The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued today the Commission’s 2022 Annual Report on human rights conditions and rule of law developments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The full report and an executive summary are available for download on the CECC’s website.
The Press Release and section on "General Recommendations to Congress" (Executive Summary) follow below.
A few brief observations:
1. Cross-over hybridity: one of the most interesting provisions of the Report's recommendations was the suggestion that the World Bank adopt human rights due diligence reporting. These requirements are a central element of the business and human rights project that crystalized after 2011 in the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and are now being weaponized in the development of relationships between the US and China.
Require Human Rights Due Diligence from the World Bank Congress should direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the executive directors of relevant International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) to determine whether any existing projects are funding entities that, directly or indirectly, support the PRC’s “poverty alleviation” programs in the XUAR or Tibetan areas or whether IFI funding abets human rights abuses in other parts of the PRC. Congress should require a report providing details of efforts by the executive directors to end these projects and include the specific steps taken in the last fiscal year to promote human rights more generally in IFI lending, as required by the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law No. 116-260).
The Report was quite conscious of the value of adding the techniques of business and human rights to its sanctions oriented regimes--especially as a means of implementation compliance with sanctions regimes. (See full report, pp. 19-20). The Report also suggested a more generalized application of human rights due diligence to further anti-human trafficking policies (Report p. 198).
2. The push back against the New Era Communist International. The Report focused on what it identified as economic coercion: "A sustained strategy of economic coercion threatened governments and businesses with retaliation for running afoul of Party priorities. This bullying, which Chinese authorities carried out
through trade restrictions, fines, removal of products from commerce platforms, and calls for consumer boycotts, tended to be most effective on subnational levels." (Report p. 7). These are tied to respond to criticism of China's human rights policies (Id., p. 24; also 36; 263).
3. Most generally, one of the most interesting effects of the push (ironically spearheaded by civil society organizations and their supporters) to utilize modalities of human rights, sustainability, bio-diversity, and climate change as instruments of post-global politics. In this, of course, the US is not unique--and to some extent the techniques and trajectories align with those from the Chinese side. This makes sense--apex imperial powers must effectively align their use of the language and tropes of the global community if they are effectively to engage with each other. In this case, those tropes touch on human rights, sustainability, national security, and the protection of vital global economic corridors. That leaves a fundamental question as these discursive tropes are repurposed: are international principles of human rights and sustainability autonomous of state interests or are they merely a framework that can only be activated when manifested within the national contexts through which they are expressed? In an international system that continues to adhere to the principle of the supremacy of the state, then absent a more vigorous doctrine of sovereign delegation upward into international public organization, the autonomy of international principles remains an illusion. . . . or possible only through the operation of a global market. Irony indeed.
Release of 2022 Annual Report
November 16, 2022
(WASHINGTON, DC)—U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chair and Cochair of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued today the Commission’s 2022 Annual Report on human rights conditions and rule of law developments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The full report and an executive summary are available for download on the CECC’s website.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress last month reinforced Xi Jinping’s grip on the levers of power in China, which continue to be weaponized against the universally recognized human rights of the people of China and, increasingly, those outside China’s borders,” said CECC Chair Merkley. “This report from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China documents the reality of authoritarian control and the moral bankruptcy of Chinese authorities’ view of human rights. The CECC embodies a bipartisan, whole-of-government consensus on the need to address these failings. With President Biden’s appointment of CECC commissioners, I look forward to continuing to work across the U.S. government to protect those fleeing persecution, facing transnational repression, fighting coercion, or fearing the destruction of their culture.”
“The Commission’s report documents the Chinese government’s continued use the tools of authoritarian governance to centralize power, restrict basic human rights, and maintain majoritarian social control,” said CECC Cochair McGovern. “We continue to focus on transnational repression, where Chinese authorities have reached into the United States and other countries to repress people critical of Chinese policies. We also continue to record the severe crackdown against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, Tibetans and Hong Kongers. I urge Members of Congress and the Executive Branch to make use of our recommendations to hold the Chinese government accountable and more effectively prioritize the promotion of universal human rights and the rule of law.”
