Transcripts For CSPAN Joint Hearing On 30th Anniversary Of Tiananmen Square Protests 20240714

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning and welcome to joint hearing of the executive commission on china in the Human Rights Commission hosted by the word Affairs Committee i want to think my cochair, micah review on the China Commission and the congressman chris smith on the Human Rights Commission. I would also like to think Ranking Member Michael Mccaul and all the members of the foreign Affairs Committee for hosting and participating in the support hearing. The title of todays hearing was examining the evolution of repression in china. The hearing will review the events in china in 1989 in the aspirations of the generation and the ongoing censorship and lack of accountability with those victims of the nazca. For first panel we are proud to welcome the speaker of the house representatives nancy pelosi. In 1989 just two weeks after the square massacre in her second term of Congress Introduced legislation to protect Chinese Students and nationals who feared being deported back to china. The Chinese Student protection act ultimately granted legal permanent resident status for approximately 53000 china nationals hosting our economy and the wonderful diversity of our country. Two beneficiaries of this legislation they were a researcher in genetics lab, lee was student in accounting in the computer as a Police Officer in salt lake city. We are proud that their daughter served our country, China Commission staff. The legislation that welcomes sophie and her family into our country is the best of what america has to offer. Want to think speaker policy on that. In 1981 attend must wear the glare of security cameras in the spotlight of Chinese Police nancy pelosi unfolded a banner that read to those who died to democracy in china. To this day the act of compassion is mounted by chinese and some of them who heard about it when they were in prison. Back in congress she was organizing, she founded and chaired the bipartisan Congressional Working Group on china with congressman frank wolf. She spared the effort of chinas most favorite effort of trade status on progress in releasing prodemocracy demonstrators. Just the 1990s, nancy pelosi took on both republican and democratic president s. With trade relations for china was considered a losey led the opposition stating they should only be granted after not before the Chinese Government implemented its commitments. Throughout her 30 years to the people china she fought for the release of countless number of political people. Any Chinese Government official who meets with her especially chinese president s can expect to receive a letter with prisoners that should be released. Her response or legislation the word of goldmedal she represented the u. S. The peace prize ceremony she led the way to provide assistance with refugees and pushback against World Bank Projects the harm the environment and people china. I am proud to join the pelosi delegations to hong kong, india, told a quebec. We are proud to have her to hear today for her expertise on the tenement square massacre and the role of congress. I welcome you out of speaker and the floor is yours. Thank you, mr. Chair, this is a committee, commission so many things, thank you for your leadership after in the Human Rights Commission as well as the role of the China Commission. Thank you cochairman rubio for extruded leadership as well and smith who worked with for decades on this issue. Thank you, mr. Chairman for leadership on the foreign Affairs Committee and to all you thank you for being here this morning and makes up the remarks and generous introduction you gave me on behalf of the colleagues, anything you said i did in a bipartisan way. Including the banner on tenement square and a bipartisan where in all the legislation to protect the Chinese Student of issues of trade in human rights in china in a bipartisan way. Also along the way. I want to acknowledge while we were in tijuan Tiananmen Squares actually in tenement square at the time of the massacre, thank you for the beautiful testimony in the photos that you have of that occasion which was an assault on humanity in my view. I think youll are focusing on the special anniversary. When we had our first very hearing and now 30 years later were so courageous in all these years and thank you for being here. Again as a Founding Member of the ecc commission and speaker of the house and americans im honored to speak of examining the evolution of depression in china. Today we remember the massacre that the Chinese Government committed against its own people 30 years ago. We remember the students, workers and citizens to peacefully define an oppressive regime to demand the liberty of human rights that they deserve. We all remember the race the goddess of democracy and an image of statue of liberty and how they quoted our founders and how the troops crossed the protest but could not distinguish the claim of freedom growing in the heart. Thirty years later the enduring images of the 20th century remain feared into our conscious and alone man standing in the street praying into a grinding halt. Most students in universities have no idea of the image when they are asked what they think it stands for they say its an ad for something, is an ad for soda or Something Like that, the chinese have suppressed what happened at the ottoma tiananm square. They are not unknown to the people in china. Over the years the mothers, god bless him. Who lost loved ones in the massacre and the chinese leaders this is what the mom said, this agreed entry during the 1950s and 60s there were tens of millions starved to death, the former chinese president the people were eating people and it will be written in the book. We must remember because china still tries to deny history as a writer wrote lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood. I remember vividly the terrorism debate verizon error with some two weeks after the massacre and a bipartisan way we introduced the act to help Chinese Students facing persecution stay in america followed by the Chinese Student protection act again in a bipartisan way. This is important because they were pulling the demonstrations in the United States so they would be able to punish the students who participated not in china but here in the United States reaching their hand into deterring freedom. Two days after the massacre as you indicated to attend republicans stood in Tiananmen Square of what was interesting about that you might want to know why we were the people saw what looked like tourists when we took out the banner they had walkietalkies and they were calling police so they came out of the building and we could see the troops coming. She took off and they did manage to solve some of our members come to take thwhotake the films and arrest but nonetheless, the statement was made. Every year since, weve argued in a bipartisan way america and the world cannot afford to promote a bankrupt policy towards china. Sadly 30 years after, we see china has changed but its record of oppression has not from the abuse and repression at the hands of the Chinese Government to the plight of people in hong kong with the chinese controlled council pushing an extradition bill that makes mockery of the one country two systems budget with 85,000 citizens at risk to the decades long abuse by those whose religion, culture and language and on the mainland were journalists, human rights lawyers and activists, christians denied that he, justice into their rights. If we do not speak out for human rights in china because of economic concerns, we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights in any other place in the world. Human rights and trade are linked and that is why 1993 we worked together for any extension to improve human rights Chinese Government. In 1995 he urged her colleagues in congress for the products made by the Peoples Liberation army, the perpetrators of the massacre in jim demint square. 1999 we want the government signed agreements on the trade proliferation and human rights but havent honored them and in 2000 we worked together for efforts to get china a plank check by failing to comply with its market commitments on the world trade organization. As i said the Bilateral Agreement is insufficient into this issue is too important for the economy based on the patterns of broken promises not proven performance. They must recognize the greatest tribute they can make to use our influence to advance the democratic aspirations of the generation. Mr. Chairman, so many chairman, they say if you were in prison, one of the most excruciating forms of punishment upon you is to say nobody remembers you, or why you are here or that you are here in prison and we want to be sure that those prisoners now and we do believe the message gets to them that they are not forgotten and that in the congress of the United States important leaders such as all of you gathered here are saying their names, giving letters to the authorities in china recognizing their sacrifice which is a sacrifice not just for them personally but for the democracies throughout the world. 212 congress made clear the trade and human rights are firmly linked passion for the rule of law accountability act. In 2017 we build on that by making the act global. Thank you mr. Chairman forgot and all of you that participated. Last year we passed a bipartisan reciprocity act also led by chairman mcgovern to hold china accountable for the tibetan people. As we work on trade agreements today we continue that any policy be tied to human rights america must demonstrate the courage used to not only guarantee fair trade for our products in Chinese Markets but also to advance human rights in china. Let me repeat we cannot allow economic interest with china to point us to the mortal injustices committed and on the house floor 20 years ago during the debate what does it profit a country that gains a whol the we world and suffers the loss of soul just over ten years ago, the worlds great champion of human rights is death was an affront to the very identity of human dignity, the very idea of human dignity. In that text he asked where is china had in the 21st century to continue its modernization under authoritarian rule or will it increase universal human rights china mainstream civilized nations and built a democratic system. Mr. Smith and i and others were honored to represent when they received the Nobel Peace Prize in norway and of course they wouldnt let him out of the country prize was given to an empty chair that we were honored to be part of the delegation to show our support and our conce concern. As we examine the evolution of oppression today let us continue to work to achieving her dream and the dream of the protesters and the future of freedom for all. Thank you all for the opportunity to testify today. Thank you each and every one of you for your leadership, commitment to human rights and advancing a freedom and of course that includes tibet, hong kong, beijing and so much is taking place i think we are going in the opposite direction its important for the world to know 30 years