Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A629-W391

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A629-W391

Release Date: May 13, 2011

发布日：2011年5月13日

Topic: China's Crackdown on Human Rights Focus of Hearing, Wei Jingsheng's Testimony and Suggestions

标题：美国国会就中共打压人权举行听证会，魏京生受邀出席作证并提出建议

Original Language Version: English (English version at the beginning, Chinese version at the end)

此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

Note: Please use "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)" encoding to view the Chinese parts of this release. If this mail does not display properly in your email program, please send your request for special delivery to us or visit:

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China's Crackdown on Human Rights Focus of Hearing, Wei Jingsheng's Testimony and Suggestions

Washington, May 13 - The Chinese government's renewed crackdown on its own people, including extremely harsh treatment of human rights leaders-many of whom are missing-was detailed at a Capitol Hill hearing today held by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), the chairman of the congressional panel that oversees international human rights.

"The human rights situation in China has gone from abysmally bad to worse," Smith said. "In fact, we've not seen this level of blatant violations of human rights since the crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors in June 1989. Since February of this year, the Chinese government has significantly increased its oppression of human rights advocates, including activist lawyers, bloggers, clergy and members of independent religious groups. It has resorted not only to social pressure, intimidation, and physical harassment, but also to threats against family members, beatings, and even forced disappearances." Click here to read Smith's hearing statement.

Smith is a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee who chairs its human rights panel, which is formally known as the Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee. He is also a commissioner of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Testimony from witnesses at the hearing included statements by: Wei Jingsheng, Chair, Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition and former political prisoner; Harry Wu, Executive Director, Laogai Research Foundation, and former political prisoner; Jing Zhang, Director of Operations, All Girls Allowed; Steven Mosher, President, Population Research Institute; Philem Kine, Asia Researcher, Human Rights Watch, and; Andrea Worden, Adjunct Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law.

After he denounced government abuses in China, Wei Jingsheng was arrested in 1979 and imprisoned through September 1993. After a brief release he was again jailed until November 1997. Harry Wu served 19 years in a dozen separate Chinese labor camps, or laogai-supposed reform programs through hard labor. He was freed in 1979, and came to the United States where he established the Laogai Research Foundation, a non-profit research and education organization.

Wei Jingsheng formally testified at the U.S. Congressional hearing on the worsening Chinese human rights on Friday, May 13, 2011. He said that the situation has become especially bad the past half year. Later he also made some suggestions during the question and answer period. Considering the deteriorating Chinese human rights situation and the huge US-China trade deficit that is severely damaging the U.S. economy, Wei Jingsheng suggested that the CECC should play its safeguard card now. One of the reasons that it was established at the PNTR vote in May 2000 was to monitor human rights and to suggest ways to improve human rights in China, include revoke China's PNTR status should it become necessary. That time has come. Wei Jingsheng also suggested that the U.S. should give demands for the UN to safeguard human rights when it gives money to the UN.

Below is Wei Jingsheng's testimony.

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Testimony about Deteriorating Human Rights in China before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives

by Wei Jingsheng

May 13, 2011

In recent years, especially in the last half-year, China's human rights have been deteriorating rapidly. The Chinese Communist regime strengthened its suppression against the dissidents, human rights lawyers, and all kinds of religious and faith groups. It also strengthened its blockade and control of the Internet, broadcasting and print media. The regime's attitude towards general mass organizations has gone from some degree of tolerance into intolerance. It also increased its arbitrary handling of legal cases involving both the general public and its own officials.

Among all, the most important changes are reflected in the following two points.

The first is the Communist regime's increased arbitrariness in dealing with law. There is an obvious strengthening of the tendency to dominate judicial cases by various levels of the Communist organizations and officials. Take the Li Zhuang case in Chongqing as an example. Almost all the legal proceedings have been destroyed. Only according to the intention of the local Communist leaders, a wrongful case was created against a rights-defending lawyer. The authority has not only undermined the judicial process, but also used means of deceptive and illegal exchange to force the related parties to plead guilty. Further, it made illegal court decisions when evidence was absent.

Yet, this decision has received collective recognition and encouragement by the highest level of the Chinese Communist leaders. This model will soon be popularized throughout the whole country. It will not only greatly encourage illegal sentencing, but also reduce the possibility of judicial intervention for the defendant to gain access and help from lawyers and thus create the biggest convenience for the Communist officials to interfere with judicial system. Thus, likely China could revert to the lawless state during the Cultural Revolution period when the Communist regime smashed the existence of the judicial mechanism.

