U.S. congressional commission slams China on human rights

Asian Political News, Oct 7, 2002

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 Kyodo

A U.S. congressional commission released a report on China on Wednesday, accusing Beijing of suppressing religious freedom, clamping down on political dissent and thwarting Tibetans and other ethnic minorities in their quest for autonomy.

''The current Chinese leadership appears determined to modernize the economy while keeping a tight lid on political dissent, continuing firm (Communist) Party rule, and maintaining its vision of social stability,'' the Congressional-Executive Commission on China said in its first annual report.

The commission urged the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to raise the issue of human rights and victims of human rights abuses in China whenever it holds talks with Chinese government officials.

''This is the most comprehensive document produced by Congress on human rights in China. It pulls no punches in describing current human rights conditions in China,'' Senator Max Baucus, the commission's chairman, said at a news conference.

''It recommends actions to Congress and to the administration that we believe will help promote change in China,'' Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said.

The report said the Chinese government is attempting to maintain strict control over religious groups, with all temples, mosques, churches and monasteries in China required to register with the state.

Religious crackdown has resulted in the detention of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and the torture and death of many leaders of the spiritual movement, it said.

In enforcing their vision of ''national unity,'' China's leaders have made ethnic minorities a target of tight control as well, the report said.

Many Tibetans and Uighurs who have protested peacefully for greater autonomy or, in some cases, independence, have been imprisoned and tortured, it said.

Congress created the Congressional-Executive Commission in 2000 to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China.

The commission sent a letter to Bush on Wednesday, calling him to urge Chinese President Jiang Zemin to release eight prisoners when the two leaders meet at Bush's Texas ranch Oct. 25.

The eight, including Wu Wenli, a democracy activist, and Bishop James Su Zhimin, are representative of the many individuals currently detained in violation of their fundamental human rights, it said.