later we havent forgotten what happened then and we know what is happening now and it will have an impact in our relationship with china. Thank you all for your leadership and opportunity to share some thoughts with you today. Thank you madam speaker. [applause] i want to point out as we are speaking now someone just gave me a picture of a candlelight vigil in hong kong where tens of thousands of people are doing a candlelight vigil in honor of those who lost their lives in Tiananmen Square and other uprisings all around china so this is happening as we speak. Thank you and i know you have a very busy schedule so i will yield to senator rubio. Thank you for being here on this important day i into the chairman for convening this important hearing. Let me thank you for showing the picture of whats happening in hong kong because thats the only place in china where people are able to speak out. Its a beautiful site to behold and i commend the courage of the people there speaking out in light of their actions in hong kong these days you get thank you again mr. Chairman. I will yield to the cochair senator rubio. I do want to begin by welcoming the witnesses and i look forward to your testimony and firsthand recollection of this watershed event of 1989 and policy recommendations that we should consider. Todays anniversary will remind us the fundamental yearnings into dignity and basic human rights is not limited to any one region or one country or one culture. They have transcended geography and culture through history of man. Today we honor the lives that were altered by the events of that toda day those who perished were imprisoned, those who lost mothers, fathers, sons and daughters into those whose loved ones went missing or unaccounted for. Attendance square is interviewed exclusively through the lens of history that we mus but we mustn with the ongoing systematic human rights abuses created by the Chinese Communist party and the Chinese Government against its own people and we must reckon with emerging into the new geopolitical competition between tyranny and liberty, democracy and the totalitarianism. To reflect briefly on the events that led up to that day in the spring of 1,989,000 students gathered at the center of beijing to mourn the death of a prominent within the communist parties who wanted to move china towards an open and Democratic Political system and in the days that followed, thousands have gathered to call for greater freedoms and political reforms and to protest the policies and the numbers grew in the past but only in beijing but also 400 cities and universities across the nation so more than 1 million people, that included journalists, government employees, police joined the students and eecho wit echoed r demands and late in the evening the third of june and into the fourth, the Peoples Liberation army acting on the orders of the communist party responded with brute force and lethal violence opening fire on peaceful demonstrators. To this day the precise number of the resulting casualties is unknown. There have been no count stuff d that weekend no justice for the victims. Rather those that seek to commemorate the event or seek information about those old are harassed, detained and arrested. Perhaps the most iconic Image Associated with the tiananmen massacre is tank man, the small solitary figure in an advancing line of tanks. It remains an enigma. We know his fate some bjp was in prison, others that he was executed and some still hope hes alive today. We dont know but while the names of many are now lost to history and to the Chinese Government the protesters in the face of certain danger it reminds us the principles of freedom, democracy and selfrule are not just an american principle that human principles neither tank treads were fortunate with terrorism and the race but even by the communist party of china. Principles like they still remain the hope and desperation in that noble nation. The nations of the free world should demand that they allow open discussion on the events of that day and the enforced amnesia of the massacre in china online that confucius institutes in the United States t that operate on our College Campuses and globally as well. Released those pretending to commemorate anniversary and reckon publicly with the violence experienced by the Chinese People at the hands of the party and the military. We must continue to use opportunities like this and i thank you for calling the hearing because we must continue to speak about the truth, the story of the Tiananmen Square massacre. This point is important because it revealed to the world of the nature of the communist party in china. For decades the administrations trade to pursue constructive engagement. The Bipartisan Commission assumed trade investment and other engagements that eventually persuaded beijing to accept liberty and human rights and that optimism was misplaced. Today we see an increasingly aggressive government that is more repressive domestic policy, in the trade and Economic Policy and increasingly dismissive of all International Norms and mark asserted in exporting their authoritarian model globally. While Chinese Government look much different today than 30 years ago the goal remains the same to preserve the communist party of the domestic political progress with statesponsored indoctrination with mass surveillance and arbitrary detention, torture, violence the communist party today in china is using technology to stay in power whether in the emerging social Credit System or a digital surveillance state and company to transform the religious and ethnic identity of those other minorities. Datadriven surveillance facilitated by body scanners and voice analyzers, dna sequences and facial recognition cameras on neighborhoods commodes can train stations technology by the way they exported to other countries sounds like a Science Fiction but its happening. In the hightech social control theres a direct line linking what they call political reeducation camps. Just over the weekend, twitter a Global Company that isnt even allowed to operate in china suspended the accounts of more than 100 chinese language users critical of the government coincidentally just ahead of its anniversary. We must also keep American Companies accountable for their potential complicity in the Chinese Government censorship. I hope the time has come for the u. S. To leave again and on for the Chinese People. We must stand up for the oppressed, the imprisoned christian pastor, the dissolution democracy activists and others living under the repressive policies of the Chinese Government. To do anything also honors the spirit of tiananmen and tarnishes the memory of those lost in the places us on the wrong side of history. Thank you for your statement. 30 years ago this week an estimated 1 million chinese workers, students joined a peaceful protest in Tiananmen Square in the 400 cities throughout china. People were calling for open dialogue with government officials about corruption in the exploration of economic and political reform and protection of human rights. We remember with sadness and outrage the crackdown that followed as the Peoples Liberation army was unleashed on its own people. Some of in the roo room were the on that day 30 years ago. We know you took great risks and lost friends and we know you sacrificed so much in the years since to advance democracy and support of the people of china and we want to thank you for all of your leadership and ethnicity. One of the most inspiring images and history is that man standing in thin the street for the linef tanks on Tiananmen Square. We may never know the name but the active resistance symbolizes the spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of those continuing to struggle. The mothers as a group of relatives and friends of those of june 1889 and risk to themselves they continue to ask for the right to mourn publicly and call for a full accounting for all the victims. The 82yearold founder of the group lost her son that day. Chinese authorities try to intimidate and silence her. Official surveillance never answered her as she spotted by officers every single day. The human rights situation has worsened. It was a key turning point as the country moved from the brink of openness and reform to the new and evolving methods of oppression. Some have described a slowmotion tiananmen happening with the ongoing surveillance of the muslims. A better path forward was offered by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a student leader who coauthored. Published december 10, 2008 the 60th anniversary of the declaration of human rights called for Constitutional Government and respect for human rights. Despite efforts to censor it was eventually signed by more than 10,000 people. Sadly with a total of 16 years in prison and died in the state custody in 2017. Today the Tiananmen Square massacre is a waste from erased from history books and any mention of censored but we know the spirit alive and well. We know because chinas leaders demonstrate their fear of it at a single day with their security cameras, censorship, Detention Centers and obsession with preventing the people of china from learning the truth. We know the spirit is alive and well in hong kong where hundreds of thousands of people as i mentioned earlier have come together at a Victoria Park to hold a candlelight vigil for the victims of the massacre. His famous last statement i have no enemies, and i quote, no force can block the thirst for freedom that lies with the human nature and someday china will be a nation of laws where human rights are paramount. I look forward to that today and this afternoon after the hearing the United States house of representatives will consider a resolution to remember the victims of violent suppression of the democracy protests in Tiananmen Square and throughout china. It calls on the Chinese Government to respect the rights of living in china and around the world and i urge my colleagues in the house to support the resolution and i now yield to the distinguished chair of the committee, eliot engel. Thank you mr. Chairman, senator rubio, thank you and welcome to the house foreign Affairs Committee. Its good to see so many people here. The place is packed. Obviously this is a very important anniversary. