rights and the rule of law in China are directly linked to the security and prosperity of both the American and Chinese people. Advances in protecting human rights and curbing government violations of universal freedoms are essential components of economic development, mutual prosperity, domestic stability, and the type of trust and confidence necessary to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on a range of issues that will define the 21st century.
As President Obama prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24-25, 2015, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) will hold a hearing to examine the critical human rights and rule of law issues that deserve frank and robust discussions during the planned state visit.