The 2022 Annual Report provides a detailed account of the systematic and often brutal efforts by the government of People’s Republic of China (PRC) to censor, torture, and detain critics of Chinese Communist Party policy, rights defenders and human rights lawyers, advocates of free speech, religious freedom and women’s rights, and ethnic minorities. The report also includes a chapter on the PRC’s efforts globally to intimidate and silence U.S. citizens and others critical of the PRC’s human rights record, including at the United Nations and in other multinational fora. Transnational repression has been a key issue of concern for the Commission in the past year and the report details the tools used by the PRC in this effort, including cyberattacks, smear campaigns, threats against individuals and their family members, and abuse of INTERPOL mechanisms.
The report reflects the view of CECC commissioners that the PRC’s efforts to manipulate international human rights bodies, use supply chains and technology for repression and coercion, and undermine democratic freedoms and political processes globally pose a distinct challenge to the rules-based international order which requires a coordinated response from the United States and other nations. The 2022 Annual Report, with its focus on the PRC’s obligations under international human rights agreements, also punctures the narrative of a unique “Chinese view of human rights” that General Secretary Xi Jinping is attempting to export to the world. In particular, the 2022 Annual Report details the:--Promotion of a “cult of personality” around leader Xi Jinping and the expansion of surveillance and ideological indoctrination efforts in the year leading up to the 20th Party Congress;The report also highlights many recommendations for congressional and executive branch action, including to:
--Use of the criminal justice system as a repressive political tool targeting dissidents and human rights defenders, including extra-legal detentions and commitment to “psychiatric facilities;”
--Ongoing genocide in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including evidence that Xi Jinping and top leaders directed repressive policies in the XUAR, which include rape, forced abortions and sterilizations, and forced labor;
--Aggressive dismantling of Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms, free press, and civil society and use of the --National Security Law to arbitrarily detain pro-democracy advocates;
--Pervasive problem of violence against women, including coercive population control policies, bride trafficking, and growing allegations of sexual assault; and
--Expansion of technology-enhanced authoritarianism and pervasive mass surveillance systems used to enforce the “zero-COVID” policy, restrictions on religious freedom, and censorship of online activities and speech.--Increase the capacity of the FBI and State Department to address transnational repression and PRC efforts to intimidate and silence Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, and members of the Chinese-American diaspora;The Commission continues to champion bipartisan legislative efforts to bolster U.S. response to the PRC’s human rights violations. The enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act—which was conceived, drafted, and secured by the bipartisan leadership of the Commission — is an example of this commitment and is the strongest action taken anywhere in the world to address the importation of goods made by the slave labor of ethnic minorities in China. The research and advocacy of the Commission also produced significant legislation in defense of human rights and bolstering U.S. human rights diplomacy in recent years, including the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (Pub. L. 116–76), the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (Pub. L. 116–145), a bill to prohibit the commercial export of munitions to the Hong Kong Police Force (Pub. L. 116-77), and the Tibet Policy and Support Act (Pub. L. 116-260, Sec. 341).
--Sanction individuals responsible for forced labor and extend sanctions authorities for PRC officials complicit in forced sterilizations and forced abortions in the XUAR;
--Expand the use of existing sanction authorities for Hong Kong prosecutors and judicial officials engaged in the prosecution and detention of pro-democracy advocates;
--Create immigration pathways for Hong Kong residents and Uyghurs to protect those fleeing PRC persecution;
--Limit the PRC’s malign influence operations in the United States by creating the “China Censorship Monitor and Action Group” to protect U.S. businesses and individuals from censorship and intimidation;
--Condition access to U.S. capital market for any Chinese company providing support for the PRC’s mass surveillance capabilities or facilitating human rights abuses in China; and
--Expand grant programs to assist Uyghur, Mongol, and other ethnic and religious minorities in cultural and linguistic preservation efforts.The Chairs note the appointment this year of CECC Commissioners from the Executive Branch, the first such appointments since 2014, and welcome the contributions of the new appointees: Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya; Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago; Deputy Under Secretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee; Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink; and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lisa Peterson.
The Commission continues to provide detailed information on thousands of political prisoner cases and completed a major upgrade of the Political Prisoner Database to enhance its readability and searchability last year. For the first time, the Political Prisoner Database includes cases from Hong Kong. The Commission continued to highlight political prisoner case via public statements and social media, including though the #OlympicPrisoner initiative. A list of 16 representative cases highlighted in this year’s report can be found in the Annual Report.
Chair Merkley and Cochair McGovern commend the capable and professional work of the CECC’s research staff in producing the Commission’s 21st Annual Report.
