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[IWS] CECC: [CHINA] ANNUAL REPORT 2014--ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW DEVELOPMENTS [9 October 2014]


IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ANNUAL REPORT 2014 [9 October 2014]
[Report on human rights and rule of law developments in China].
http://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/2014%20annual%20report_0.PDF
[full-text, 322 pages]

Press Release 9 October 2014
Chairman Brown and Cochairman Smith Statement on 2014 Annual Report
http://www.cecc.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-brown-and-cochairman-smith-statement-on-2014-annual-report

[excerpt]
Overall, the Commission’s 2014 Annual Report found that human rights and rule of law conditions in China did not improve and declined in some areas. Based on developments this past year, the report identifies the following areas that we believe Congress and the Administration should focus on in the coming year:

Rights Advocates. 
This year’s report highlights the Chinese government’s harsh crackdown on rights advocates, many of whom have called for moderate reforms, in a troubling sign that China’s leaders have become even less tolerant of dissent. The Commission held a hearing on “Understanding China’s Crackdown on Rights Advocates: Personal Accounts and Perspectives” in April 2014 to draw attention to the crackdown. Chinese officials’ treatment of these advocates reflects a broader and systematic lack of respect for the rule of law.
Among the advocates detained or sentenced, many in criminal proceedings that failed to meet the basic requirements of due process, include rights advocate Xu Zhiyong, public interest lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and pastor Zhang Shaojie. On this issue, the report recommends, among other things, greater public recognition for the work of Chinese rights advocates in promoting human rights and rule of law, more frequently raising political prisoner cases with China, ensuring that Chinese rights advocates have freedom of movement and are allowed to participate in international forums and dialogues, and urging China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Worker Rights. 
This year’s report shows that Chinese workers still lack the basic right to form independent trade unions, that the Chinese government still fails to effectively enforce its own labor laws in many cases, and that child labor and the use of prison labor in the manufacture of products for export remain serious problems. Given the high percentage of goods the United States imports from China, it is likely that products made with child or prison labor or manufactured under poor working conditions continue to enter our country. The report recommends that the United States, as the largest single purchaser of goods and services in the world, ensure effective implementation of Executive Orders 13126 and 13267 which are intended to combat forced or indentured child labor, or trafficked labor in federal procurement and federal contracts. The report also recommends considering closing loopholes such as the consumptive demand exemption in Section 1307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and increasing supply chain transparency so that governments, businesses, and consumers can better trace the origin of products.

Hong Kong. 
As noted in this year’s report, China took actions that threatened Hong Kong’s democratic development and freedoms in the lead-up to Hong Kong’s first election of its Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2017. The Commission highlighted these concerns at a roundtable on “Prospects for Democracy and Press Freedom in Hong Kong,” in April 2014. Given the important economic and social interests the U.S. has in Hong Kong, and China’s international commitments on the issue, the Commission’s report recommends that Congress and the Administration renew the reporting requirements of Section 301 of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 and express support for Hong Kong democracy by visiting the city and raising the issue in meetings with Chinese central government officials. 

Press Freedom. 
The Commission held a roundtable in December 2013 on “China’s Treatment of Foreign Journalists,” highlighting China’s delays and denials of visas to dozens of foreign journalists and China’s blocking of foreign media Web sites and noted that this is both a freedom of expression and market access issue. Foreign journalists report some of the worst conditions in years, in stark contrast to the situation of Chinese journalists in the United States. The report recommends greater public expression, including at the highest levels of U.S. government, to the issue of press freedom in China and an assessment as to whether China’s treatments of foreign journalists and censorship of foreign Web sites constitutes a violation of China’s World Trade Organization obligations.

