2004 Annual Report I
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CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ANNUAL REPORT 2004 ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION OCTOBER 5, 2004 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 95–764 PDF WASHINGTON : 2004 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:26 Sep 24, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 95764.TXT China1 PsN: China1 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS House Senate JIM LEACH, Iowa, Chairman CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska, Co-Chairman DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming DAVID DREIER, California SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas FRANK WOLF, Virginia PAT ROBERTS, Kansas JOE PITTS, Pennsylvania GORDON SMITH, Oregon SANDER LEVIN, Michigan MAX BAUCUS, Montana MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan SHERROD BROWN, Ohio DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California DAVID WU, Oregon BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS STEPHEN J. LAW, Department of Labor PAULA DOBRIANSKY, Department of State GRANT ALDONAS, Department of Commerce LORNE CRANER, Department of State JAMES KELLY, Department of State JOHN FOARDE, Staff Director DAVID DORMAN, Deputy Staff Director (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:26 Sep 24, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 95764.TXT China1 PsN: China1 C O N T E N T S Page I. Executive Summary and List of Recommendations .......................................... 1 II. Introduction: Corruption—The Current Crisis in China ................................. 6 III. Monitoring Compliance With Human Rights ................................................. 12 (a) Rights of Criminal Suspects and Defendants ........................................... 12 (b) Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights ........................... 27 (c) Freedom of Religion .................................................................................... 34 (d) Freedom of Expression ............................................................................... 45 (e) Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ...................................................... 55 (f) Freedom of Residence and Travel .............................................................. 62 IV. Maintaining Lists of Victims of Human Rights Abuses ................................. 65 V. Development of Rule of Law and the Institutions of Democratic Governance ... 66 (a) Constitutional Reform ................................................................................ 66 (b) Nongovernmental Organizations and the Development of Civil Society 70 (c) Access to Justice .......................................................................................... 72 (d) China’s Judicial System ............................................................................. 78 (e) Commercial Rule of Law and the Impact of the WTO ............................. 83 (f) Forced Evictions and Land Requisitions ................................................... 91 VI. Tibet .................................................................................................................... 95 VII. North Korean Refugees in China .................................................................... 102 VIII. Developments During 2004 in Hong Kong ................................................... 104 IX. Appendix: Commission Activities in 2003 and 2004 ....................................... 107 X. Endnotes .............................................................................................................. 110 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:26 Sep 24, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 95764.TXT China1 PsN: China1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:26 Sep 24, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 95764.TXT China1 PsN: China1 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA 2004 ANNUAL REPORT I. Executive Summary and List of Recommendations The Commission finds limited progress over the past year in some areas of human rights and rule of law in China, but also finds severe and continuing problems on many of the issues critical to ensuring that its citizens enjoy internationally recognized human rights. Chinese government repression of free religious be- lief and practice has grown more severe over the past year. The Chinese government has continued its record of violating workers’ rights and punishing workers who advocate for change. Chinese authorities continue to expend significant resources to silence their critics and censor information from sources the government cannot control or influence. The Commission notes that China continues to enact legal reforms that may provide the foundation for stronger protection of rights in the future. However, the monopolization of power under a one-party system and the resulting absence of demo- cratic accountability have led to widespread corruption and a loss of faith in government. Together these cascading problems frus- trate the efforts of ordinary Chinese citizens to claim their rights under the Constitution and law, and hinder the implementation of legal reforms adopted since 1979. In March 2004, the National People’s Congress amended China’s Constitution to guarantee human rights for China’s citizens. This step is a positive development, but the Chinese Communist Party will now have to deliver some measurable improvements in human rights to maintain its own legitimacy. The government and Party must also create the legal mechanisms necessary to enforce this and other constitutional guarantees. Without these mechanisms, the Chinese leadership demonstrates its continued unwillingness to allow the Chinese people to exercise their constitutional rights, freely voice their beliefs, desires, and complaints, or take a mean- ingful role in their government. This reluctance was particularly evident in recent backward-stepping policies designed to move Hong Kong away from the promised ‘‘high degree of autonomy’’ and to delay developing the democratic institutions that most Hong Kong people support. Since taking office in 2003, China’s new leadership has gradually moved away from the ‘‘economic growth at any price’’ strategy of the past and toward a new ‘‘populism.’’ This shift has been accom- panied by substantial efforts to grapple with HIV/AIDS and a fail- ing public health infrastructure, alleviate poverty, and address serious fiscal and governance issues burdening China’s rural poor. Chinese women are benefiting from new economic opportunities, but poverty in rural areas disproportionately harms women. Chi- (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:26 Sep 24, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 95764.TXT China1 PsN: China1 2 nese law has begun to recognize and offer redress for problems like domestic violence, marital rape, and sexual harassment. The Chinese government continues to detain and imprison Chi- nese citizens for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of ex- pression, association, and belief. Coerced confessions, lack of access to defense counsel, law enforcement manipulation of procedural protections, pervasive presumption of guilt by law enforcement offi- cials, judges, and the public, and extra-judicial pressures on courts continue to undermine the fairness of the criminal process in China. In the wake of several abuse scandals, Chinese criminal jus- tice organs launched a coordinated campaign in 2003 and 2004 to improve public relations and assuage public anger over some law enforcement abuses. The campaign has set a more positive tone for discussion of defendant rights and produced some limited results. However, lack of professionalism in many law enforcement agen- cies and courts, public pressure on the government to address ris- ing crime rates, and leadership efforts to maintain Party power and social stability are likely to limit the impact of these initiatives in the short term. As they debate key reforms to China’s criminal jus- tice system, Chinese scholars, judges, and officials continue to look to foreign models and are actively seeking exchange with foreign counterparts on criminal justice issues. Working conditions in China and the government’s lack of re- spect for internationally recognized worker rights remained largely unchanged over the past year. Government implementation of labor laws, regulations, and policies continues to fall well below inter- national norms in a number of areas. The Chinese government de- nies Chinese citizens the right to organize freely and to bargain collectively; it continues to imprison labor leaders and suppress worker efforts to represent their own interests; it continues to dis- criminate against migrant workers; and it has developed a system that encourages forced labor. Child labor remains a significant problem in China. In addition, unhealthy and unsafe conditions are pervasive in Chinese workplaces. The Party intensified its crackdown against free religious belief and practice during 2003 and expanded the campaign during 2004. The Commission has welcomed China’s progress toward developing a system based on the rule of law, but in the case of religion, the Chinese government uses law as a weapon against believers. Hun- dreds of unregistered believers, and members of spiritual groups such as Falun Gong, have endured severe government repression in the past year. Many unauthorized