Media Contact: Scott Flipse
202-308-6062
___________
2 0 2 2 A N N U A L R E P O R T— E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y 2 3
P O L I T I C A L P R I S O N E R C A S E S O F C O N C E R N
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS
AND THE ADMINISTRATION
The Commission makes the following recommenda-
tions for Administration and congressional action,
recognizing that human rights are at the core of the
U.S. relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
as a reflection of American principles and as a commitment
to fundamental rights and freedoms in the People’s Republic
of China.
Address Transnational Repression
The PRC targets Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, dissidents,
members of the Chinese-American diaspora community,
and others in a sophisticated and comprehensive effort to
silence criticism, conduct surveillance, and in some cases
abduct or repatriate critics and others deemed sensitive. The
Administration should send to Congress a comprehensive strat-
egy outlining efforts to constrain the PRC’s ability to commit
acts of transnational repression, to increase accountability for
perpetrators of such acts, and to better protect those at risk of
intimidation and harassment. In addition, the Administration
and Congress should:
■ Instruct federal law enforcement to ensure protection from
intimidation and surveillance for U.S. residents; provide
outreach directly to diaspora communities; and ensure
there are easily accessible, safe, and secure portals to report
coercion or intimidation;
■ Update transparency laws to better identify and take legal
action against foreign officials and individuals acting on
behalf of foreign governments to surveil and intimidate
dissident and diaspora communities;
■ Seek to expand existing authorities to sanction individuals
and entities directing transnational repression from abroad
and bolster intelligence-gathering capacity to identify the
perpetrators;
■ Enhance training for State Department and law enforce-
ment personnel to recognize and combat transnational
repression;
■ Describe the scope and impact of censorship and surveil-
lance on Tencent’s WeChat platform, ByteDance’s TikTok,
and Chinese-made mobile phone browsers and any steps
taken to protect users’ sensitive personal information and
freedom of expression; and
■ Take the lead on a UN Human Rights Council resolution to
create a UN special rapporteur for transnational repression.
End Forced Labor Imports.
The Administration should fully implement the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) (Public Law No. 117-78), and the
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force should regularly update
and expand the lists of entities identified as complicit in forced
labor, pursuant to this law. Congress should provide robust
funding to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enforce the
import restrictions required to carry out the law. In addition,
the Administration should:
■ Sanction individuals engaged in significant labor traffick-
ing under section 111 of the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000, as amended (22 U.S.C. § 7108) and under
section 5 of the UFLPA;
■ Issue a report on forced labor and the U.S. Government’s
procurement process with the aim of excluding any
companies engaged in the production of goods using
the forced labor of ethnic minorities or other persecuted
groups in China;
■ Direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to require
issuers of securities to disclose whether they have estab-
lished or maintained activities with entities in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) identified as com-
plicit in the use of forced labor or other gross violations of
human rights; and
■ Encourage foreign governments and legislatures to adopt
their own national legislation or regulations modeled on
the UFLPA.
Stop Atrocity Crimes
The Administration should create and fund programs to doc-
ument, preserve, and analyze evidence of genocide and crimes
against humanity committed by PRC officials in the XUAR,
with a view toward future accountability measures, including
criminal prosecutions. In addition, the Administration should:
■ Coordinate with allies and partners to request the appoint-
ment of a UN special rapporteur on the XUAR or other
special procedures to address the PRC’s egregious human
rights abuses, including pressing for the formation of a UN
Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the XUAR;
■ Request open debates on the XUAR at the UN Human
Rights Council and UN Security Council, as well as an
Arria-formula briefing, to address the human rights vio-
lations outlined in the assessment released by the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;
■ Expand the Department of Commerce’s “Entity List” to
include any company engaged in biometric surveillance that
aids in the commission of atrocity crimes in the XUAR; and
continue to use available sanctions authorities, including
those provided by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (Title XII, Subtitle F of Public Law No.
114-328; 22 U.S.C. § 2656 note), as well as the Uyghur Human
Rights Policy Act (22 U.S.C § 6901 note) as amended by the
UFLPA, including for any officials or entities complicit in
forced sterilizations and forced abortions in the XUAR or
the forced separation of children from their families.