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Chinese Governments violent crackdown against peaceful prodemocracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. I rendered well it was my first year in congress. On that dark day the Peoples Liberation army openly fired upon protesters many of whom were students at it we dont know how many lost lives that day but we do know that the tragedy derailed the hope of the economic reform in the 1980s that would be accomplished by political openness. The events were a watershed moment for china, for the students of activists had hoped for a Brighter Future for their country and frankly for the rest of the world. It made clear the party intended to hang onto power at any cost. Violently if necessary. In the 30 years that followed, chinese authorities tried erased from history the demonstration with subsequent bloodshed. You wont find any record of these events on the chinese internet or pages of the textbooks and when the party is pushed for answers about the carnage, officials justified the actions as a necessary cost of maintaining stability and delivering economic growth. Weve heard this refrain that the dialogue and a network just a few days ago. The Chinese Communist party has become even more authoritarian. A trend that has accelerated further under the president s rule. The Civil Society leaders and other champions of human rights and religious freedom for ethnic minority rights have been brutally oppressed. Within a million liters to get to have been detained in reeducation camps which the assistant secretary has called the concentration camps and efforts by the Chinese Government to erase the culture. They live under intense pressure and surveillance and the Chinese Communist Party Continues to violate International Religious freedom by insisting that the party has a role in the dalai lamas successor. Its also under siege in hong kong which is traditionally maintained under the promise of one country two systems. China started using immigration policy and its quirks as a weapon against western targets increasing the use of exit bans and i its one of coercion it wg politically motivated charges against people to achieve diplomatic ends. More and more of the Chinese Communist party exports its values by spreading the technologies were trying to silence international criticisms of it actions were reshaping the International Institutions to better reflect the views on issues like taiwan, but thats not all. We also see the attempts to rewrite history in other areas such as unfounded illegal territorial claims in the South China Sea and the narrative of the chinese occupation of tibet. We cannot stand silent in the face of this oppression and abuse of so many peoples basic rights and dignity. We must relentlessly put a spot on the violation both of those in the past and today and hold the perpetrators accountable. Todays hearing is a crucial reminder that china is not a unitary state or actor. Our concern should focus on the Chinese Government and Chinese Communist party, not the Chinese People or chinese civilization. That is why we condemn the cruel actions june 41989 and urge the communist party to make a full and public counting of those killed or missing and urge the government to respect human rights and freedoms to at least offer to overturn the counterproductive policies on terrorism prosecution cyberpolicys. We are also reminded today there are Chinese Women and men to continue to speak out against the Chinese Governments oppressive policies and urge for reform that the human rights. These men and women know full well they are putting their lives on the line by speaking out this way, but they do so anyway because they refuse to give up on the addition of a greater future for themselves and for their country. In conclusion, we celebrate them and share a common cause with those who advocated for and continue to advocate for freedom and more just society. We hope the courage and persistence is not in pain. Thank you and i yield back. Stanek undulated to yield overtired champion of human rights mr. Smith. Thank you mr. Chairman and senator rubio for calling this hearing. A joint hearing of the commission on china which i serve as the Ranking Member in the Human Rights Commission which i serve as cochair with our very eloquent witness Speaker Pelosi and i think her for her leadership and those who will be testifying underscores the importance that we attach remembering the infamous massacre in the days when the best of the bravest and the brightest were brutally suppressed by dictatorship. 30 years ago the world watched as over a million chinese gathered to pc demand political reform and fundamental human rights. The hopes and promises brutally ended with violence, tears, bloodshed and detention in exile but over the past 30 years, those tears have led to a renewed hope and dream that someday china will be free and human rights would be respected. Others lost daughters and they lost a generation on june 4 as the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square and we also remember the massacre in congress each year because of its impact on the u. S. China relations. How do you deal with a country and treat with respect they dictatorship that so brutally disrespects its own people and again treats them with torture and other hideous and barbaric behavior we remember it because an unknown number of people died, were arrested and exiled simply seeking human rights. We remember this each year because it is too important to forget into dangerous in china to commemorate it. The legacy was further steer into my memory when after i along with frank wolf visited beijing prison number one back in 1991. I will never forget the faces of those prisoners and their word about 4there wasabout 40 of then camp their heads shaved and tattered clothes bent over machines working long hours on clothing for the United States and other markets. I will never forget tha the dayt inspired my efforts along with many others including frank wolf and Speaker Pelosi to fight against the fantasy that trade and investment with somehow lead to political liberalization and human rights. Dictatorships do not matriculate to the democracies because they give them more money. As a matter of fact i believe it makes them worse. As documented so well by the reports that screws tightened up considerably since assuming the presidency. The scope of faith of caution is more arbitrary detention, censorship, torture and social control and senator rubio pointed out a moment ago but we never see the surveillance and police state joined as one. The top leaders unleash attacks on universal values, western ideals and revisionism and further push through new laws that legitimize political religious and ethnic oppression further curtailing Civil Liberties and Civil Societies and stand censorship on the internet. The labor organizers were tortured and jailed. Hong kong booksellers in the chinese activists disappeared even from safe havens like thailand. Journalists and leaders are arbitrarily detained. We have a new thing under the president , the whole idea that every single religious body from the fault of christians to tibetan buddhists are with the master plan of socialism. In kennedy and brutality are the ties that bind the massacre into the other turkish muslims with can only be described as concentration camps. The u. S. Cannot be neutral when human rights are trampled with impunity or crimes against humanity are being committed as we speak. If you stand with tank man or the tank, there is no middle ground and that is why theyve pressed the administration both past and present to hold accountable those officials and businesses complicit in the most egregious Human Rights Violations. Strong rhetoric and the kinds and humanity incurring are not enough at this point. Those who abuse universal freedoms with impunity should not prosper from access to the u. S. And other economics for other countries or political freedoms. Its the least the u. S. Can do to show leadership in a world where chinese cash increasingly by his silence. It can no longer participate human rights from other interests. We know that in the past theyve done that. We thought it would be the end of the most favored nation status and i joined Speaker Pelosi and others in a bipartisan effort to say msn ought to be linked with human rights. The president linked them but then in 1994 deal in them and that led to i think an appraisal of the United States profits trump human rights. Human rights matter in school of law. While the hopes demonstrated a not yet realized demand for universal freedom it continues to inspire the Chinese People today. I believe someday china will be free. Someday the people of china will enjoy all of their godgiven rights and in the nation of three chinese men and women will honor and separatoffense of thef Tiananmen Square and all those who sacrificed so much for so long for freedom. I know theres a lot of other people who want to speak and i want to urge them to work their remarks and to their questions. We want to get to the panelists. But they say at the outset here we have nothing but the highest regard for the people of china. We admire the culture and history and traditions of china. We are here today because we are outraged by the human rights abuses continue to occur and we believe that for our friendship to grow we need to see some change. Im pleased to welcome a panel of witnesses that will examine the massacre and shape of the he demands of democracy have persisted in spite of that and also offered forwardlooking recommendations on how the policy can support the rule of law in china. That includes a leader in the protests in one of the most wanted student leaders the chairman of the Taiwan Association for democracy advancement in china and a national vocal critic of the human rights abuses. He traveled all the way from taiwan to join us this morning and we are grateful you are here. We are also proud or happy to welcome in 19 89 p. M. In student leader and cofounder of humanitarian china. He set up the First Student Broadcast Center in Tiananmen Square and it has become an Operations Center for the protesters. He was also one of the most wanted student leaders. The Communications Director of human rights in china into the lead of the unforgotten project a series of profiles tha but tod the stories of the victims and their families including the tiananmen mothers group. The professor of law at the university and expert in chinese law and governance and author of an event year after revival is undermining its rights. Professor also serves as the Senior Council and Commission Staff and we are thrilled to welcome him back to congress. Finally, did i present it properly, of the International Forum for democratic studies at the National Endowment for democracy. A leading voice in washington on the internet and authoritarian regime and offered several reports of the Chinese Government and communist Party Censorship influence operations and development of sharp power i want to thank you all for being here and we look forward to the testimony and recommendations. We will begin with you. Thank you mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen of the committee, senators and members of congress and you the freedom loving people of the United States of america. I see some old faces here. Its good to see you here. Its a great honor to return to what it called the chapel of democracy on capitol hill with the commission of china and Human Rights Commission. May he rest in peace three decades ago after the torch of democracy for spli the split inn square was brutally extinguished and i begin my life of exile. Here to remind us of the struggle for democracy in china isnt over. Its how he introduced me at that hearing. Those words still ring true perhaps more now than ever before. I said then that the Chinese Communist party couldnt be trusted and was a threat to freedom and democracy around the world. It gives me no pleasure to say now that i told you so. I was a lover of democracy at the Human Rights Foundation here and through many people have asked me since it is true that when we lead the Democracy Movement in beijing. We know what its like not to have the democracy and freedom. It is the most precious of gifts, and we must never take it for granted. That is why i have a return to warn you once again that the democracy is under attack. As the standard bearer and a defender of democracy, it is your solemn duty to protect it and also because we were betrayed. 