US must ‘publicly and consistently’ press China to release its political prisoners, Congress told
- House Foreign Affairs panel hears testimony from wife of detained human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and others seeking stronger approach by Washington
- Congress also urged to boost transparency obligations on American businesses operating in Hong Kong to make it harder for activists to be prosecuted
The US must “publicly and consistently” call for the release of political prisoners in China, impose transparency obligations on American businesses in Hong Kong and increase resources for young Chinese activists, witnesses told a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Geng made an emotional plea for help to secure her husband’s freedom, beseeching US officials in China to visit Gao and ask Beijing to make his trial public and grant him visitation rights.
But if this could not be achieved, Geng said, “it’s OK [at least] to have Gao Zhisheng give me a call to tell me he’s still alive”.
“Gao Zhisheng has been kidnapped without trial for nearly six years without any news, which is a real evil in the world,” she added.
Meanwhile, Andrew Bremberg, president of the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, testified that the US “must publicly and consistently call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners in China and do so by name”.
As of 2022, more than 2,500 people have been detained or imprisoned in China, according to the political prisoners database collected by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a bipartisan, bicameral panel that advises Congress on human rights and rule of law in China.
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One possible approach was to increase scholarships and resources for students and young activists to come to the US and engage in exchange with their counterparts, Wang said.
Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, a US-based Christian rights group, said American leaders should go beyond highlighting cases in bilateral and multilateral forums and visit the family members of political prisoners now living in the US.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hearing.
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Kellogg urged Congress to examine legislation that would enhance transparency obligations on American businesses operating in Hong Kong to make it harder for activists to be prosecuted.
Congress could compel businesses to disclose any information requests that they were obliged to provide to the Hong Kong government, he said.
Republican congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, chair of the subcommittee hosting the hearing and of the CECC, said he would introduce a bill to call for the release of Gao, Ding and others as a result of Thursday’s hearing.
“I don’t care who is in the White House,” said Smith. “We all have an obligation, I think a moral duty, that’s not easily satisfied, to stand for the weakest, most vulnerable and the oppressed.”