Rights activists urge Obama to confront China

WASHINGTON—Human rights advocates are urging the Obama administration to break its silence on violations in China and to stand up to President Xi Jinping for sparking a rapid deterioration of liberty for his country’s 1.35 billion residents.

“The United States cannot be silent in the face of the Chinese government’s repression,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., at a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday. “The people of China deserve better.”

In two days, President Barack Obama will meet with Xi as he and other world leaders convene in Washington for a summit on nuclear nonproliferation. Smith and others point to the suppression of Christians and free speech in China, as well as systematic gendercide under Xi’s rule, and claim this meeting is the right time to speak out against him.

“They have systematically exterminated the girl child through sex-selective abortion,” Smith said. “And now there is a massive sex trafficking problem in China, because the women don’t exist.”

Under communist rule, the world’s most populous nation has long suffered from a lack of personal and religious freedom. But circumstances are getting steadily worse.

Chinese authorities recently started a man-hunt, detaining and interrogating at least 20 people, after an anonymous open letter surfaced calling for Xi to step down.

The letter, published online earlier this month and signed by “loyal Communist Party members,” criticizes Xi for abusing his power and silencing anyone who disagrees. The Chinese government arrested several people from Wujie News, which published the letter, including its top editors. Others have gone missing for simply commenting on the letter as Xi frantically searches for the author.

Earlier this week, Yu Shaolei, an editor at China’s Southern Metropolis Daily, posted his own resignation letter online, claiming he could no longer endure the government’s media censorship. In February, Xi ordered all Chinese media to bear the surname of the Communist Party and demanded their absolute loyalty. Yu worked for the newspaper for 16 years and listed the reason for his resignation as “unable to bear your surname.”

China already blocks large swaths of internet sites, and this week the government proposed new rules to pressure service providers to cut off access to all foreign websites. That would essentially create a government-controlled intranet within the country and could cut the Chinese off from the rest of the world—a situation that mirrors the censorship in North Korea.

Guo Baosheng, China Aid’s religious freedom commentator, spoke out against Xi at today’s news conference and said hope for China’s Christian population remains bleak.

Under Xi, China’s religious freedom continues to deteriorate, with the government burning crosses and Christ followers tortured in prison for their faith, he said. Guo implored Obama to hold Xi personally responsible for such atrocities when they meet on Thursday.

The Obama administration has been hesitant to make enemies with China, but Smith said the violations of human rights are too egregious to ignore.

“Get it right on human rights, and in my humble opinion, you get it right on everything else,” Smith said. “[Obama] has not done it for the last seven years. It’s time he does.”