30 years ago we took the street if they shamed and earned the sympathy and respect for attempting to plant the seeds of freedom and democracy in Tiananmen Square in china and we asked them to fulfill their promises to the people because in those heydays everything seemed impossible. Democracy was flowering in poland and the new thinking was creating excitement in the soviet union. In china it was the beginning of opening up and reform and people were waiting for it to expand into the political domain as we were promised. We not only had the support of the people, but the support from all over the world particularly in the democratic countries. Clearly we were fighting for the same as you fought for and have lived by. It felt like history is on our side and the victory with you as soon. But history records this post and the path for china at that time on june 41989 they sent in tanks and troops to massacre the people that claimed to represent. In order to save its own scheme. They raise the issue of the human rights issues are human rights abuses and covers up the pressure back home from the distinguished members of the parliament of the media. But really they waited for an answer or principles to be more important than money. The it became inconvenient for the leaders of the world its not pretty predecessor but if you ignore the lessons of the past and continue to look the other way this looks suspiciously like a policy of appeasement. It started in the early 1970s with doctor Henry Kissinger insisting it was in the National Interest for the United States certainly there was the foundation for being accommodating to the regime. But when they massacred its own peaceful protesting people would this policy be altered . Soon after the soviet union collapsed the cold war had end ended. There was the favored access to the Chinese Market for the American Companies. There is something fundamentally wrong with this picture. I had 30 years to absorb the idea of democracy. It isnt perfect but always aimed for profession for the choices and changes in opportunity for the democracy itself that was betrayed by you but i know that you will appreciate this argument and in fact based on my strong faith in the righteousness of american democracy, i still mourn the as the survivor i feel the guilt and pain that belonged to the captain who didnt go down with his ship. Though it is a great thing we try to do, i sometimes wonder if i would do it over again. The cost was too great measuring the blood spilled by my fellow countrymen. We made the ultimate sacrifice and inspired a world and winning one of the most challenging battles get we are still waiting for that victory to come. I dont want to return to this in the future and say i told you so once again reminded of the lesson the lesson of the past with our shared conviction and the power of democracy, i hope we can at last write a conclusion to the story that starts 30 years ago was the Tiananmen Square protest. China does have democracy also. I would like to echo a statement you either stand with the tank man or stand with the tank. I want to believe th that World Leaders including those here today. They are wise enough not to repeat the mistake of yesterday but trust you have the courage to face up to china before it is too strong and too late and this will make our sacrifice worthwhile. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you for inviting me to speak today. 30 years ago i was among the last to leave Tiananmen Square and we were driven by tanks and machine guns. The tank was within 10 feet of me. Looking back it was like a war zone. Five years ago after testifying here at this exact committee, i went back, i was arrested and sent back. Even the police who arrested me to hold me it was most hopeful a peaceful period in chinas history. 30 years ago, i saw 40 bodies of Young Students just like me lying on the ground of a shed outside of the hospital. Among them are not remember his name and speak for him. As long as i live. At this very moment my heart is with the suffering families and with the citizens of beijing who risk everything to defend us against the tanks and marching troops under the storm of bullets. They saved us. My thoughts and prayers are with these people do fo who for the 0 years never stopped fighting for justice and at this moment im thinking of a pastor. We were praying together five years ago and i still remember his place. He is now in prison and so is his wife. We must demand his release immediately. For the last 30 years people have fought to the last breath of life. 30 years ago a visiting scholar at Columbia University before he flew back to china to lay down his life for this country and he died in prison. He was the second to die in prison while being a nobel peace laureate. The first one was in nazi germany. We must remember him. The Chinese Government wants the world to forgive him. Not even his ashes were able to be found today. When he made a sculptor and the proposal that it took the university where he stayed 30 years ago, they rejected. I asked the committee to offer a place here. This would surely demonstrate the commitment and would warm the hearts of the tiananmen generation. On the policy front, i ask this committee to work on the act. It could be a powerful tool against the Human Rights Violations among the least who made it to the state Department One name stands out. After the massacre of his family was rewarded with illgotten wealth for the blood on their hands and from answering and freezing their assets in the United States will be a small ensure step towards justice against those who are responsible for the massacre. It was a great mistake for the United States to allow china to enter the wto with the firewall. With the firewall in place it must be the move. China must open its internet before any trade talks. For all these years we tried really hard to reach to the students here on the campus i always received strong and positive response from them as soon as i had opportunities to talk to them but we are pretty much banned from psychologist in the United States simply because the strong presence of organized umbrella groups which report to the chinese consulate embassy. We must pass have a law to do s directly against the organized activities. For 30 years, the policy has produced a monster. I am delighted to say that the United States is awakening and we must confront this. Im glad im here with friends today in this fight and we will win. Thank you. [applause] chairman mc govern, rubin, smith and members of staff, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this important and timely hearing. On the 30th anniversary of the june 4 massacrjune 4 massacre od civilians and ten square and many different locations in beijing we are honored to be among the biggest English Channel i into table to give voe to the extraordinary efforts of state and in another scummy group of Family Members of victims as well as survivors. For three decades they fought against state to engage in systematic efforts to gather evidence for an inevitable accounting and healing. It harassment, surveillance and threats of retaliation they have collectively identified and documented 202 individuals killed and through exhaustive interviews with the families and eyewitnesses where possible, theres a large body of facts of the crimes against victims. Since 1999, theyve worked to support the tiananmen mothers demand for justice by disseminating the annual open letters and animation they have accumulated to the International Community this year for the june 4 in addition to publishing the essay is which i attached to the testimony and request permission to be entered into the record. We have focused on the contribution on the unforgotten projects. The project draws on the extensive documentation compiled by the tiananmen mothers including interviews, essays, videos and photographs to tell the individual stories of some of the business. About how they live look and hoy died and how their deaths have affected the families. The project seeks to highlight the enormous human cost that resulted from Chinese Government brutality and the groups refusal to accept a tragic episode not only for the Chinese People but also all of humanity. This accomplished this by their support and tenacity in the pursuit of justice for their loved ones. The group began with a 17yearold High School Student who was shot dead on the evening of june 3. Several months later a note was left at the grave by a third woman who lost her husband in the massacre. Identifying that it hasnt been easy. There were times when the families of victims refuse to be found perhaps out of a sense of shame. While some families live in beijing, many others are far from the capital and summoned the hinterlands where the roads dont reach. Some parents could end read or write scratching out a living from farming. From a poor family was almost always promising among the children the only child of the family sent to the university in beijing. It the prospect of the better Economic Future for the family. It is from the material of the victims were killed. They were told by the troops firing indiscriminately into crowds. They were shot in the back by the crowds that chased them into alleys and they were stabbed with bayonets after being shot and crushed by tanks waiting to cross the street. Sorry, crushed by tanks coming from behind them after they had left the Tiananmen Square. They were run over by military trucks while standing on the roadside waiting to cross the street. While many died instantly, others who made it to the hospital still breathing were met by doctors ordered to treat soldiers only. Family members who went to hospitals to claim the bodies of their loved ones were told to hurry before the troops came to remove evidence. And bodies were hidden by soldiers in a shallow grave in the front lawn of a high school. To see the stories of the victims families make me feel so bad because i imagine in the outside world marking the anniversary of june 4th but how is that the Chinese Government has been able to get away with murder now without that complicity to many foreign governments for what is unacceptable in a civilized world. For entry into the labor markets. With the increased integration into the International Community to play by international rules. And the opposite is true. And to embolden the chinese leaders to perpetuate the crackdown model by those voices the government does not want to hear. But against the stark reality the courage given by the mothers acts as a Guiding Force to the International Community for all of us for the authoritarian regime. On this anniversary we are encouraged on House Resolution 393 and by the solidarity that the Us Government will not allow forest amnesia to silence the truth and to stand with the tiananmen mothers for truth and accountability and compensation that a member that the tiananmen mother said to us a few days ago to note the highlights that we should not overlook that more than 100 people are being forced and you can see from this how the government is afraid of the power of society to lift the lid on the case of the juneh massacre. The International Community has an Important Role to play to support the actors under assault for what you can do section which we will translate to those trapped inside the prison in authoritarian china every single message from the outside to the individual members about individual victims are a source of strength. I try to end with this note to deliver the news to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and later told the press to say this Nobel Peace Prize belonged to all the lost souls of june 4th. