The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released its 2025 Annual Report, detailing human rights conditions and legal developments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The report is mandated by federal law and can be accessed in full on the CECC’s website.
CECC Chair Senator Dan Sullivan said, “This year’s report lays bare how the Chinese Communist Party keeps breaking its word—to its own people and to the world. Beijing signs human rights conventions, promises autonomy for Hong Kong and Tibet, and pledges to play by global trade rules, then jails dissidents, runs forced-labor factories and illegal fishing fleets, and even dispatches agents to stalk and threaten people on American soil. This report doesn’t just catalogue those abuses; it gives Congress, the administration, and our allies a blueprint to stand with victims of atrocities, defend our workers and supply chains—including our fishing and seafood industries—from slave labor, and make sure the Chinese Communist Party, not American families, pays the price for Beijing’s broken promises. I am honored to work with Representative Smith on the CECC and continue the important work of Secretary of State Rubio, who served on this commission as Chair or Ranking Member for nine years while he was in the Senate.”
CECC Cochair Representative Chris Smith added: “Sadly, the People’s Republic of China under the Communist Party has proven time and again that it seeks hegemony in order to impose the same tyranny it afflicts its own citizens with upon the rest of the world. China is not a responsible member of the community of nations, for it is run by the Communist Party for the benefit of the Communist Party—a Party State which does not honor the treaties to which it is a State Party. The PRC is thus more than simply a strategic rival to the United States and the rest of the free world, as it is a systemic rival which seeks to undo the stable international order to which the United States has been guarantor since the end of the Second World War. How can a predatory, mercantilist nation that utilizes forced labor, steals intellectual property and massively subsidizes state-owned enterprises be a member of the World Trade Organization or any rules-based order? The answer is that it cannot be, so long as the Communist Party maintains its monopoly on power.”
The 2025 Annual Report uses “Promises Made, Promises Broken” as its central theme. It describes how Chinese authorities use courts and regulations for political purposes while signing but disregarding international agreements related to human rights and trade. According to findings summarized in 18 chapters:
- Forced labor practices are expanding in Xinjiang among Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims.
- Religious communities face increased repression through surveillance measures and suppression efforts.
- Dissenters such as lawyers or journalists are arbitrarily detained using vague legal charges.
- Technology is used both domestically for censorship/surveillance—and exported abroad—enabling digital repression elsewhere.
- Hong Kong's autonomy continues eroding due to national security laws targeting pro-democracy figures.
- The PRC projects repression overseas through harassment campaigns against diaspora communities; bounties against activists; covert operations including “overseas police” stations; disinformation about U.S. elections; attempts at influencing politicians; activities within UN bodies intended to blunt scrutiny.
The Commission’s Political Prisoner Database now lists over 11,000 cases involving political or religious prisoners in China—with nearly 2,800 currently detained or under coercive control.
Recommendations include stricter enforcement against products made with forced labor—especially from Xinjiang—and blocking imports linked with illegal fishing or tainted seafood supply chains. Measures also target arbitrary detentions of Americans in China by improving travel advisories/coordination with allies; seek expanded reporting/sanctions regarding forced organ harvesting; develop government-wide strategies countering transnational repression; increase transparency around foreign influence efforts.
Priority legislation highlighted includes:
- The FISH Act targeting illegal PRC fishing fleets;
- The Transnational Repression Policy Act strengthening responses against extraterritorial intimidation;
- Sanctions expansion via Uyghur Genocide Accountability legislation;
- New tools supporting release efforts for unjustly detained Americans;
- Acts addressing forced organ harvesting practices;
- Judicial sanctions tied specifically to Hong Kong officials undermining rule-of-law.
Further recommendations cover U.S. public diplomacy strategy improvements aimed at exposing abuses while increasing access to information.
Senator Sullivan and Representative Smith praised staff contributions in producing this year's report while reiterating calls for accountability regarding China's commitments.
