Opening Remarks at CECC Hearing on China in 1989 and 2015: Tiananmen, Human Rights, and Democracy

June 3, 2015

by YANG Jianli

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission, thank you for hosting this important hearing on this anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.

 

Today we the panelists want to cover three distinct but related points: First, when it comes to Tiananmen, why we must  “Never Forget” and why we must counter — as your Commission has persistently done – China’s desperate attempt to infect both its people and the outside world with amnesia about those tragic events.  Second, We want to stress the need to pierce the facade of President Xi Jinping’s phony reforms and the CCP’s PR campaign to portray Xi as the “Great Reformer” and a champion of the “Rule of Law.” And third, We want to address the ultimate question of what can the Congress and the Administration do to strengthen human rights and democratic values in China.

 

 

 

Since both my long written statement and my fellow panelists have covered the first two, I will focus on the third in the rest of my opening remarks.

 

After the Tiananmen Masssacre, Americans of all political persuasions and faiths joined in protest of that slaughter of innocents. Their outrage showed that human rights are not partisan issues. But when it came to trade relations with China, there was a big debate.  One side of the debate, led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, asserted that US trade relations with China must be linked to China’s human rights record. This idea was embodied in Pelosi and Mitchell’s legislation in 1993. When Pr
esident Clinton reversed the policy in Rep. Pelosi’s proposal, he made a terrible mistake. The reversal was based on the theory, which was widely upheld by corporations, columnists pundits and policy makers, that trade would inevitably result in more political freedom and guaranteed basic human rights. In order to test that confident prediction, Congress established this Commission. Under its mandate, the Commission has annually examined just how much China’s economic growth and interaction with the world has led to real civil liberty and political freedom for its citizens. And each year the Commission’s clear conclusion has been “not very much.” That finding is consistently echoed in the annual human rights reports of the State Department, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, International Rights groups, and by the testimonies of my fellow panelists today.

 

In addition, although China’s economic strength has continued to grow, the Xi Jinping regime, as you have already heard, has increased restraints on the civil liberties of the Chinese people.

 

The lessons are clear. We must abandon the delusion that economic growth will bring human rights and democracy in China in the foreseeable future. Instead,  Americans of conscience should insist that their Government confront China on human rights issues. They should demand that their Government openly condemn China’s violation of basic human rights and demand release its “prisoners of conscience.” They should express support for those in China bravely asserting or defending the human rights of others and receiving brutal punishment for their good deeds. And they should support such congressional bills as the China Human Rights Protection Act you Chairman Rep. Smith  introduced yesterday and the Global Magnitsky legislation that you and Representative McGovern introduced earlier this year.

 

We applaud and fully support these worthy initiatives. But in closing, I would like to suggest you carefully consider another proposal that is, at the same time,  more fundamental. Congress should  pass a simple, short and sweet “China democracy Act.”

 

We, Initiatives for China, recently hosted our 10th Annual InterEthnic/InterFaith Leadership Conference. It was attended by a great many members of faith groups, ethnic minorities, and advocate in China and abroad of democracy, civil liberty and human rights. At its conclusion,we passed a resolution which I want to expand on today. It calls on Congress to enact a “China Democracy Act,” recognizing that advancement of human rights and democracy in China is in America’s national interest, and calling for an annual assessment of whether the American Government is advancing or actually undermining those goals.

 

In the early 90s I and many others believed that it would take only a few years and not much outside physical assistance from the US government to achieve those goals. But we overestimated how soon those bravely resisting  in China could educate the people about the need for a peaceful transition, when their voices were being silenced by prison and brutal torture and  their speech was blocked by modern technology.

 

At the same time, the Chinese government has tried to discredit the Chinese democracy movement with the claim of  American policy to provide it with secret assistance. In fact, the US Congress has never passed something as simple as a China Democracy Act stating American policy to advance human rights, rule of law, and democratic values in China. It’s shocking to me that there is no such law at the present time.

 

That brings me to the resolution proposed by our conferees a few weeks ago for a China Democracy Act. This would not be a non-binding resolution. Instead, it would be binding legislation flatly stating congressional judgment that enhancing human rights,and democratic values in China is decidedly in America’s national interest. That would preclude the currently widespread but inaccurate claim that Congress must balance,on the one hand, it’s claim to support the universal value of human rights, and, on the other hand, “America’s national interest. ” Promoting human rights in China is clearly in US national interest for several reasons.

 

History teaches that authoritarian dictatorships are more likely than democracies to be aggressors against other nations.

 

History also teaches that nations with freedom of speech, religion and association are more likely to evolve peacefully into a government respect the rights and rule of the people.

 

Finally, if  America expressly commits to strengthening those ideals in China, and visibly implements that commitment, it will enable the people of all nations to see that the words of Americans’ proud promises to support liberty everywhere are fully matched by its deeds.

 

The bill also would require a report from the President to Congress every year on how any government program, policy, or action during the prior twelve months has strengthened human rights and democratic values in China, and — equally important — how any program, policy or initiative has weakened human rights and democratic values in China.,

 

All  federal departments of government – every single one – should have to report on what they’re doing to bring democracy to China by advancing human rights and the rule of law there. The Act also put them on notice to take no action, adopt no policy and implement no program that would undercut the democracy movement, or weaken human rights in China.

 

Such a “China Democracy Act” and an annual Presidential Report, would give us a better idea of what successes we’ve had so far, what caused them, and how we should increase financial resources  and deploy them to promote democracy and human rights.

 

Without such legislation, I very much doubt we will be on track and on course to succeed in what we dreamed of back in 1989.