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] thank you so much chairman and members of congress thank you for organizing this hearing. In the late seventies and eighties chinese leader steered china out of this isolation and chaos into the reform era. Economically china opened up with this new the pragmatic policy official to give latitude to have those practices from abroad. Religion came back and then politically china stabilize. In the eighties saw a leader support in the emergence of partial institutionalized political norms to address what they have experienced including collective leadership. And with those internal norms with a succession. And the Party Authorities over to technocrats within the bureaucracy to give citizens a voice and then came 1989. And then to reshape the political system or revert to party control. They chose the latter and so too within the party radiological control and the principle that one party rule should never be called into question with the internal political study sessions. So in the 19 nineties and early 2000s economic change was a host of commercial media that they struggled to control it with their own bureaucracy continue to experiment with limited reform with Administrative Law reform and abuse of power within the Government Back in the early 2000s imagining a world even if real democratic reform was on the table such innovations could allow that a hard edge and that did not happen. As each of those were instituted first they would criticize then make deeper political claims and at each point with the legal reforms or flourishing online Party Leaders saw shades of 1989 to pull the rug out from under their own reforms. What i thought the control had slipped. And then in subsequent years and with the oped from yesterday saving china from the state of the soviet union but in reality it was a desire to reassert control. Undermining and destroying the potential introduced in the early reform era. Since the early 2000 with industrial policy and designated National Champions which is a massive increase with the private sector ideological those that opened up in those reform eras media or law or Civil Society controls are ramped up and your coney and new control particularly those used as foreign with 10 percent of that population has been since 2017 into political reeducation camps with their religious identity. Politically those reform era norms that they adopted had been broken one by one and with that assessment of power in 2012 has been re concentrated in the hands of a single leader it is singing back to authoritarian rule for decades to come. Technocrats are sidelined in the space that once existed with an honest discussion over the very real challenges such as how to address mounting debt to be choked off at the fear of falling off on the wrong side of a rapidly changing with silence and inertia. Chinese leaders themselves watch that reform era but today you can see many of those practices to go back to the surface again. And then yet another tragedy not only that untold number on the days to follow and on the political system to evolve into Something Better that continues to reverberate today dragging the country backward to increase the risk of a more tragic. Thank you very much. I would like to thank the congressional executive in china and human rights in china for the opportunity and privilege to provide testimony today alongside such distinguished colleagues. Grabbing with the events of tiananmen the hope and legacy 30 years later that is an unsettling disconnect even if they feel more collected there is a remembrance of june 4th as stories grew more hushed that gap immersion not only inside china that only from chinese history that is no accident and through censorship and selfcensorship tiananmen along with a broad swath of topics being sensitive has disappeared the Chinese Communist party with pernicious effects on Current Events selfexpression even with the entire historical record. Windows to mold the broader ecosystem around the world to solidify to reshape the global order. While it does not always function flawlessly, this complex machinery is likely to have those authoritarian norms to undercut democratic ones on a global basis it has always try to harness it but over the years gradually becoming synonymous with the thinking of how Information Technology would empower social development this indicates party state rather than fearing information there is an implication of not mastering it. It has proved crucial chinas modern surveillance state with the Public Security intelligence so with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence it has been joined with the corresponding augmentation. Even when they projected capabilities that might not exist yet this represents the development of social control to become seamlessly integrated it will become increasingly advance of all that open to abuse the democratic rights and standards are asked and debated by policymakers and scholars and activists. Chinas authoritarian system restricts what type of questions are allowed to be asked about technology and who gets to ask or decide. The technologies designed to dictate the rhythms of every day life to imperceptibly manipulate and shape individual behaviors in a targeted way by millions of data points with unspecified specificity to prevent those with affected to give them to the ecosystem. This is not a faroff future but a phenomenon in realtime including those that our widespread within china and around the world for instance an indispensable chinese system providing the luer and convenience of an Integration Services and amenities after backed by surveillance apparatus increasingly being used all over the religious imperative they are examined not only through the lens of consumer benefits but to the prism of implications of governance. At a level of ideas and norms to undermine the liberal order into the existing global framework of institutions and policy models and standards of Information Technology according to 2017 International Strategy for cooperation of cyberspace the Chinese Government fully respects Citizens Rights and fundamental freedoms of cyberspace to safeguard the right to be informed and participate to supervise while protecting individual privacy in cyberspace. To be clear there is no private well realm is longstanding practice was manifested itself in numerous areas especially with human rights and development pointing out the ability to shape and repurpose longstanding norms of the fundamental of the conception of power underpinning governance data ai social Credit Systems and the invisible standard for the next generation technological infrastructure. It should be clear the Chinese Party states action is not limited to china exporting hardware and knowhow to other states beijings actions have serious implications for all democrat actors with those norms and institutions on which they rest. Any response from the framework and cooperation between democracy will have a key role to play the leadership is critical to the health of the public sphere publishers Technology Executives University Administrators must reinvigorate their commitment to democratic standards and Free Expression to what is necessary the understanding of these matters to galvanize society to address vulnerabilities and to reclaim their own discourse of power. I look forward to taking your questions soon i thank you all for your excellent testimonies i now yield for comments and questions. I will be brief but in january it was reported the Online Service linkedin blocked your profile in china that later restored due to negative publicity can you tell us what happened earlier this year i received an email telling me i was censored due to their policy. So i asked the questions and i asked them what happened. So quickly they change their policy. I dont really know what happened when i asked there was no answer they blame technical error. But to me i believe most likely because of my posting about my activities of the president and the humanitarian issues in china as it relates to human rights and it was inconvenient on the Chinese Market and thats why i was censored. So my question is linkedin is a biographical site did you use that to speak out politically or do you use other platforms or do they censor that because of who you are quick. Yes. I realized that i could reach my chinese friends through linked in and that is why i post for me thats my job. That is my profession now as a fulltime human rights activist to talk about what they do. Did they ever tell you what the exact policy was they found you in violation quick. No specifics. You have a leader in with your background Initiative One of the largest protest in chinese history so with a such a prominent position could they do that now quick. Thank you senator. I found in 1989 from the first time i started to give speeches, those 50 days that i experience in china and then to be discriminated in Tiananmen Square. That i was brought up in china and that discrimination is constant but only while we fight for a greater goal of democracy in 1989 that is discrimination when Tiananmen Square vanished. Now today let alone becoming a prominent political leader who has influence in china nowadays other than the communist party nobody can do that in any aspect even in china without becoming influential in china and that situation is much, much worse for those people you dont need to have that to be persecuted. I often say i am a dissident. By history put me in this position but i gladly accepted this to be a chinese dissident so therefore i understand the ramifications and there are some consequences. But for those who did not do anything, who did not challenge the government, but simply because they are being prosecuted, that is one of the most heartbreaking truths i have to live with today including especially my aging and ailing parents. They are not getting younger or healthier. And they are among those leaders from back in tiananmen i think i am the only one person who has not been able to see my parents in 30 years because the Chinese Government denied them from traveling abroad. I just