Defend the People of Hong Kong
The Administration should robustly implement the sanctions
provided in the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy
Act (Public Law No. 116-76) and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act
(Public Law No. 116-149), including those for financial insti-
tutions and individuals complicit in the dismantling of Hong
Kong’s autonomy and rights protections and the PRC’s violation
of the 1984 Sino-British Declaration, an international treaty; and
work with allies and partners at the United Nations and other
multilateral organizations to issue frequent public statements
and make other diplomatic efforts to seek the release of political
prisoners and address violations of international human rights
standards. In addition, the Administration and Congress should:
■ Extend the lapsed prohibition on sales of police equipment
and crowd control technology to the Hong Kong police,
as provided by Public Law No. 116-77, and make this ban
permanent unless the U.S. President certifies that Hong
Kong is again sufficiently autonomous to justify special
treatment under U.S. law;
■ Use appropriated funding to support non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) outside of Hong Kong working to
promote the rule of law, human rights, civil society devel-
opment, and democratic freedoms in Hong Kong; and
■ Seek to preserve the flow of independent news and infor-
mation from Hong Kong by supporting the creation of
academic residency programs and media accelerator proj-
ects for Hong Kong journalists and executives whose news
and media outlets were shuttered due to abuse or threats
under the PRC Law on Safeguarding National Security in
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Support Victims of Persecution
Congress and the Administration should work to accelerate pro-
cessing times for current refugee and asylum cases and ensure
that the expansion of the annual cap on refugees admitted to the
United States is used to increase protection and resettlement of
those fleeing PRC persecution, prioritizing steps to:
■ Remove barriers for properly vetted Hong Kong residents
to receive U.S. visas, particularly those attempting to exit
Hong Kong for fear of political persecution, and pass the
Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act (S. 295, H.R. 461) and the
Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act (H.R. 4276);
■ Extend Priority 2 refugee status to Uyghurs and otherLimit Malign Influence Operations
predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities by passing the
Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act (S. 1080, H.R. 1630),
and expand use of the T-visa provided for in the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. Chapter 78) for
trafficking victims already in the United States to assist in
investigations of both labor and sex trafficking;
■ Engage with countries with significant populations of
Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities fleeing persecution in
China, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,
to stop forced deportations to the PRC of those persecuted
by the PRC; and
■ Ensure that sufficient funding and authorities are
available for psychological and health care support for
victims of genocide and crimes against humanity, par-
ticularly in countries of first asylum, through programs
authorized by the Torture Victims Relief Act (Public
Law No. 105-320) as funded through the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2022 (Public Law No. 117-103).
Address the Threat of Economic Coercion
The PRC has used the threat and execution of trade restrictions
and predatory infrastructure loans as leverage to silence criti-
cism and to influence discussion of its human rights violations.
The Administration should provide Congress a strategy for
reducing the threat of trade restrictions or other economic
coercion. In addition, the Administration and Congress should:
■ Identify legal authorities needed to create a global reserve
fund to assist companies, industries, municipalities, and
others affected by the PRC’s economic coercion;
■ Consider trade barriers that need to be revised either to
impose retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports as part of
joint action with allies and partners or to buy products
targeted by the PRC through economic coercion;
■ Develop a plan to deploy expert economic response teams
to assist countries facing economic coercion or challenges
related to worker rights violations, environmental protec-
tion, debt restructuring, and other human rights concerns
created as a result of Belt and Road Initiative projects; and
■ Work in concert with allies and partners at the World
Trade Organization or other international institutions to
challenge boycotts and trade restrictions that undermine
the integrity of the rules-based global economic order.
Malign political influence operations conducted by the PRC
are part of an increasing global threat to stifle basic freedoms
and bolster repressive forms of governance and pose significant
challenges to the United States and countries around the world.
