April 5, 2001

HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to speak on the floor yesterday when the resolutions on the human rights situation in China and Tibet and in Cuba were debated. I was attending a funeral in my district and on an official leave of absence.

I am an original co-sponsor of both of these resolutions and I am pleased that both were considered by the House.

Given the events in China this past week, it is important that the House adopted H. Res. 56 which expresses the sense of the House urging the appropriate representative of the U.S. to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce at the annual meeting in Geneva of the commission a resolution calling upon the People's Republic of China (PRC) to end its human rights violations in China and Tibet.

Mr. Speaker, we can look to the China section of the 2000 State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights to see the deplorable human rights record of the PRC: ``The Government's poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit serious abuses.'' This same human rights report says that the ``PRC is an authoritative state ..... [that] frequently interfere [s] in the judicial process, and the Party and the Government direct verdicts in many high-profile cases.

It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. because it is the right thing to do in the face of China's alarming human rights record as described further in the State Department human rights report:

..... thousands of Falun Gong practitioners ..... were sentenced to re-education through-labor camps or incarcerated in mental institutions .....

The government continued to commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses ..... [such as] extrajudicial killings, the use of torture, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention, the mistreatment of prisoners, lengthy incommunicado and denial of due process .....

..... 100 or more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of torture and mistreatment in custody''

The Government's respect for religious freedom deteriorated markedly ..... as the Government conducted crackdowns against underground Christian groups and Tibetan Buddhists and destroyed many houses of worship.

It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. in light of China's detainment of 24 U.S. service personnel attached to the U.S. EP-3E aircraft. China's behavior throughout this incident should make the true nature of the Chinese Government clear-- the regime in Beijing will abuse the rights of anyone, even U.S. service personnel who have to make an emergency landing on Chinese territory.

It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. in light of the fact that China has arrested a U.S. citizen, professor Li Shaomin. Professor Li has been detained by Chinese authorities since February 25. Professor Li's wife does not know why her husband has been detained.

It is appropriate that the U.S. introduce this resolution at the U.N. in light of the fact that China has detained and charged Ms. Gao Zhan, a permanent resident of the U.S. who lives in my congressional district. Ms. Gao is married to a U.S. citizen and is the mother of a U.S. citizen.

After detaining her husband Xue Donhua (now a U.S. citizen) and their 5-year old son Andrew (a U.S. citizen) for over a month, the government of China has now charged Ms. Gao Zhan with spying. I have met Mr. Xue and his son Andrew and talked about their incarceration. They are a wonderful family. Yet, Andrew was taken away and held separately from his parents for over a month. Andrew needs a mother and needs to be with his mother. What kind of government would separate a family like this? What kind of government would put a 5-year old child through this kind of ordeal?

Similarly, H. Res. (91) instructs the U.S. delegation at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva to obtain passage of a resolution condemning the Government of Cuba for its human rights abuses. As this resolution states, ``the Castro regime systematically violates all of the fundamental civil and political rights of the Cuban people, denying freedoms of speech, press, assembly, movement, religion, and association, the right to change their government and the right to due process and fair trials.''

It is no accident that both the Cuban and Chinese governments are serious violators of religious freedom. As both Cuba and China are authoritarian regimes, nothing is more threatening to them than people of faith and conviction who are capable and willing to speak truth to power.

I am proud to co-sponsor both of these resolutions because the U.S. needs to be on the side of pursuing justice and of speaking truth to power. I am hopeful that the U.S. will lead in the efforts in Geneva to speak truth to the authoritarian regimes of Cuba and China.