appreciate this opportunity to leverage a little bit how we need to see and treat the regime they are barbaric in this action to deny my parents rights to travel abroad is primitive. These are the words that i can use because these are the words we were taught to growing up that if somebody were totally innocent because of a relative or a Family Member was a criminal that is considered barbaric so thats the only word i can use today to think about this regime. Thank you mister chairman into my colleagues its an honor with so much experience in this area and to the witnesses you educated me quite a bit today and you felt betrayed by us and that is understandable. And i can appreciate that. Especially after all this time with leaders today. The talk of today is about the chinese cheating with global trade and stealing intellectual property, not having access to markets , subsidizing the businesses and that is true. They are. They are breaking the rules , but i dont think the general public certainly here in the United States of america has a sense of what you are talking about today. They dont understand the human rights abuses that are so widespread throughout china they dont know that many chinese dont know about Tiananmen Square thats hard to imagine if you are living in American Culture the man in front of the tank many of us have seen that you are over 25 or 30 years old that the idea people in china dont know about that is hard to imagine and People Living in concentration camps and that are abused. We are working on the bill we hope will get to the floor and we hope youll be interested in this as well. People are doing a candlelight vigil today right now as we speak in hong kong people will be detained and arrested and we need to monitor what is happening in hong kong today with the people out there with a candlelight vigil and monitor very closely what is happening with those folks to understand about those journalist and the tibetan language can no longer be the language in tibet make china speak every buddy speak the same way. We have a lot of work to do. I know you dont have a statistical answer but what percentage of Chinese People do you think understand what happened at Tiananmen Square . Half . Less than half quick. Thank you. I think we need to remember the chinese regime is very fast to censor any type of information flow into china like my name cannot be found in any Search Engine in china. And also it is banned to use as any newborn. So what we need to understand is that a china regime is the possible extreme so word you say half the people or less than half. Maybe 20 percent. Yes i think it is definitely less than half even for our generation that experience that that most of us we dont know the whole story. And also because the Younger Generation today grow up completely under the shadow of the firewall. I just want to get across the idea that they are effective in doing this i dont think americans understand the concept that only 20 percent of the Chinese People understand Tiananmen Square. I would like to offer im coming to new york to my district i have a lot of chineseamericans in my district so common talked about and educate people what is going on with the leaders in tibet in hong kong in tandem and square. We need to educate the American People because as you said earlier, this is a dynamic process and the constant work that we have to do part of that is educating the American People so they can support you because nobody likes to feel they betrayed you and we need to do work and i am committed to working with you come to my district we try to get you to the market to educate people what is happening here because talk about the chapel of democracy to have enough people to know what is going on. Thank you for the offer. Thank you very much. Thank you all to our witnesses your testimonies are extraordinary and also thank you forewarning us once again as you put it because you spoke with such candor this is your solemn duty to protect i also tell you the light of democracy that you betrayed us many of us feel that is absolutely true and while we cannot dictate events in washington, we were complicit and i was one of those who thought the first bush got it wrong sending scroll craft to china to reassure them that no problems here. But that also became a bipartisan complicity that is underrecognized and underappreciated the impact it had on the Democracy Movement. I chaired 60 congressional hearings on china over the years several have to do with democracy activist one in 1996. That they get awa. Also from the wto, argument the Clinton Administration agai admw can you accept it as the wto when with impunity for human rights standards and norms in university right nice human rights so that was 1996 as well and part of a series of hearin hearings. Hopefully the administration will turn the page and i would also say president obama did the same thing. There are problems with hearing the question. I want to ask you to read it, you know it because you live it and have friends that are looking at. Please speak briefly to that because the world does have to speak out against this. I would like to echo we are among friends today. One of the biggest mistakes is that the United States and past World Leaders had to follow the United States leader is to. We know that the regime is. It is a group who stole the possession of ruling one of the largest countries. You are much better off than you are confirming your policies to consult with your criminologists instead of International Religion experts. Two apply to every individual because if you read through the act itself, you will find it does apply to every member of this. With the 200 elite families theyve more than a million with the response we get from this administration is okay, yes we probably should do that, but not on a level to high. What is too high. What is the level of human rights abuses accountability should be set up. That is the question that i would like to ask. I do say that you betrayed me that within the democracy we can write the mistake in the past from you our friends the chinese democracy activists. I think you are dead on to be watching the religious issue. They took a step back from peoples personal lives and underground churches the revival after decades of religious belief with one notable trend as the impetus for control comes back and hits than first but as it rolls on this going to get deeper into private areas what you are seeing is the leading edge you want to watch in the province was just last fall. I would like to add the human rights abuses are no longer contained within the borders of china and the Chinese Government and masses nor less economic and political clout in the International Community is trying to export its own mottos of the socalled human rights and chinese characteristics. They are trying to rewrite the principles of human rights internationally that are based on the lessons the world learned from the horrors of the second world war. Since the tnn tnn mayor debate tnm massacre from the minister we concur. In the accountability with threats to outside with the new technology communist china can do enormous challenge without even going out of its own and from the first genetically engineered there is also the report of putting these disastrous consequences to everyone outside of china, so we must confront this. Thank you for holding this hearing and for being here tod today. Talk about to the degree that the party will go to to stay in power this is something i hope the rest of the country is listening to and what the statements have been. With the china experiment is making its way into the hemisphere. They are supporting the facial recognition to the government so they can continue to control the populace. Im concerned and maybe i would like you to Say Something about this china goes around giving scholarships to journalists so they can go and study journalism in china. To me, that is the most ridiculous and ironic part of the Chinese Communist governme government. Of course you could even make an expression let alone speak and write about what is going on in that country and throughout the world but especially in the western hemisphere. I see people from argentina, chile who study journalism. Can you talk about that, someone, anyone . Im a member of reporters without borders. We have issued a report about the chinese influence on this particular area and i thank you very much for bringing it back up. China is inviting a lot of ther closer friends and then you look closer into it and find that democratic countries that invite citizens to go to beijing to study journalism. That is what is happening nowadays and then i find that it is a mockery we can now teach people about democracy and journalism when they visited the China Central television they put a screen behind them. Its kind of lost in the translation right now. When i was in beijing studying classmates at the Journalism School who told me the definition of journalism in their attacks book journalism in china they have no clue about what is journalism, only the propaganda or they only believe in lies. So seeing china exporting why is is a threat to the universal value we are living in. Thank you very much. Let me add to that very briefly i think that in two areas both the authoritarian technology in the western hemisphere, the Chinese Party stated they were active you may recall there was a recent story about a system in ecuador and system is based othe system is l wreck a commission that was delivered by the Chinese Party. Its actually in several countries throughout the western hemisphere from version of that piece obased on the principles f social credit again i think it is in the Journalism Exchange is where you highlighted there is a significant issue because frequently in the countries they are not perceived to be different from the Training Provided by democratic actors and its partly because it has been so successful in engaging with the public space of the countries around the world, western hemisphere, Central Europe and so on. They are showing up in ways that democracies are not and so in the absence of robust journalism training for instance where the type engagements they might be providing the state is bigger with tremendous resources and so if they are offered a chance to go to china for a week on an all expenses paid trip a wouldve jumped at it as an opportunity they wouldnt normally have and probably bring to that little experience in the system, little knowledge so thats also a failure on the part of the democracy to be engaged in this space. I apologize i want to turn this over to senator rubio. I just want to close by thanking all of you for being here. As i said in the beginning china has given so much over the years and i visited china with leader pelosi a few years back. It was an incredible experience. Our problem is with the Chinese Government and their fundamental lack of respect for basic human rights and human dignity. The average people that we saw and heard about none of us can be reset from our mind and no matter how much they want to rewrite history and have the pics that dont include this tractor, the chapter