The Administration and Congress should work together on
measures to address these challenges, such as to:
■ Establish an interagency “China Censorship Monitor and
Action Group” to address the impacts of censorship and
intimidation on American citizens, legal residents, and
companies, and consider expanding such group globally
with allies and partners;
■ Employ a portion of the funds appropriated for the
“Countering Chinese Influence Fund” to promote trans-
parency and accountability projects, including increasing
the capacity of independent investigative journalists and
civil society organizations in countries with Belt and
Road Initiative projects to expose corruption, malign
influence tactics, and environmental risks;
■ Develop a multi-stakeholder action plan and code of
conduct with universities, foundations, think tanks, film
production companies, publishers, NGOs, and state and
local governments so that their interactions with foreign
governments or entities uphold standards of academic
freedom, corporate ethics, and human rights;
■ Require U.S. colleges, universities, and their faculty to
publicly report all foreign gifts, contracts, and in-kind
contributions that exceed $50,000 in any single year from
any source associated with a country designated by the
Secretary of State as a foreign country of concern, building
on the model provided by the disclosure requirements
in the Research and Development, Competition, and
Innovation Act (Public Law No. 117-167);
■ Expand Mandarin language training in U.S. schools and
colleges by creating and funding the Liu Xiaobo Fund for
the Study of Chinese Language and alternatives to PRC-
funded Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms;
■ Require U.S. think tanks and NGOs to disclose foreign
grants and gifts as part of their tax filings to maintain
non-profit status; and
■ Update and expand the requirements of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act (22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq.) to cover indi-
viduals and other entities lobbying on behalf of foreign
governments, entities, or organizations working on edu-
cational or scientific pursuits; to restrict acquisitions of
technologies banned under U.S. export controls; and to
curtail efforts to stifle academic freedom by acting through
organizations like the Chinese Students and Scholars
Association and Confucius Institutes.
Confront the Challenge of Digijtal Authoritarianism
The PRC is developing technology and using artificial intelli-
gence (AI) to expand mass surveillance and social control of
its citizens while exporting surveillance technology globally
in an effort that could undermine democratic freedoms and
governance. The Administration should work with like-minded
allies to protect user privacy and human rights by developing a
set of global principles for the use of AI-driven biometric sur-
veillance and championing high-standard internet governance
principles that support freedom of expression. In addition, the
Administration and Congress should take steps to
■ Amend the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization
Act (Title XVII, Public Law No. 115-232) to trigger a
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
(CFIUS) review of any foreign company seeking to acquire
U.S. assets controlling biometric information of Americans
or technology to more efficiently collect and process bio-
metric information; and
■ Expand and focus foreign assistance projects on internet
freedom and media literacy to provide digital security
training for civil society advocates, identify and counter
foreign government propaganda efforts, and help users
circumvent sophisticated internet firewalls that infringe
on freedom of expression and association.
Champion Human Rights Standards Globally
The United States must create public messaging and public
diplomacy programs that clearly communicate to domestic
and international audiences the nature and scope of PRC
challenges to international law and universal human rights
standards and develop human rights programming that
creatively supports legal reformers, civil society activists,
independent journalists, and rights defenders as well as labor,
religious freedom, and democracy advocates in China and
globally. In addition, the Administration and Congress should
work together on steps to:
■ Provide sufficient funding for public diplomacy efforts and
the U.S. Agency for Global Media, both to combat PRC
propaganda and provide messaging platforms to com-
municate the U.S. Government’s efforts to protect human
rights and democracy globally;
■ Authorize and appropriate funds for technical assistance and
capacity-building initiatives for rights and rule-of-law advo-
cates in settings outside China, given growing restrictions
on the funding of these types of civil society organizations
inside mainland China and in Hong Kong; and
■ Support educational and cultural exchange programs,
including restoration of the Fulbright exchange program
in mainland China and Hong Kong and preservation of
scholarship and exchange programs for Tibetans, as a valu-
able resource and to maintain positive influence channels
with the Chinese people.
Form Global Coalitions to Protect Human Rights
The Administration should mobilize issue-based coalitions
to coordinate messaging, technical assistance programming,
and rules-based governance approaches to technology, trade,
supply chain, standards, sustainable development, and other
issues. These coalitions would facilitate the creation of a toolkit
of actions to address genocide and crimes against humanity
and any new violation of international standards by the PRC—
including coordinated sanctions, import restrictions to address
forced labor, export controls on surveillance technology, infra-
structure and development models that respect human rights,
supply chain transparency and resilience, and joint action at the
United Nations and other multilateral institutions.
