CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ANNUAL REPORT 2005 ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION 3, 2009 April v. Holder,OCTOBER 11, 2005on in Liv archived Cited Printed 05-70053for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China No. ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 23–753 PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 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 19:18 Oct 07, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 U:\DOCS\23753.TXT CHINA1 PsN: CHINA1 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS Senate House CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa, Co-Chairman SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas DAVID DREIER, California GORDON SMITH, Oregon FRANK WOLF, Virginia JIM DEMINT, South Carolina JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania MEL MARTINEZ, Florida ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama MAX BAUCUS, Montana SANDER LEVIN, Michigan CARL LEVIN, Michigan MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota MICHAEL M. HONDA, California EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS STEVEN J. LAW, Department of Labor PAULA DOBRIANSKY, Department of State DAVID DORMAN, Staff Director (Chairman) JOHN FOARDE, Staff Director (Co-Chairman) (II) 3, 2009 April v. Holder, on in Liv archived Cited 05-70053 No. VerDate 11-MAY-2000 19:18 Oct 07, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 U:\DOCS\23753.TXT CHINA1 PsN: CHINA1 C O N T E N T S Page I. Executive Summary and List of Recommendations .......................................... 1 II. Introduction: Growing Social Unrest and the Chinese Leadership’s Coun- terproductive Response ........................................................................................ 10 III. Monitoring Compliance With Human Rights ................................................. 13 (a) Special Focus for 2005: China’s Minorities and Government Imple- mentation of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law ..................................... 13 (b) Rights of Criminal Suspects and Defendants ........................................... 23 (c) Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights ........................... 36 (d) Freedom of Religion .................................................................................... 43 (e) Freedom of Expression ............................................................................... 55 (f) Status of Women .......................................................................................... 67 (g) The Environment ........................................................................................ 70 (h) Public Health .............................................................................................. 72 (i) Population Planning .................................................................................... 75 (j) Freedom of Residence and Travel ............................................................... 78 IV. Political Prisoner Database .............................................................................. 80 V. Development of Rule of Law and the Institutions of Democratic Governance2009 ... 81 (a) The Development of Civil Society ..............................................................3, 81 (b) Legal Restraints on State Power ...............................................................April 83 (c) China’s Judicial SystemHolder, .............................................................................. on 87 (d) Democratic Governancev. and Legislative Reform ...................................... 89 (e) Access toin Justice Liv .......................................................................................... 95 (f) Commercial Rule of Law andarchived the Impact of the WTO ............................. 98 VI.Cited Tibet .................................................................................................................... 105 VII. North Korean05-70053 Refugees in China .................................................................... 113 VIII.No. Developments in Hong Kong During 2005 ................................................... 115 IX. Appendix: Commission Activities in 2004 and 2005 ....................................... 117 X. Endnotes .............................................................................................................. 120 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 19:18 Oct 07, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 U:\DOCS\23753.TXT CHINA1 PsN: CHINA1 3, 2009 April v. Holder, on in Liv archived Cited 05-70053 No. VerDate 11-MAY-2000 19:18 Oct 07, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 U:\DOCS\23753.TXT CHINA1 PsN: CHINA1 CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA 2005 ANNUAL REPORT I. Executive Summary and List of Recommendations The Commission finds no improvement overall in human rights conditions in China over the past year, and increased government restrictions on Chinese citizens who worship in state-controlled venues or write for state-controlled publications. Citizens who chal- lenge state controls on religion, speech, or assembly continue to face severe government repression. The Commission notes that the Chinese government continued to pursue certain judicial and crimi- nal justice reforms that could result in improved protection of the rights of China’s citizens. Yet these positive steps were clouded by new detentions and government policies designed to protect the Communist Party’s rule and tighten control over society. These de- tentions and policies violated not only China’s Constitution and laws, but also internationally recognized human rights standards. The Chinese government engaged the international human rights community over the past year, hosting visits by the 3,UN 2009 Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the UN HighApril Commissioner for Human Rights, and v.the Holder, U.S. Commission on on International Reli- gious Freedom, Livpermitting the International Committee of the Red Cross to openin a regional officearchived in Beijing, and committing to a visit byCited the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in November 2005. Dur- ing her recent05-70053 visit to China, the UN High Commissioner for HumanNo. Rights Louise Arbour said, ‘‘China has declared its commit- ment to human rights and has raised expectations for the country to match its growing prosperity with a firm commitment to advanc- ing human rights.’’ Arbour also expressed concern over China’s commitment to human rights and raised several political prisoners of concern with government officials. China has an authoritarian political system controlled by the Communist Party. Party organizations formulate all major state policies before the government implements them. The Party domi- nates Chinese legislative bodies such as the National People’s Con- gress and fills important government positions at all levels by an internal selection process. Chinese authorities have introduced lim- ited elements of political participation at the lowest levels of gov- ernment to enhance their ability to govern. These elements include direct elections for village and residents committees, local people’s congress elections, and some popular input into the selection of low-level government and Party officials. The Party controls these selection and electoral processes by screening, and often selecting, the candidates. Chinese citizens are attempting to use the limited political space created by official reforms to protect their rights and interests, but Party officials and local governments often suppress these efforts, leading to social unrest. (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 19:18 Oct 07, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\DOCS\23753.TXT CHINA1 PsN: CHINA1 2 After several wrongful conviction scandals this year, the central government permitted a broad public critique of the criminal judi- cial system. This discourse confirmed the extent to which coerced confessions, police incompetence, pervasive presumptions of guilt, extrajudicial influences on the courts, restrictions on defense attor- neys, and other problems undermine the fairness of the criminal process. Domestic reaction to the wrongful conviction scandals cre- ated new momentum for some criminal justice reforms. Many Chi- nese scholars and officials continue to push for reforms within the boundaries set by the Communist Party and Chinese legal culture and seek to engage foreign counterparts in this process. The Chi- nese government continues to use administrative procedures and vaguely worded criminal laws to detain Chinese citizens arbitrarily for exercising their rights to freedom of religion, speech, and as- sembly. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Deten- tion noted in December 2004 that the Chinese government has not adequately reformed these practices. The Chinese government does not recognize the core labor rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. The government prohibits independent labor unions and punishes workers who at- tempt to establish them. Wage and pension arrears are among the most important problems that Chinese workers face. The govern- ment issued new regulations seeking to address the problem of unpaid wages and pensions, but in many cases Chinese2009 workers continue to struggle to collect wages and benefits because3, the rel- evant agencies do not