118th Congress
(Washington)—The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today released a staff report detailing the role Hong Kong judges play in establishing a de facto parallel legal system where basic procedural rights such as trial by jury and presumption of innocence are routinely violated.
According to some estimates, there are over 1,000 political prisoners in Hong Kong, a development that was unthinkable less than a decade ago. Following 2019 protests for democracy and political reforms, the Chinese government unilaterally imposed a national security law (NSL) that created four vaguely defined national security crimes and a set of rules that weakened Hong Kong’s once vaunted judicial independence, creating a parallel legal system to try NSL cases with judges handpicked by the Chief Executive.
(Washington)—The Chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), issued the following statement on World Press Freedom Day.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) is the most momentous piece of China legislation passed by the Congress in over two decades. If enforced as intended, UFLPA imposes significant costs on the People’s Republic of China for its campaign of genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities and takes steps to prevent companies from benefiting from the use of forced labor in their supply chains. The task assigned to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the multi-agency Forced Labor Enforcement Taskforce (FLETF) is daunting and aggressive enforcement is the key to UFLPA’s effectiveness.
(Washington, DC)—Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), today released a letter to Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Robert P. Silvers outlining concerns about the implementation and enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (P.L. 117-78, or UFLPA). Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) joined the Chairs in sending the letter. This bipartisan group of lawmakers were the lead sponsors of the UFLPA legislation.
Tibet faces new and worsening challenges from the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive rule. Threats to Tibet’s linguistic, religious, and cultural heritage have expanded in recent years, and now an estimated 80 percent of all children in the Tibet Autonomous Region are separated from their families and educated in a massive system of colonial boarding schools--a deeply troubling manifestation of the Party’s program of forced assimilation of ethnic and religious minority groups. In recent years, police have conducted mass DNA collection and iris scanning programs in wide swathes of Tibetan society, including in monasteries and primary schools.
(Washington)—Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) issued the following statement today on the second anniversary of the arrest of pro-democracy activists now on trial under the National Security Law.
(Washington, DC)—Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair respectively of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today announced the introduction of legislation that would revoke the diplomatic immunities and privileges granted to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) that operate in the United States as the official representative offices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, but now appear to be mere appendages of China’s Communist government. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative James P.
(Washington, DC)–Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were appointed to lead the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) for the 118th Congress. Smith will serve as Chair and Merkley as Cochair of the bipartisan and bicameral body.
(Washington, DC)— Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bicameral and bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), former Chairs of the Commission, today announced their nomination of six Hong Kongers for the Nobel Peace Prize. Jimmy Lai, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, Gwyneth Ho, Lee Cheuk-Yan and Joshua Wong were nominated because they are ardent champions of Hong Kong’s autonomy, human rights, and the rule of law as guaranteed under the Sino-British Declaration and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.