Strengthen International Organizations
The Administration should work to ensure that international
organizations remain true to their founding principles. The
Administration should work with allies and partners to ensure
that the governance structures of entities like the International
Telecommunication Union, the International Labour
Organization, the International Criminal Police Organization
(INTERPOL), the World Intellectual Property Organization,
the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
and the World Health Organization (WHO) meet the high-
est standards of transparency, accountability, and reform;
uphold universal human rights; and address pressing trans-
national challenges. In particular, the Administration should
coordinate with allies and partners to strengthen commonly
held positions on internet freedom, human rights norms, and
human rights violations. The Administration should raise these
issues repeatedly with PRC officials at the United Nations and
other international bodies, including the UN Human Rights
Council, and at hearings of treaty monitoring bodies, such as
the Committee against Torture. In addition, the Administration
and Congress should work together to:
■ Support representation by countries that will promote
transparency, accountability, and reform at human rights
bodies and international organizations setting standards
on issues such as public health and the internet, partic-
ularly by coordinating with like-minded countries to
advance candidates for leadership positions and support
robust staffing at all levels of the organizations, including
the UN Junior Professional Officer Programme;
■ Establish an annual report on the PRC’s malign influence
operations in the United Nations and other international
organizations that details any actions that undermine the
principles and purpose of the United Nations and its var-
ious agencies, particularly those related to human rights,
internet governance, law enforcement, global health,
environmental protection, the development of norms on
artificial intelligence and biometric surveillance, labor,
standards setting, and freedom of navigation; and
■ Press the WHO to conduct a transparent and credible
investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2, including
a forensic investigation of relevant laboratories and other
venues in Wuhan municipality, Hubei province; promote
reforms to reliably limit malign Chinese Communist
Party influence in the WHO; strengthen the International
Health Regulations (IHR) to make clearer the obligations
of Member States and consequences for those that fail
to provide timely and transparent information about
infectious disease outbreaks; and create a regular Periodic
Review for compliance of Member States with the IHR.
Require Human Rights Due Diligence from the
World Bank
Congress should direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct
the executive directors of relevant International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) to determine whether any existing projects
are funding entities that, directly or indirectly, support the PRC’s
“poverty alleviation” programs in the XUAR or Tibetan areas or
whether IFI funding abets human rights abuses in other parts of
the PRC. Congress should require a report providing details of
efforts by the executive directors to end these projects and include
the specific steps taken in the last fiscal year to promote human
rights more generally in IFI lending, as required by the FY2021
Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law No. 116-260).
Condition Access to U.S. Capital Markets
The Administration should continue to identify and list Chinese
companies and entities that have provided material support or
technical capabilities that violate U.S. laws, enhance mass sur-
veillance capabilities, bolster PRC police or security apparatus,
and facilitate human rights abuses in China, including in the
XUAR and Tibetan areas, in the Treasury Department’s Non-
SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List
(NS-CMIC List) and the Commerce Department’s Entity List
and Unverified List. In addition, Congress should strengthen
disclosure and auditing requirements for any listed Chinese
companies in U.S. capital markets to ensure that American
retirement and investment dollars do not fund companies with
links to the PRC’s security apparatus, genocide, or other malev-
olent behavior that undermines U.S. interests or internationally
recognized human rights.
Defend Values While Not Abetting Anti-Asian
Discrimination or Chinese Propaganda.
The Administration and Congress should create public messag-
ing strategies that clearly differentiate the peoples and cultures
of China from the PRC and challenge Chinese Communist
Party propaganda efforts to exploit protests in the United States,
such as those against anti-Asian discrimination, as well as xeno-
phobic rhetoric, to further its objectives. Poorly designed and
communicated messaging about U.S. efforts to counter PRC
policies can fuel Chinese Communist Party propaganda that
references instances of intolerance or harassment of people of
Chinese descent and other Asian American and Pacific Islander
communities, frustrating the ability of the United States to craft
a domestic consensus for a China policy grounded in the prin-
ciples of human rights and the rule of law. U.S. officials should
always be clear that they stand for human rights and the rule
of law, and against discrimination and intolerance of any kind.
Promote Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
The Administration should work with Congress to support
the reinstatement of international NGOs that aim to support
women in the economic, legal, and healthcare sectors in China
and fund cross-border training, academic exchange, and
other technical assistance programs with the goal of adequate
implementation of the PRC Anti-Domestic Violence Law, par-
ticularly the use of personal protection orders. In addition, the
State Department should urge the PRC to cease harassment,
intimidation, and other forms of mistreatment, offline and
online, of women’s rights activists and organizations and to
ratify International Labour Organization Convention No. 190,
the Convention Concerning the Elimination of Violence and
Harassment in the World of Work (2019).
