Shine a bright light on China

Chinese President Xi and his delegation arrive in Washington this week. Toasts will be made, statements will be exchanged, and the highly symbolic gesture of a state visit will give President Xi a much-needed boost of legitimacy at home. 

While enjoying the pageantry of high-level diplomacy, we should not forget about victims of abuse at the hands of the Chinese government like human rights lawyer Wang Yu.

{mosads}On July 10, police came to Wang Yu’s apartment and took her away.  Her arrest was the first in what became a massive crackdown on China’s courageous human rights lawyers.  Wang Yu is one of China’s brightest and bravest lawyers.  She could have chosen a more lucrative career as a corporate attorney, but chose to represent clients in “sensitive cases,” such as Uyghur Muslim professor Ilham Tohti and Falun Gong practitioners.  Police later swept up her husband and over 300 other lawyers and legal assistants in a coordinate assault on China’s champions for the poor and persecuted.  Today more than two dozen remain incarcerated and 10 face charges of committing national security crimes for their legal advocacy work.

The crackdown on human rights lawyers is lawless, brutal, and shocking.  Sadly, this is the reality in China today where thousands are jailed for trying to exercise universally-recognized freedoms.   President Xi comes to the U.S. this week at a time when his government is staging an extraordinary assault on the rule of law, human rights, and civil society. Under Xi’s leadership, the Chinese government has pushed through new laws and drafted legislation that would legitimize political, religious, and ethnic repression, further curtail civil liberties, and expand censorship of the Internet. 

China also continues its coercive population control policies. The “One Child Policy” will mark its 35th anniversary while President Xi is in Washington. That’s 35 years of telling couples what their families must look like; 35 years of forcing or coercing pregnant women to undergo abortions and sterilizations; 35 years of children viewed by the state as mere excess baggage from the day they were conceived.  This policy is unacceptable, it is hated, it is tragic, and it must end.  

Chinese dissidents say that President Xi has “overseen one of the most repressive periods in the post-Mao era.”  The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), whose Annual Report will be officially released in the next few weeks, will conclude that the Chinese government’s efforts “to silence dissent, suppress human rights advocacy, and control civil society are broader in scope than any other period documented since the Commission started issuing Annual Reports in 2002.”

China is in a race to the bottom with North Korea for the title of world’s worst violators of human rights.  President Xi repressive actions and retrograde policies have obliterated the hope that he would be a different type of Chinese leader.               

Despite the torture and arrests, despite the harassment and censorship, the severe restrictions on religious practice and press freedoms—rights advocates, civil society activists, and religious believers continue to grow in prestige and social influence in China.  Persecution has not silenced them—at least not at this moment.  It has not dimmed their hope for a different kind of “China Dream” that embraces human rights, freedom, and democracy.              

U.S. policy must be geared to protect China’s rights defenders and religious communities, nurture China’s civil society, and work with those committed to the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.                     

The U.S. cannot be morally neutral.  We cannot be silent in the face of the Chinese government’s repression.  We must show leadership and resolve because only the U.S. has the power and prestige to stand up to China’s intransigence. U.S.-China relations would be stronger and more stable if people like Wang Yu were in positions of leadership in the Chinese government—and not in its prisons.

If President Obama fails raise human rights prominently and publicly—it is a diplomatic win for Xi Jinping. If economic and security interests grab all the headlines, China’s freedom advocates will despair.  If there is no price paid for China’s repression, it is a loss for everyone who is committed to freedom and rights.

We can no longer afford to separate human rights from our other interests in China.  Human rights cannot be considered a separate track in negotiations, but should be integrated at all levels of engagement.  

Surprisingly, former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson agrees with this assessment.  Paulson is not known primarily as a passionate defender of human rights, but in his latest book “Dealing With China” he says that the U.S. must not shy away from “shining a light on human rights problems, because nothing good happens in the dark.” He says the U.S. must push for greater transparency, better adherence to universal standards, and the free flow of information —not only because they represent universal values but because they are critical parts of U.S. economic interests in China.

It is increasingly clear that there is direct link between China’s domestic human rights problems and the security and prosperity of the United States. The health of the U.S. economy and environment, the safety of our food and drug supplies, the security of our investments and personal information in cyberspace, and the stability of the Pacific region will depend on China complying with international law, allowing the free flow of news and information, complying with its WTO obligations, and protecting the basic rights of Chinese citizens, including the fundamental freedoms of religion, expression, assembly, and association.                

President Obama should “shine a light” on China’s human rights abuses.  He should make clear to President Xi that the suppression of rights defenders, ethnic minorities, and civil society will adversely affect U.S-China relations.  And, he must use all the diplomatic tools available, including, if necessary, sanctions targeting certain Chinese officials believed to be involved in gross human rights abuses, to demonstrate that human rights protections are a critical interest of the United States.  

Smith has represented New Jersey’s 4^th Congressional District since 1981.  He is a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  He has chaired 50 congressional hearings on human rights abuses in China, and is chairman of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China.