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“WEI JINGSHENG SUFFERS BEATING IN CHINESE PRISON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H4821-H4822 on June 26, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WEI JINGSHENG SUFFERS BEATING IN CHINESE PRISON
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in great sadness this evening to report to our colleagues in the House of Representatives that, since the activity on this floor earlier this week regarding sending a signal to China about our seriousness about human rights, there are reports out of Beijing, both Reuters and AP, that veteran dissident Wei Jingsheng has been severely beaten by other prison inmates who were told they could get reduced prison sentences if they attacked him.
Mr. Speaker, Wei Jingsheng is known as the Sakharov of China. He is the leading pro-democracy dissident there and has been in prison for 14 years. He has been in prison since the Democracy Wall demonstrations in 1979. He was released for a couple of months when China wanted to get the Olympics, and then rearrested after a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck, Secretary for Human Rights and Democracy.
Mr. Speaker, Wei has been there and he will not be contrite. He will not apologize for his pro-democratic statements and he is sentenced to another 14-year sentence for speaking out peacefully for pro-democratic change. He is being beaten by the other inmates, as I said, and they are getting reduced sentences if they strike him. His health is not good, it has not been good, and he is not receiving appropriate medical attention.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that our Democratic leader in the House, the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt] has written to Secretary Albright regarding the news about Wei Jingsheng. He expressed his concern about the reports and mentioned that Wei has been a symbol of hope for those who wish to confront Chinese tyranny. The gentleman mentioned that he as well as many of us are great admirers of Wei's commitment to the struggle for freedom. The gentleman from Missouri urges Secretary Albright to raise the issue at the highest levels during her upcoming trip to Hong Kong and use all diplomatic and other available sources to fight for Wei's safety and release.
Mr. Speaker, Wei Jingsheng has received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he is being kicked in the neck in the Chinese prisons and his tormenters are given time off for that so-called good behavior.
I bring this up at this time because there is a delegation leaving for Hong Kong for the changeover that will take place on June 30. Secretary Albright has stated that she will not attend the event which is the swearing in of the puppet legislature.
Mr. Speaker, just as a matter of background, briefly, there is a democratically elected legislature called Legco in Hong Kong. In preparation for the takeover, the Chinese regime has appointed a puppet legislature which will take over July 1 as they throw out the democratically elected legislature. So much for Democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.
It is a travesty that this Government of the United States, especially under the circumstances of Wei Jingsheng's torment, will be sending our consul general to legitimize this illegal legislature that is going to be sworn in on Tuesday.
Mr. Speaker, I call upon the Secretary of State, who never intended to attend the legislative swearing in in the first place because the administration knew that it was not appropriate, to withdraw the possibility that the consul general to Hong Kong, the representative of the United States, and other representatives of the State Department not attend. Not attend.
And, Mr. Speaker, I would certainly hope that no Member of the Congress of the United States would legitimize the illegal legislature that has been handpicked by Beijing to replace the democratically elected legislature. Its term has at least one more year to run.
It is interesting to me, though, to see the contradiction from the administration. On the one hand, they used on this floor and in their correspondence, and they used in a letter from the President of the United States, the name of Martin Lee as the leading democrat in Hong Kong, as the leading person to say support MFN for China; it is good for Hong Kong. And they used his credentials as the top democratically elected legislator in Hong Kong. Martin Lee, Martin Lee. He is a champion of democracy and his name was used earlier on the floor this week. And now Martin Lee will be ousted, replaced by a puppet legislature, and we in the United States, the greatest democracy in the world, will have our representatives there to legitimize that effort.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members of Congress not to attend. I urge the administration not to send representatives to that swearing in.
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