is included in every other history book in the world we will never forget it. One of the things that the advent of Technology News is getting in and out of china. We are learning about what is happening because news is leaking out and also what we say here gets back to them and so they cant control everything. When i was into bed with leader pelosi your testimony here today its a signal that we are not going to forget. Thank you congressman. Thank you, senator rubio and congressional executive. I commend the panelists for their courage. China spent more on controlling its own population on defending against foreign powers. With the stability maintenance as they call it. The maintenance effectively than hasnt sparked resentment against the estate ta . That is true on both fronts for people who suffered from such. On the other hand, it surprises peoples opinions and with the Digital Technology now, it is hard to associate even a small group thats a really big challenge for people on the ground now. Especially with the new technology. Usa it is the disassociation on all from, correct . It is difficult to organize now. Since 1997, hong kong has fostered respect for the rule of law and human rights and personal freedom as an autonomous region of china, however they have sought to erode Civil Liberties in hong kong including by harassing the operator commemorating the massacre. How can the United States support efforts to combat chinas bullying tactics in hong kong . It is an excellent issue that once existed in china into Mainland China and the erosion of the norms of electoral practices. I certainly think congressional concern on this issue is something that triggers the interest. What does that mean for beijing and is that something that you are seeing the publications coming to the United States right now focused on this and im sure some of you are on the Foreign Affairs commission. That is probably one of the top issues. We are watching what they are doing in hong kong very, very closely. I understand the concentration camps where an estimated as we heard 1 million have been detained or are evolving into a forced labor system. How can the International Committee detour the province . It was time to express concern and then also time to know how to fund so you know when they heard they were living in exile as the political dissident that is one important lesson that we have learned outside of the pressure works. But what is the outside pressure that would work today, the Chinese Government has grown its ability just like what you mentioned to suppress that china was there with an enormous expenditure. And also, the confidence that comes from the International Community when it goes to beijing to negotiate the access of the market and investment and at the same time raise the question of human rights we have long passed the places that we should go towards the people that make those decisions. With the human rights accountability act at this point, the only resource left for the United States is we need to be doing is what you are saying. Implementing a vast social Credit System with the system how is it being implemented . It was something that could be very powerful if used against them but it could be a powerful asset as well and so in the years following the massacre, i think the party was even more careful to try to put in place well in advance mechanisms that would guide the direction of Information Technology. When i was a reporter i saw this unfolding in the 90s with the socalled golden projects. This predated the firewall and now what we are seeing in the social Credit System you see the vision that has been there from the beginning but now that tools are gradually falling into place. I dont think it is quite there yet. I think a lot of what has been discussed about the system may not be fully implemented in reality. Simply understanding the intent is useful because there is a large possibility of a harnessing of data to manage the society in ways that we just havent really conceived of yet. We are starting to see that now and we are to be implemented both within china and elsewhere around the world it would be a truly chilling democracy. I think all the witnesses for their courage and due diligence. Thank you mr. Chairman. I want to thank all of the witnesses for your appearing here today. Im honored to have the opportunity to recognize each of you for your lifelong dedication to activism to the family and friends here today and watching from abroad who are still loved ones in Tiananmen Square i want to thank you for your commitment to advocacy and the courage that you demonstrate by continuing to tell the painful stories we will do our part to make sure that it doesnt slip into amnesia about what happened 30 years ago as the Chinese People apparently have been rolled to sleep. At ththe center on u. S. China relations released a report in february of this year. In that report, it was noted that the human rights situation in china has drastically worsen and the efforts to protect an advocate for human rights have become less effective. You mentioned about wealth concentration being among you mentioned the 200 top families and i would note china has 12 that are chinese and they control about 6. 5 trillion in wealth. The concentration of wealth and human rights in china. And also with the other witnesses thank you that generational and 21 in china is the division between wealth is extreme in china and bloomberg has populated the last few years and is referred to economic miracle china. But a good 20 or 30 percent of the wealth of china that has accumulated in the last three decades over 200 families. So as a picture that you can see a group of people stole the position of this country to take advantage of that position but if they are a group then nothing more than a common thief they will act like a common thief which include suppressing defense and that there is no end to greediness. What happened to china as it emerges as an economic powerhouse of the human rights with the concentration of wealth that is a medical term that i am reluctant to use it because that is something you probably cannot control but in china it is with that version of the history. That is the sole purpose again to show them to reassert that position it does have a direct link of the human rights abuses and they are totally capable of doing that of the value that we live by. Thank you. The accumulation of wealth, the chinese authorities has a convenient narrative to the people. We are strong and powerful in the country and if you do what we say then you too will become strong and powerful as we are. Your question is dead on money and power in the nineties and early 2000s money and power came together some of it is extreme billionaires so if you are established urban resident the Property Value has gone up and then to show up with a system so those Migrant Workers worrying about those taking your side that is a powerful incentive why challenge it . Who knows what might happen and that is even a deeper reason why because the situation in china with the political challenges is very complicated of where you sit of your own personal wealth. Mister chairman they will have a reunion in about ten minutes in the office of madame speaker we would like to excuse ourselves from the hearing. That is fine. Thank you so much and then they can give you great testimony then to take the opportunity to thank everybody from this audience for supporting us. Thank you and i yelled back. The gentleman from pennsylvania i was going to have a question but now i will go on the record since they are leaving but i will preface this to say any of my comments because i sometimes get passionate i want to make sure there is no misunderstanding my comments are about the communist government not the Chinese People who are breathing to be free talking about that consequence if you talk about how he abandoned you it is important to talk about this anniversary these events that happened to go back a little further to recognize and then to abandon its own to work with fd fdr. We chose mallets of chang and we chose communism and abandoned freedom. And it is important to recognize that because these things can happen again today. The totalitarian within the halls of this government today and they have for many years and as i listened to my friends on both sides of the aisle i feel we are all in agreement. And while the makers of this legislation and this panel and the recognition of what has happened 30 years ago and to keep that memory alive and the efforts for which so much was sacrificed to keep those things alive, we must not stop at that and recognize where we are. For every action china takes into that there should be an action in the United States or taiwan or hong kong with a dump our products or steal our ideas or threaten neighbors or said the Chinese Students to spy on us, there must be an action from the United States more than a resolution. China is in a trade war and economic war in a culture war and information war for decades it is long time overdue to decide if we are happy with made in china all throughout our stores if its worth to keep that or lose the sovereignty of our nation over time to the communist party of china. And with that talking about some concrete actions that can take place. And the government of tibet in exile we should establish that we should close off the faucet and the access to Financial Markets for the Chinese Government who launders dirty north kimmy north korean money through wall street i dont know what we are waiting for but from the sounds of it those that are an agreement about how we feel of the communist party of china and good policy what seems to be slowing us down right now we love our country but cannot get past this president i would say to my friends on either side if you have an aversion to this administration, finally an administration is doing something about the existential clear danger that is china, finally, go on disliking him and hating him but love your country i dont think the administration is doing enough so i would urge my colleagues on both sides to support the administration where it is appropriate when he is tough with china and number two take the lead to say these are the things that we could and should be doing. And with that i yelled back. Thank you for your courtesies with those Human Rights Commission it is Sheila Jackson lee thank you for yielding. To acknowledge the gentleman who had to go to a meeting with a speaker all of us have been witness to the leadership given to the issue those that have been involved in this issue in a delegation brave enough to honor those that lost their lives and i appreciate all three of you and to appreciate that lives were lost in the period of time and that the coverup did not help anyone. I would say that we are blessed with a body of chineseamericans in the United States brave americans leaders of industry and social services and immigration work of the constituents and this is where we have a severe problem we havent sufficiently educated the body politics that can help us those that are from taiwan and with the indigenous populations from that