Preserve Threatened Cultures and Languages
Congress and the Administration should respond to myriad
threats to the cultural and linguistic heritages of repressed
groups in the PRC by developing programming, both in the
United States and around the world, to preserve threatened
cultures and languages. The Administration should expand
grant programs to assist Uyghur, Mongol, and other ethnic
and religious minorities in cultural and linguistic preservation
efforts and leverage the tools available in the Tibetan Policy
and Support Act (Public Law No. 116-260, 134 Stat. 3119) to
help sustain the religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of
the people of Tibet. The Administration should prioritize, and
Congress should fund, exhibitions, research, and education
related to these efforts.
Promote a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict
PRC officials continue to show no interest in responding to the
Dalai Lama’s request for dialogue and continue to disseminate
false information about Tibet’s history. To strengthen the
longstanding, bipartisan U.S. policy of promoting dialogue,
the Administration and Congress should ensure that calls for
dialogue are based on the Tibetan people’s right of self-deter-
mination under international law and use available resources to
counter disinformation about Tibet from PRC officials.
Restore a Diplomatic Presence in Tibet
The closure of the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu municipality,
Sichuan province, in 2020 deprived the State Department of
an operational diplomatic presence in proximity to the Tibetan
Plateau. The State Department should engage the PRC on open-
ing a consulate in Lhasa, Tibet, as called for in the Tibetan
Policy Act (Public Law No. 107-228, 116 Stat. 1396), as amended,
or as an interim step, reopening the consulate in Chengdu.
Create a Special Advisor for Political Prisoners.
The Administration should consider creating the position of
Special Advisor for Political Prisoners to develop and coordi-
nate diplomatic strategies to gain the release of political and
religious prisoners and to serve as a resource to former polit-
ical prisoners living in the United States seeking guidance on
their travels abroad and medical and psychological care. The
Administration should also work to end the PRC’s unacceptable
use of “exit bans.”
Advocate for Political Prisoners
Members of Congress and Administration officials at all lev-
els, including the highest levels, should raise specific political
prisoner cases in meetings with PRC officials. Experience
demonstrates that consistently raising individual prisoner
cases and the larger human rights issues they represent can
result in improved treatment in detention, lighter sentences,
or, in some cases, release from custody, detention, or impris-
onment. Members of Congress are encouraged to consult the
Commission’s Political Prisoner Database for reliable informa-
tion on cases of political and religious detention in mainland
China and in Hong Kong, and to “adopt” individual prisoners
and advocate on their behalf through the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission’s “Defending Freedoms Project.”
* * *
The Commission’s mandate is to monitor the behavior
of the People’s Republic of China according to inter-
national human rights standards. It is the state that
incurs obligations under international law, and thus it is the
government that bears responsibility thereunder for the pri-
vate activities of persons or entities, including political parties.
Given the Chinese Communist Party’s nearly absolute control
of the Chinese political system, there is negligible practical
difference between Party and government when discussing the
wielding of power in China. As a matter of monitoring human
rights, the Commission must be clear in its reporting both that
the Party exercises power over the government and that the
government bears the obligation to uphold such rights.
This Annual Report seeks to reflect the Party-state dynam-
ics in China by listing the Party or the government as the
primary actor in cases where it is appropriate to do so. In order
to promote readability, this Annual Report uses the acronym
“PRC” (People’s Republic of China) as a general descriptor in
instances in which the roles of the Party and the government
are indistinguishable or both applicable.
The Commission faces a similar challenge in characteriz-
ing Xi Jinping. His power primarily derives from his position
as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and as
Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Xi Jinping
also has the title of “zhuxi,” a largely ceremonial post that car-
ries little power but one that makes him head of state. While
the U.S. Government translates this title as “President,” some
Commissioners view it as inaccurate or inappropriate to use
this title. Thus, the report uses the identifier “Chinese leader”
as shorthand for Xi Jinping’s multiple roles. This report does
not reflect any changes in leadership titles announced at the
20th National Party Congress, which occurred after this report
went to press.
Descriptions of the Party, government, and their leadership
do not reflect judgments of the Commission regarding the legit-
imacy of these entities and individuals. The Commission will
continue to evaluate characterizations of the aforementioned
leadership dynamics in future annual reports to conform to
standards of accuracy, relevance, and consistency with common
practice among the community of interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment