Excerpts: Rep. Lantos on House Resolution on China's Rights Record
(Cites case of U.S. child kept from parents for 26 days)China's human rights record was the focus of the April 3 debate in the House of Representatives on House Resolution 56 (H. Res. 56).
The measure, which passed in the House by a vote of 406 to 6, supports the efforts of the United States to garner support for a resolution at the current United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) meeting in Geneva on China's human rights practices in Tibet and China.
In seeking support for the measure he introduced in the House in February, Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat of California) acknowledged that Beijing "usually prevails in Geneva on a so-called no-action motion," which prevents consideration of such a resolution at the UNCHR meetings.
Beijing prevails in the U.N. vote, Lantos said, "not because the international community recognizes its performance in the human rights field, but because the Chinese government systematically threatens commercial contracts with the developed world and threatens to deny foreign aid to poor nations."
Lantos, the co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said it would be an uphill struggle to win passage of a U.N. resolution on China's human rights record.
During the debate on H. Res. 56, Lantos -- who survived both the Nazis and Communists in his native Hungary -- brought up the case of Gao Zhan, a scholar at American University who was put under arrest by Chinese authorities as she was leaving the country.
Zhan was visiting her family in China when she and her husband were seized by Chinese authorities as they waited in the airport to return to the United States. Their 5-year-old son, Andrew, an American citizen, was kept separated from them for 26 days, he said.
"Gao was put in prison, we do not know where. As of today, her whereabouts are unknown. Her husband was blindfolded and driven 2 hours to an unknown location, and their 5-year-old son was taken to a government facility, even though his grandparents live in the city, where they happened to be," Lantos told fellow lawmakers.
"One of my grandchildren is 5 years old. I can imagine the fear and the horror and the pain and the nightmare a 5-year-old must go through as out of the blue his mother and father are arrested, taken to separate government police cars, and taken away. This little boy for 26 days, 26 consecutive days, did not see his mother, his father, or his grandparents," the ranking minority member of the House International Relations Committee said.
"This degree of insensitivity to fundamental human rights of a little 5-year-old child is an index of the degree to which the Chinese government respects human rights today," Lantos said.
Following are excerpts from Representative Lantos's remarks from the April 3 Congressional Record:
(begin excerpts)
Congressional Record, 3 April 2001
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. It was with sincere sadness that I introduced this resolution a month ago, and that I now ask my colleagues to strongly support this resolution.
When I introduced this resolution, Madam Speaker, 24 American airmen were not held captive on a Chinese island, contrary to all provisions of international law, and it is a sheer coincidence that we are considering this resolution at the very time when the attention of the United States and, indeed, much of the world is directed at Beijing to see how they will function in this self-induced and self-created crisis.
When I introduced my resolution a month ago, as all Americans, I also was hoping optimistically that the Chinese government would take at least a few minimal steps to improve the abominable human rights record of the People's Republic of China. Unfortunately, the State Department's Human Rights Report indicates that the human rights situation in China this past year has become worse.
As the report demonstrates, the government of China continues to use torture, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention, and the general denial of due process. The government of China restricts freedom of speech. It restricts the freedom of the press. It denies freedom of religion, including the most brutal crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslims, and, of course, Christians.
The Chinese government continues to subject vast numbers of political prisoners to forced labor, and it prevents the formation of independent trade unions or independent nongovernmental organizations.
The resolution before the House today indicates strong support for the decision of our administration to offer a resolution at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva calling on the Chinese government to end its human rights abuses, both in China and in Tibet.
In the past, Congress has passed similar resolutions, but unfortunately, the Chinese government usually prevails in Geneva on a so-called no-action motion. Under this devious parliamentary tactic, the Chinese government successfully prevents even the consideration of our resolution.
The Chinese prevail in this vote not because the international community recognizes its performance in the human rights field, but because the Chinese government systematically threatens commercial contracts with the developed world and threatens to deny foreign aid to poor nations.
I am under no illusion, Madam Speaker, that it will be anything but an uphill battle to prevail in Geneva this year and to win passage of the China human rights resolution.
I commend the President and the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, for moving forward with this effort. I will do whatever I can to urge other governments to support our effort.
In all candor, let me state, Madam Speaker, that I am particularly disappointed in the countries of the European Union as they continue to shirk their responsibilities to promote internationally recognized human rights. The European Union ministers have already announced that they will not cosponsor the American resolution.
Ultimately, some of them will vote with us, but it is a shame that the Europeans continue to bury their heads in the sand, desperately hoping that trade with China will magically bring about the creation of a Chinese civil society based on internationally recognized human rights.
I would like to take just one specific example of the intensity and flavor of human rights violations in China. Recently, Madam Speaker, as we know, the Chinese government imprisoned an American University researcher, Gao Zhan, and her family on the phony charge of espionage. Now, Gao Zhan is an academic who has conducted research related to the status of women. She and her husband are permanent residents of the United States, and their son, Andrew, 5 years old, is an American citizen.
Gao and her family had gone to China to visit her family. They were standing in line at the Beijing airport preparing to get on the plane to come back to their home in the United States. Out of nowhere, Chinese officials emerged and pulled all three family members out of line and hustled them into separate cars.
Gao was put in prison, we do not know where. As of today, her whereabouts are unknown. Her husband was blindfolded and driven 2 hours to an unknown location, and their 5-year-old son was taken to a government facility, even though his grandparents live in the city, where they happened to be.
One of my grandchildren is 5 years old. I can imagine the fear and the horror and the pain and the nightmare a 5-year-old must go through as out of the blue his mother and father are arrested, taken to separate government police cars, and taken away. This little boy for 26 days, 26 consecutive days, did not see his mother, his father, or his grandparents.
This degree of insensitivity to fundamental human rights of a little 5-year-old child is an index of the degree to which the Chinese government respects human rights today.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution. There is nothing I would like to see more than good relations with China. I have the highest regard for the Chinese people. They represent one of the great civilizations on the face of this planet. They have all the opportunity of building an advanced, civilized society, but they must not do it by trampling on the human rights of their citizens, or on the fundamental human rights of a little 5-year-old American citizen who was deprived for 26 days from contact with his family.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time. . . .
Upon reflection, it seems to me that it would be unconscionable for this body not to deal with the issue of human rights violations in China as the U.N. Commission is dealing with the question of whether or not to support this resolution.
It will be interesting to see whether the Chinese Government will add to the human rights violations of its own people, human rights violations of 26 American servicemen. I hope and pray that they will not, but it would be singularly unacceptable to be intimidated by the current situation on that island.
The Chinese are illegally holding 26 American servicemen. This is a fact. It is also a fact that millions of Chinese are deprived day in and day out of their fundamental human rights, and this body will have to speak out on that subject.
(end of excerpts)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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