Institutions of Democratic Governance
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Co-chair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), held a hearing on the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre examining both the legacy of the Tiananmen protests for democracy and human rights and their ongoing importance for a new generation of rights advocates.
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In observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this report examines the People’s Republic of China’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, focusing on the government’s capacity to provide public services and on institutional obstacles that contribute to disparities in access to healthcare and assistance.
The People’s Republic of China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has featured entrenched patterns of authoritarian control characterized by top-down governance and harsh local implementation, secrecy around scientific data, rigid adherence to policy protocols that have jeopardized vulnerable communities, and pervasive censorship and criminalization of criticism. The Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly touted the zero-COVID policy as a Party success story. At the 20th National Party Congress in October 2022, Xi described it as the “people’s war to stop the spread of the virus,” and signaled its continuation.
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.
This CECC hearing will examine Chinese authorities’ treatment of democracy, human rights, and anticorruption advocates in 1989 and 2015, and ask if China under Xi Jinping has made progress toward respecting the universal freedoms of speech, assembly, and association—the very principles which animated the 1989 Tiananmen protests 26 years ago. It will also explore the continuing efforts of individuals in Tiananmen and subsequent generations to further these ideals and to secure those universal freedoms.
In 1989 citizens from all walks of life participated in demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and throughout China calling for political reform, respect for universal freedoms of speech, assembly, and association, and an end to government corruption. The government's violent suppression of the protests in June of that year had far-reaching ramifications for both the development of human rights and the rule of law in China and U.S.-China relations. In the years since, Chinese authorities have censored public discussions of Tiananmen and prevented a public accounting of what happened. At the same time, Chinese citizens continue to advocate for human rights, democracy, and an end to corruption.
Update: Anticorruption and Transparency Advocates Already Sentenced
In 2013, authorities commenced a crackdown on anticorruption and transparency advocates, many linked to the “New Citizens’ Movement,” which is a broad network of individuals promoting legal and political reforms, human rights, and social justice. In late 2013 and early 2014, authorities began trials for several of these advocates and courts have already handed down sentences in some cases: