The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CHINA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H8935-H8936 on Sept. 25, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CHINA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, what is America if not a Nation that stands up for basic decency and human rights? What is America if it is not a people that speaks out for those who cannot speak out for themselves? And what will America become if we fail to speak out against dictators and despots who oppress and brutalize their own people?
China has for too long been at liberty to detain and torture and intimidate and oppress good men and women for their religious beliefs. As the world's greatest democracy and the symbol of hope for millions, America has a duty and an obligation to speak out for the oppressed people of the world. We fail in our duty if we do nothing.
It was the British philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke who said that Representatives owe you not just their industry but also their judgment. As Representatives and beholders of American ideals, we should speak out on the issue of the persecution of those of faith in China.
The litany of abuses committed by the Government of China toward its own people is long and senseless. I recently held a meeting with a number of groups who have spent years in documenting the numerous abuses committed by the Chinese Government upon the Chinese people. In the coming days, I will be highlighting the plight of different groups of long-suffering Chinese people so that colleagues can better understand the depth of this problem in China. The material I will be submitting today was prepared by the International Religious Freedom Commission, and I hope Members will read it.
As I close, 10 Catholic bishops are in China today under house arrest, and this government, our government, our Congress and the administration, does not act. The Protestant Church is being abused and beaten in China and we have refused to speak out. The Chinese have plundered Tibet, and yet the West is quiet. Muslims are being persecuted in the northwest portion of China, and yet the West speaks out not at all. The Falun Gong are being persecuted almost on a daily basis.
I think this is an opportunity to hear, in their own words, what all of these groups have to tell us in the Congress and us in the United States and us in the West about what is taking place, so that we know we should speak out on their behalf, particularly next year when the Geneva resolution with regard to condemning China on human rights comes up.
Depending on the religious organization in question, the Chinese government provided various justifications to defend its policy of repression. Its action to restrict religious belief and practice, however, go far beyond what is necessary to protect legitimate state interests.
Since 2001, the Communist government has engaged in a persistent campaign of banning some religious groups while insisting on registration for others. Many groups, particularly Christian house churches, have refused, understandably fearful that providing membership rosters would lead to regular surveillance by party and government agencies.
The government's policy of designating religious or spiritual organizations as ``cults'' has led to tragic outcomes for millions of religious believers. All too often victims are sentenced to ``re-
education through labor camps,'' administered by the notorious Ministry of Public Security, which appears to perpetrate human rights abuses with absolute impunity. Persons adhering to ``unacceptable'' faiths have been given prison sentences of up to three years without a right to a hearing, without counsel and without judicial determination of their cases.
There are at least 30 million Protestant Christians in China. Mostly, believers belong to independent house churches. Purely on account of their faith, properties belonging to or used by such groups have been confiscated, closed, or destroyed and members have been detained, tortured, and subjected to other forms of government harassment.
In June 2003, 12 members of a house church in Guna Village in Yunnan province were arrested after they sought registration with the local government. On June 6, in response to the government's ``invitation'' to complete the registration process, the 12 church leaders were arrested for engaging in ``feudalistic superstition.'' Eight of the 12 were immediately sentenced to three years in ``re-education through labor'' camps, while the other four were indicted and are being held for trial.
In late August 2003, local officials arrested 170 house church Christians in Nanyang county, Henan province after local police reportedly raided the meeting place where the worship service was being conducted. The report indicates that the 14 leaders of the group are currently being held in detention, possibly facing serious charges, while the other members were released after having been fined, fingerprinted, and warned against continuing their activities.
The Chinese Communist state has, since the 1950s, banned the Roman Catholic Church, replacing it with the state-approved Catholic Patriotic Association. Through this state organization, the Communist government has claimed the exclusive right to appoint Chinese bishops. Most Chinese clerics, however, have refused to accept the legitimacy of government appointees. As a result, many Roman Catholic bishops and priests have been harassed, detained, or imprisoned.
According to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, a number of Catholic bishops and priests who refuse to submit to government tutelage remain in prison or in detention and the status of other priests and lay persons remains unknown. As of August 2003, at least 10 Catholic bishops, including Bishop Su Zhimin, whose whereabouts are unknown, are imprisoned, in detention, under house arrests, or under surveillance.
In Tibet, Buddhist monks and nuns serve lengthy sentences for voicing their allegiance to the Dalai Lama. In point of fact, the great majority of Tibetan political prisoners are monks and nuns.
The longest-serving Tibetan political prisoner, Tagna Jigme Zangpo, was granted a medical parole to come to the United States in summer 2002 when he was in the middle of a 28-year sentence before his ``early'' release. Ngawang Sandrol, a member of the famous Tibetan ``Singing Nuns'' who was released last year, had served over 10 years in the infamous Drapchi Prison before her release. According to the Tibet Information Network, the State Department, and the testimony of former Tibetan nuns like Ngawang Sandrol, many of these prisoners have been severely beaten and subjected to other extreme forms of punishment. Some have died in prison.
The Chinese government has denied repeated requests, including from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, for access to the 12-year-
old boy whom the Dalai Lama recognizes as the 11th Panchen Lama. Government officials have stated that he is being ``held for his own safety,'' while at the same time insisting that another boy is the true Panchen Lama.
The Chinese government's official ban on the Falun Gong movement, in 1999, has meant heightened government repression for all religious organizations designated by the government as ``cults.'' According to Falun Gong practitioners, as many as 100,000 of their members have been sent to labor camps without trial. They claim that as many as 700 may have died as a result of police brutality either while in prison or after their release.
In largely Muslim Xinjiang, religious freedom is severely curtailed by the government, which indiscriminately links Muslim religious expression with ``separatist'' or ``terrorist'' acts. The indiscriminate repression of the Uighur people is best exemplified by the arrest and imprisonment of Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent Uighur businesswoman and activist, who was arrested in 1999 after she met with a visiting U.S. congressional delegation. Close supervision of all mosques in the region by local Communist Party officials is now commonplace.
China repeatedly engages in severe--systematic, egregious--violations of religious freedom. If our ideals and what America stands for--both at home and abroad--are to mean anything, then we must not shrink from this issue. We must not allow human considerations to come secondary to the pursuit of trade.
We must dare to speak out for those who have no voice.
____________________