country to be very helpful. So i have been to tibet and now it is 2020 and we still face that what are your agreement is with religious discrimination and religious prisoners so here is the question i want to raise how do we increase the advocacy that china has moved on a pathway for example, it is the second economy in the world. We are number one they are fast approaching. Which leads out only two failures of this administration but obviously the president has a contribution to that so they play a role in the image of everyone wanting to be chinas friend at the same time people are dying im interested to see how we raise concern of chineseamericans and maybe not label everyone and then my last point is going to the continent of africa it is disgraceful you are doing a disservice taking resources and translating to the vast number of africans that is what is happening to that part of africa. I appreciate you answering these questions. Thank you. You made a very good point at the beginning that you made the point of relations clearly are getting tense and will continue and deteriorate. One of the key questions for those in power are the tensions between us and china as a country where the people what i heard from the congresswoman as well as a couple other members to underline the point that the dispute right now is not with the Chinese People. Their voices that clearly we have to resist that and it plays directly into the narrative of that Chinese State so to be very clear to our challenges and that is crucial and to be reiterated for that governments dispute and i will stop there. And with chineseamericans and how we keep them engaged. I really appreciate that question and i associate myself we must clearly distinguish between the Chinese People but to deliver a policy to reach into those communities to have authentic speech and so what we are facing is the Global Information environment there is preemptive closing of discourse about policies. That is an incredibly tough environment to bring more accurate information. When i was recently in ghana interlocutor said there were contacts between the Chinese Government and societies and increasingly with a divergence between Economic Development and democracy and in keeping with the china model around the world in subsaharan africa. Interestingly enough those interlocutors said the narrative is wrong we understand it is in between development but dictatorship and democracy. The model presented is a false choice but the narrative that is presented is overwhelming and it is presented successfully through preempting alternative discourse and pieces of information but its hard to get another message out there between dictatorship and democracy and just to reiterate a point to those that support more free and open discussion to be there not through passive inaction within developing countries all over the world within developing countries all over the world raising about chineseamericans is an excellent point so i tend to notice an attitude that is the Chinese Government so what can you do about it clicks a lot of people have been culturally conditioned that there is nothing we can do. So that is exploited by the Chinese Government one way to address it may live in a country where we can exercise fundamental rights to freedom while you avail yourself of this freedom why cant we do more for the people in china . Thank you very much let me think my friend from florida and i look forward to all of us working on these issues together the last witness has given us an effort to work with chineseamericans so let me acknowledge the young lady who is with the Foster Care Program who is sitting behind me and we are just delighted they are learning about civic government and the great work of republicans and democrats this body shows we Work Together on crucial issues so i thank you for giving me the courage at this time and i think the witnesses of those of Tiananmen Square and we honor them as well today. I yelled back. Welcome. Thank you senator good to see you again. I want to start off with a Statement China is paranoid as a country and as a leader the freethinking people the communist party cannot survive that is why hong kong and tibet and taiwan is a threat and they can be allowed to succeed in Chinas Communist Party because they are freethinking and for clarification comedy people in china believe that we do in this country the innate genetic makeup of people for liberty and freedom clicks do they believe that today . It is hard to say because as i mentioned earlier to be culturally conditioned and politically exploited. When you talk to people to china do they have the same beliefs if you plant an acorn that if trump grows up thats the way we are designed if you believe what we believe we have the desire to be free and self determining that the Founding Fathers got it right so that ability of course, we do not what they are conditioned to do but what they truly believe. So people in taiwan of chinese dissent and they thrive in a democracy so there is no point about the argument Chinese People on the mainland. I think its true around the world realizing the mistake of the past administration with nixon and kissinger and clinton with the wto with a modern democratic Market Driven society so we have to change course china went from being a bumbling stumbling growing in wealth then they came into puberty and they dont know how wealthy they are and they flex the muscle to find out their place so in Tiananmen Square there is a convicted activist in 1989 given a suspended death sentence on charges he spent 17 years in prison with a fellow protester to say he prefer to have his son think he is a regular criminal they have be potentially put in danger by learning of his fathers political past. It is for his safety that i worry i could influence if i start chatting to him about those things other prisoners that talk to their children about the massacre for fear of putting them at risk and this goes on to say three decades after the Chinese Government declared martial law to unleash the military the bloodshed has been erased from the collective memory it has created a generation are mostly unaware that the massacre school test books dont mention it they can find stories on june 4th so they are you racing history just like to bet and my question what is the estimate held with china total . If youre asking about the people held in the political reeducation camps the estimates vary about 10 percent of the population. If these are reeducation can people come and go as they choose . Know it is compulsory. How often are the crematoriums used . I found that very disturbing we read the advertisements for the guard it doesnt sound like its a present one a pleasant thing it is a repeat of history what needs to happen as a policy those trade policies need to change what i propose is to look at how we trade with china to put them in a tiered trading system the best those that our less favorable minimum trade deals are at tier number three with the human rights conditions and right now we have fortunately some of them are waking up and then to do the abc policy manufacture anywhere but china. The last time we counted six. 7 billion people outside of china to focus on the market if we have economic attention we can help change the way they treat people knock them down on that trading system. In fear for what would be down the road thank you. To help us reflect on what we call a horrendous moment in history. Want to take a moment to express my sorrow to the men and women and families who lost their lives 30 years ago for standing up to create a better world i distinctly remember that day as we remember watching tv that one feed they had on cnn someone that is spent over five years living in china but the private sector as an expat my children were born in hong kong. To travel to places with tibet to see the Buddhist Monks and the north korean border. To see those human rights abuses and censorship the Chinese People face as well as the influence beyond their borders. As your testimony reports and as others indicate and with freedom and then to stop the oppression of basic human rights. Professor we havent seen a specific incident in the past 30 years but the Chinese Governments resolve is stronger than ever. Howell has beijing change basic rights from traditional armies in 1980 on to the vast technologies today . So first with that technological evolution with a more savvy control that is one core aspect. With large coop and then to be tied up with the system and that is another key source. With the collapse of the system to endanger your own livelihood. And then to maintain control. And then try to take place in society so that relies on intimidation and acceptance of selfcensorship so people dont express themselves in the red lines youre not supposed to cross our internalized. And with those china violation with any dissent in terms of it is really we dont know what is going on at the top but i can imagine what those policies. And with a firm hand in society so that being said those moves over potential lifetime rule for the Anticorruption Campaign that the type of stuff that does generate internal mumblings but thats very different. With that military and police presence. Prior to arriving the communist Party Secretary with the Police Management of urban areas with hundreds of Police Station so how do those policies and how do they differ and why . But he was chosen precisely because of those successes into that semi understanding is the surveillance is the total in the streets that you see very few people who are there and are not supposed to be there and it is very unfortunate that system has been working so successfully. So thats the claim of those Reeducation Centers even going as far to prepare those universities so clearly there is a week coverup using this for repression so if you had a chance to share a story of what really goes on to delight the public. I have heard a weaker activist in exile who lives in germany, last year found out his mothers death dying in a reeducation camp was in her eighties to find out only six months later that nobody in the favor dare contact him because because that would invite the wrath. Im not an expert but with that National Endowment of democracy with those experiences of people. And as well as those numbers so as the sitting chair i will gavel out. Thank you for your courage and your testimony. [inaudible conversations] theatch live coverage of 2020 democratic president ial candidates this weekend on cspan. With cory booker and i was city live on sunday at 3 p. M. Eastern, candidates of the Iowa Democratic party hall of fame celebration in cedar rapids. , amyo judge, harris klobuchar, beto orourke, and elizabeth warren. Watch our live coverage of the 2020 democratic president ial candidates in iowa this weekend on cspan. Orch any on cspan. Org, listen with the free cspan radio app. Now, we have eric moore with the wall street journal. What did the most recent jobs report tell us . U. S. Economy added 75,000 jobs in may. That is a much slower pace than we were growing last year. It suggests a bit of an economic slowdown is going on more broadly