Food Safety. 
The Commission held a hearing in July 2014 on “Pet Treats and Processed Chicken from China: Concerns for American Consumers and Pets” which highlighted ongoing concerns regarding the safety of imported foods from China and the effectiveness of the current country-of-origin labeling system in notifying consumers when a product has been made in China. In response to a question for the record submitted to FDA for the hearing, the Commission learned that China continues to delay the granting of visas for additional FDA inspectors, despite reports that China had earlier agreed to begin granting visas. The Commission recommends greater action to secure these visas and to improve our inspection capabilities in China.

Commercial Rule of Law. 
The report notes little progress in China’s compliance with international trading obligations. China continues to control its currency, to subsidize and give preferential treatment to state-owned enterprises and domestic companies at the expense of American businesses and workers, to aid or abet intellectual property theft through cyber and other means, and to provide little transparency regarding Chinese companies, state subsidies, and commercial laws and regulations. There were reports of growing concern that foreign companies were being unfairly targeted, especially for antimonopoly investigations. The Commission held a hearing in January 2014 on “China’s Compliance with the World Trade Organization and International Trade Rules.” The report recommends ensuring that China makes concrete improvements in ending currency controls, subsidies for state-owned enterprises, and other policies that violate China’s existing international trading obligations, as a condition for progress in any U.S.-trade related negotiations with China. The report also recommends that the U.S. government more comprehensively track and make publicly accessible China’s trade commitments under the World Trade Organization, the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue and Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, and U.S. efforts to secure China’s compliance with those commitments. 

Population Planning. 
The report notes that despite a slight modification in the country’s coercive population planning policy to allow a couple to have a second child if one of the parents was a single child, the Chinese government failed to abolish a policy that itself violates international standards and leads to egregious abuses by officials including forced abortions and forced sterilizations.  The report recommends abolishing all birth restrictions on Chinese families and urges proactive discussions, within bilateral security dialogues, on the potential for social, humanitarian, and regional trafficking problems if China fails to address imbalanced sex-ratios exacerbated by its coercive population policies.    

Religious Freedom. 
The report notes government campaigns against church buildings and religious symbols apparently prompted by growing concern over the popularity of Christianity in China. The report also notes harassment of Catholic clergy, lawyers attempting to assist unlawfully detained Falun Gong practitioners, and bans on Uyghur Muslims’ observance of Ramadan. The report recommends that the U.S. urge China to implement in good faith the recommendations it accepted from the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of China held in October 2013, including taking necessary measures to ensure that rights to freedom of religion, as well as religious culture and expression, are fully observed and protected.

Ethnic Minorities. 
The report notes deteriorating conditions in ethnic minority areas, from increased violence in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to harsher security measures in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, where some local governments have introduced measures imposing collective punishment intended to deter Tibetans from self-immolating. The report urges the Administration to address issues of human rights, security, and stability at bilateral security dialogues and any exchanges with Chinese military or police officials by sharing best practices on ways to balance civil rights and national security and to differentiate between peaceful dissent and acts of violence. The report recommends that the Chinese government can promote regional stability by respecting ethnic minorities’ right to maintain their language and culture, and to freely practice their religion, as provided for in China’s Constitution and laws. The report also recommends that Congress and the Administration urge China to allow the free flow of information regarding incidents of violence in ethnic minority regions and to allow journalists and international observers access to those areas in line with international standards.

Areas of Potential Progress. 
The report recommends that Congress and the Administration acknowledge and further inquire with Chinese officials about areas of potential progress noted in the report, including the announced abolition of the reeducation through labor system, potential reforms to the household registration system that could lessen the rural-urban divide, efforts to curb wrongful convictions and increase protections for criminal defendants, amendments to the PRC Trademark Law which increase statutory damages for infringement, revision to the Environmental Protection Law which include provisions that could improve transparency, and efforts to strengthen protections for person with disabilities and victims of domestic violence.
The report contains numerous other recommendations which we also urge you to consider. The Commission and its staff stand ready to assist Congress and the Administration in any way to carry out these recommendations. We look forward to working together on issues of such great importance to our nation.

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# posted by SBasefsky : 12:14 PM




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