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Tragic Anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and Massacre

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Tragic Anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and Massacre TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1989 TIANANMEN SQUARE PROTESTS AND MASSACRE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 3, 2013 Serial No. 113–69 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 81–341PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 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) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:13 Nov 03, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_AGH\060313\81341 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania AMI BERA, California STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RON DESANTIS, Florida GRACE MENG, New York TREY RADEL, Florida LOIS FRANKEL, Florida DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida LUKE MESSER, Indiana AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:13 Nov 03, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\060313\81341 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Mr. Wei Jingsheng, president, Wei Jingsheng Foundation ................................. 6 Ms. Chai Ling, founder, All Girls Allowed ............................................................ 10 Yang Jianli, Ph.D., president, Initiatives for China ............................................. 23 David Aikman, Ph.D. (former Time magazine bureau chief in Beijing) ............. 34 Sophie Richardson, Ph.D., China director, Human Rights Watch ...................... 38 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Mr. Wei Jingsheng: Prepared statement ............................................................... 8 Ms. Chai Ling: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 14 Yang Jianli, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ................................................................ 25 David Aikman, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ........................................................... 36 Sophie Richardson, Ph.D.: Prepared statement .................................................... 40 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 68 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 69 The Honorable Steve Stockman, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas: Prepared statement ............................................................................. 70 Written responses from Mr. Wei Jingsheng to questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Steve Stockman .......................................................... 72 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:13 Nov 03, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\060313\81341 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:13 Nov 03, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_AGH\060313\81341 HFA PsN: SHIRL TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1989 TIANANMEN SQUARE PROTESTS AND MASSACRE MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:59 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SMITH. Hearing will come to order. And good afternoon to ev- eryone. Today, this week, the world remembers the dream that was and is the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. And deeply honors the sacrifice endured by an extraordinarily brave group of pro-de- mocracy, Chinese women and men who dared to demand funda- mental human rights for all of China and for all Chinese. Twenty- four years ago today, the world watched in awe and wonder as hundreds of thousands of mostly young people peacefully petitioned the Chinese Government to reform and to democratize. China seemed to be the next impending triumph for freedom and democ- racy, especially after the collapse of dictatorships in the Soviet Union and among the Warsaw Pact nations. But when the People’s Liberation Army poured into and around the square on June 3rd, the wonder of Tiananmen turned to shock, tears, fear, and a sense of helplessness. On June 3rd and 4th, and for days, weeks, and years, right up until today, the Chinese dictatorship delivered a barbaric response: Mass murder, torture, incarceration, the systematic suppression of fundamental human rights, and cover-up. The Chinese Government not only continues to inflict unspeakable pain and suffering on its own people, but the cover-up of the Tiananmen Square massacre is without precedent in modern history. Even though journalists, live television, and radio documented the massacre, the Chinese Communist party line continues today to deny, obfuscate, and to threaten anyone who deviates from the line. In December 1996, General Chi Haotian, the operational com- mander who ordered the murder of the Tiananmen protesters, vis- ited Washington, DC, as the Chinese Defense Minister. See, he had gotten a promotion. Mr. Chi was welcomed by President Clinton at the White House with full military honors, including a 19-gun sa- (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:13 Nov 03, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\060313\81341 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 lute. A bizarre spectacle that I and others on both sides of the aisle strongly protested. Why do I bring this up? Minister Chi addressed the Army War College on that trip. And in answer to a question said, ‘‘Not a single person lost his life in Tiananmen Square,’’ and claimed that the People’s Liberation Army did nothing more violent than the pushing of people during the 1989 protest. Imagine that. ‘‘Not a single person lost his or her life.’’ Are you kidding? The big lie, that big lie, and countless others like it, is the Chinese Com- munist party line. As chair of the subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee that handled human rights at the time, I put together an emer- gency hearing within a couple of days, on December 18, 1996, with witnesses who were there on the square, including Dr. Yang, a leader and survivor of the massacre, and including Time Magazine bureau chief, Dr. David Aikman, two of today’s witnesses. We also invited Minister Chi Haotian, or anyone else from the Chinese Em- bassy who might want to come and give an account. He and they refused. I guess Minister Chi thought he was back in Beijing where the big lie is king and no one ever dares to do a fact check. A few days ago, the U.S. Department of State asked the Chinese Government to ‘‘end the harassment of those who participated in the protests and fully account for those killed, detained, or missing.’’ The re- sponse? The Chinese Foreign Ministry acrimoniously said that the U.S. should ‘‘stop interfering in Chinese internal affairs so as not to sabotage U.S./China relations.’’ Sabotage Sino-American rela- tions because our side requests an end to harassment, because we request an accounting? Sounds to me like they have much to hide. President Obama, as we know, is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and Saturday to discuss security and economic issues. A robust discussion of human rights abuses in China must be on the agenda and not in a superfluous or super- ficial way. It is time to get serious about China’s flagrant abuse. The Chinese Government’s appalling record should make us ques- tion even the topic that is at hand: Can a government that crushes the rights and freedoms of its own people be trusted on trade and on security issues? China today is the torture capital of the world. And victims in- clude religious believers, ethnic minorities, human rights defend- ers, like Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng, and political dis- sidents. Hundreds of millions of women have been forced to abort their precious babies, pursuant the draconian one-child
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