The second is that the laws for illegal detention have been expanded from officials and dissidents to include the general public include religious and faith groups. The forced "disappearance" of the famous artist Ai Weiwei recently is a typical example. What is noteworthy is that, just as in the case of Li Zhuang in Chongqing, this case of Ai Weiwei is also supported by the highest-level Communist leaders. Thus, it soon will become a model for the whole country.

The characteristic of this case is that the authority publicly carried out its action of forced "disappearance". After it violated China's own Criminal Procedure Law and detained the person, the authority did not notify the family, yet released the related information publicly in the media by its official spokesman. This is equivalent to flouting laws in the open, and announces the fact that the will of the Communist Party is above the law. This is significantly different from the individual illegal activities during the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin eras. It also represents the transformation of the whole justice system towards the extreme dictatorship of the Nazi and Mao Zedong.

Two reasons producing these changes are noteworthy.

The first is that the Chinese Communist Party has lost its confidence in its own ruling capacity. Due to the increased opposition from the people, as well as the intensified internal struggle within the party, there are very few people who believe that the system of the Communist Party can continue. Besides returning to the lawless state of the extreme dictatorship, the Communist Party does not have a method for controlling the social crisis.

The second is that the international community, particularly the U.S. government, is showing its weakness to the Chinese government due to economic interests. This weakness has led, for a while now, to a rising defiance against the USA by the Chinese officials and the society at large. When the international society is concerned about human rights, it is considered as politicians staging a show for their own voters, in a way to deceive the people of their countries. Whoever pays attention to this international pressure would be ridiculed by the others.

So now it has even developed to the degree of directly ridiculing the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. This ridicule enabled the related Chinese officials gain some benefits of public opinion. The action of Hu Jintao humiliating the United States at the White House also won him rare praise within the Communist Party. This kind of attitude has been or will be applied to the Western businessmen and tourists in general. The U.S. Congress and the administration should not ignore such kind of developments.

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Related photos:

1. Congressman Chris Smith chairs the hearing:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2011/newsletters2011-2/SmithCchairs110513hearing-c-3.jpg

2. Wei Jingsheng and others who testify in the US Congress:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2011/newsletters2011-2/WeiJSetc110513testify-c-6.jpg

3. Wei Jingsheng at the hearing:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2011/newsletters2011-2/WeiJStestifies110513inCongress-c-3.jpg

(Wei Jingsheng Foundation expresses its gratitude for using the news release of Congressman Chris Smith. Related link is: http://chrissmith.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=241544)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A629-W391

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A629-W391

Release Date: May 13, 2011

发布日：2011年5月13日

Topic: China's Crackdown on Human Rights Focus of Hearing, Wei Jingsheng's Testimony and Suggestions

标题：美国国会就中共打压人权举行听证会，魏京生受邀出席作证并提出建议

Original Language Version: English (English version at the beginning, Chinese version at the end)

此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2011/report2011-05/WeiJStestimony110513inCongressA629-W391.htm

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美国国会就中共打压人权举行听证会，魏京生受邀出席作证并提出建议

华盛顿5月13日 -- 中共政府更进一步地镇压自己的人民,包括对人权领袖们予以极其严厉的对待，许多人因而失踪。这是在新泽西的众议员克里斯﹒史密斯今天在国会山主持的听证会上听取到的细节。史密斯是美国众议院外交委员会负责监督国际人权小组的主席。

“中国的人权状况已经从一塌糊涂变得每况愈下，”史密斯说。 “事实上，自1989年6月在天安门广场镇压示威者以来，我们还未见过它公然侵犯人权达到过这样一个程度。自今年二月起，中共政府更大大地加强了对人权倡导者的压迫，其中包括维权律师、博客写手、神职人员及独立的宗教组织的成员。它不仅仅诉诸于社会的压力、恐吓和骚扰，而且还对家庭成员予以威胁、殴打，甚至是被失踪。“（史密斯在听证会上的发言连接：http://chrissmith.house.gov/UploadedFiles/2011-5-13_China_Opening_Statement.pdf）

史密斯是美国国会外交事务委员会的资深成员，及其人权小组主席。这个小组的前称是非洲、全球健康、和人权小组。他也是美国国会及行政当局中国委员会及汤姆﹒兰托斯人权委员会的专员。

听证会听取了证人们的证词，其中包括有：中国民主运动海外联席会议主席魏京生；劳改研究基金会执行主任及前政治犯吴弘达；女童之声的运作主任张菁；人口研究所所长Steve Mosher；人权观察亚洲研究员Philem Kine；美国大学华盛顿法学院的兼职法学教授Andrea Worden.

