Report: China continues oppressive downward spiral

Human rights and the rule of law continue to deteriorate in China, according to an annual congressional report released Thursday. The Congressional–Executive Commission on China (CECC) lamented the detention of human rights lawyers, the demise of the independent press, and the demolition of church crosses in Zhejiang this past year.

“The Chinese government’s human rights record is utterly deplorable, continuing a downward trend over the past three years,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., the chairman of the CECC, said in a statement. “It is a dark time for China’s reformers, dissidents, and rights defenders as they face escalating repression and conditions deteriorated again last year.”

The situation will likely get worse for religious groups, including house churches, if the proposed religious restrictions touted by China’s State Council become law. Pastors, academics, and lawyers are concerned the law would greatly restrict the religious activities of those outside the state-sanctioned church.

The CECC report covers issues such as China’s rule by law, the use of extralegal “black jails” on political prisoners, the broadcast of forced confessions, the restrictions on religious and ethnic minorities, internet censorship, and the erosion of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy. Established by the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000, the bipartisan CECC monitors China’s human rights and rule-of-law developments and submits its annual report to the president and Congress each year.

This year’s report coincides with the 15th anniversary of China’s joining the World Trade Organization, and the report noted that while China has since grown into the second largest economy in the world, it has “largely failed to implement the substantive legal reforms anticipated 15 years ago.” The report recommends U.S. officials incorporate human rights concerns into all bilateral talks between China and the United States. The CECC also advised denying U.S. entry visas to officials responsible for torture, disappearances, or other severe human rights abuses.

Free press took a heavy blow this year as President Xi Jinping toured major news outlets, calling for “absolute loyalty” from editors and journalists. Officials arrested those who dared speak outside of party lines, further squelching free speech. Plainclothes police heckled and blocked foreign media from reporting on the court cases of human rights advocates, and authorities expelled French reporter Ursula Gauthier for articles critical of the government’s ethnic policies in Xinjiang.

The report also touched on the effects of population control on Chinese society. The one-child policy, coupled with a preference for males, has led to a serious gender imbalance: By 2020, the Chinese government estimates there will be a surplus of 30 million unmarried Chinese men. This is leading to problems such as increased sex trafficking and mail-order brides from other Asian countries. While China has relaxed its one-child policy to allow two children per couple, the CECC still worries “coercive implementation of family planning measure and human rights abuses will persist.”

The report also raised concerns that China has backtracked on its promise to grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy. Beijing refused to let Hong Kong residents freely vote for their next chief executive, leading to the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014. China’s encroachment continued as authorities kidnapped Hong Kong booksellers who published gossipy books about Chinese leadership. In response to the CECC report, the Hong Kong government released a statement saying, “foreign legislatures should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of Hong Kong.”

Concern over religious liberties in China is also growing. The State Council released a draft of restrictions that would forbid religious activities in unapproved sites and ban citizens from attending religious trainings or conferences overseas. The rules also forbid religious services online, religious events at schools, and teaching in foreign countries.

Compared to the 2005 Regulations on Religious Affairs, this year’s revision is much more detailed and empowers the local government “all the way down to the communities,” a pastor named Zhou told China Aid. Another pastor told China Aid the revised laws “provide a powerful legal base for future suppression of house churches, as well as unregistered Christian schools.”

Smith believes to help the dissidents, human rights activists, and persecuted churches in China, the United States needs to rethink its policy.

“It is time to recognize that the economic engagement strategy has failed, and new policy approaches must be developed that link our values and interests,” Smith said. “A new U.S. policy approach that champions individual liberties is owed to the thousands of suffering prisoners of conscience in China.”