在他谴责中国政府对人权的侵犯后，魏京生于1979年被捕，并一直被监禁关押到1993年9月。在短暂的释放后，他再次入狱并被关押到1997年11月。吴弘达曾在十几个不同的中国劳改营里度过19年。他于1979年获释，并来到美国，他建立了劳改研究基金会，一个非营利性的研究和教育机构。

在2011年5月13日星期五的国会听证会上受邀出席正式作证的魏京生先生指出：中国人权日趋恶化，尤其是这半年来更是变本加厉。之后，在问题和回答部分，魏京生提出了一些建议。其中包括：由于中国人权的恶化和美中的巨额贸易逆差已严重影响到了美国经济，美国国会及行政当局中国委员会应采取立即行动。这个在2000年5月美国政府决定赋予中国永久正常贸易关系（最优惠国待遇）之时决定建立的美国国会及行政当局中国委员会的存在原因不仅仅是观察中国的人权和建议可改善的方法，还包括在必要的时候建议取消对中国的永久正常贸易关系。现在正是时候。魏京生还建议美国政府将大笔款项给联合国时应要求联合国保证维护人权。

以下为魏京生先生在美国国会外交事务委员会上的证词。（相关连接：http://chrissmith.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Wei_Jingsheng_statement_5_13_2011_Subcom_hearing.doc）

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在美国众议院外交委员会听证会上有关中国人权恶化的证词

-- 魏京生 2011年5月13日

最近几年以来，特别是最近半年以来，中国的人权状况迅速恶化。中国政府对异议人士、维权律师、各种宗教和信仰团体的镇压在加剧；对网络和平面媒体的封锁和控制在加强；对一般性群众团体的态度，由一定程度的容忍转变为不容忍；对涉及民众和官员的法律案件，加大了随意性。这些现象中最重要的变化表现在以下两点上。

第一：法律的随意性在加大。各级官员和共产党机构主导司法活动的倾向明显加强。以重庆市李庄的案件为例。几乎全部法律程序都被破坏了，仅仅是按照当地共产党领导的意图，就对一名维权的律师制造出一个冤案。官方不仅破坏司法程序；而且使用欺骗和非法交易的手段，迫使当事人认罪；并在完全没有证据的情况下做违法的判决。

这个判决得到了中共高层的集体认可和鼓励。这个模式将很快在全国推广。这不仅极大地鼓励了违法判决，而且最大程度地削弱了被告人得到律师帮助的可能性，给共产党官员干预司法创造了最大的方便。从而将可能倒退到文化大革命时期的取消司法机构的状态。

第二：非法拘禁的法规，已从针对官员和异议人士，扩大到了针对包括宗教和信仰团体的一般民众。最近著名艺术家艾未未的被失踪案件，就是典型的例证。值得注意的是这个案件和上述的重庆李庄案件一样，是得到中共高层支持的，也即将成为司法案例推广的案件。

这个案件的特点，是在于它公开实行被失踪的行为。在官方违反中国刑事诉讼法将当事人拘禁之后，它不通知家属，但却通过官方发言人公开在媒体上披露相关信息。这等于是公开蔑视法律，宣布共产党的意志凌驾于法律之上。这和邓小平、江泽民时代的针对个案的违法活动，有重要的区别。这也代表了整体的司法体系向极端专制的纳粹化、毛泽东化的转变。

之所以会产生这样的转变，有两个原因值得注意。

首先是共产党对自己的统治能力已经丧失了信心。由于人民反抗的加剧和共产党内斗的加剧，很少人相信共产党的体制能够继续维持下去。除了回到极端专制的无法律状态之外，共产党已经没有能够控制社会危机发生的方法了。

其次是国际社会特别是美国政府，为了经济利益向中国政府示弱。这导致了一段时间以来，中国的官员和社会上普遍高涨的蔑视美国的心态。国际社会对人权的关注被认为是向自己的选民作秀，是政客们欺骗自己国家人民的表演。谁要是重视这种国际压力，就会遭到人们的嘲笑。

以至于现在他们甚至直接嘲笑美国的人权助理国务卿，这可以使相关的中国官员得到舆论上的好处。胡锦涛在白宫羞辱美国的行为，也使他得到了内部少有的赞扬。这种态度已经或者将会适用到西方的商人和一般旅游者身上。美国国会和政府不能不关注这种事态的发展。

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