On June 18, 1996, Harry Wu,
Executive Director of the Laogai Resarch Foundation,
was invited to testify before the House of
Representatives Subcommittee on International
Relations and Human Rights. He was joined by a
distinguished panel of two Chinese physicians and a researcher.
They shared their experiences concerning public
executions and organ harvesting.
The hearing, titled "China
MFN: Human Rights Consequences", was called
by Congressman Chris Smith. In his opening statement,
Smith called the delinking of Most Favored Nation
status from human rights "a betrayal." He also
found the Clinton administration to have
"coddled as few have coddled before." He
presented an affidavit from a Golden Venture
passenger who informed Congressman Smith of actions
taken by the Chinese government against passengers
denied asylum in the United States and forcibly returned
to China. He concluded with a plea to the Clinton administration
to grant these people freedom and to secure their
"fundamental and God-given human rights."
Representatives Frank Wolf and
Nancy Pelosi, long time supporters of Harry Wu and
advocates of human rights in China gave their well
established positions on the issue of MFN at the
hearing. Representative Wolf expressed hope that this
issue would be dealt with more adequately in the future
given the large number of young people in the
audience. Congresswoman Pelosi made the point that
revocation of MFN is not the goal, but rather it is
to gain leverage to improve human rights in China.
Congressmen Matt Salmon and
James Moran questioned Representative Pelosi’s
position on the issue. Congressman Salmon expressed
concern that revokation of MFN would not directly
help improve the human rights situation in China. Obviously
in support of possible economic growth over improved
human rights, Congressman Moran spoke of the potential
size of the Chinese market and the improvements that
American businesses can secure in China by
engagement. Congresswoman Pelosi effectively
responded that engagement is a two way street, one
that the Chinese have not yet chosen to take.
Others testifying included Dr.
William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty
International USA; Nina Shea from Freedom House; Lodi
Gyari, President for the International Campaign for
Tibet; and Mike Jendrzejczyk of Human Rights Watch/Asia.
They all discussed the deteriorating human rights situation
in China.
Also present was Dr. James
Feinerman of Georgetown University. He fully
supported extension of MFN to China based on his
belief that MFN is responsible for the betterment of
Chinese society since 1949. He stated that the focus
in U.S.- China relations should be economics rather than
human rights, a position questioned vigorously by Chairman
Smith.
Harry Wu began his testimony
with the video "Undisguised Killing", a
documentary produced by the Laogai Research Foundation
and Freedom House. It showed indisputable evidence of
public executions. The film showed actual events and
newspaper clippings that made known the regular occurrence
of public executions in China. Mr. Wu expressed sincere
concern over these executions and the fact that young Chinese
children were watching such brutality. He explained the
process of the execution and highlighted the lack of decency
granted to the prisoner. His testimony was especially relevant
and timely given the recent rise of public executions as
a result of the anti-crime crackdown in China.
He also responded to the
earlier concerns of Congressmen Salmon and Moran and
Dr. Feinerman. He noted that the MFN debate was going
in the wrong direction. "The question is not
‘why revoke MFN?’, but ‘why was it
given in the first place?’" Mr. Wu
continued, saying that although Congressman Moran and
Dr. Feinerman believe the status to be normal, in
fact, it is not. The normal treatment of Communist
countries, like Cuba and the former Soviet Union, was
to deny MFN. Instead of giving China the normal treatment,
the United States has "provided the economic
fuel needed to propel China’s Communist giant
into the twenty-first century."
Mr. Wu also made a statement
regarding Wei Jingsheng. In it, he expressed his
disgust at the use of such an honorable man’s
comments for devious political purposes. He called
such action "shameless" and a "base,
immoral exploitation of a brave man."
Following Wu was the esteemed
writer, Zheng Yi. Mr. Zheng testified to the gruesome
practices surrounding execution, citing official
documents which refer to the severing of one woman’s
windpipe and the stuffing of others’ mouths with cotton
and nails to prevent final words before death.
Two doctors, Dr. Qian Xiao
Jiang and Dr. Zhou Wei Zheng, gave testimony
concerning the use of executed prisoners’ organs
for transplant surgery. Dr. Zhou described the
process of testing prisoners for blood compatibility,
the use of special ambulances, and the instruction of
the People’s Armed Police to shoot not to kill,
but to cause a coma, thereby preserving the organs.
Dr. Qian told of one executed
prisoner whose kidneys, spleen, heart, and corneas
were extracted. He went on to say that in some
instances, the prisoner was still trembling, and one
still had a pulse while the organ removal was
performed.
At the conclusion of the
hearing, Harry Wu proposed to Congressman Smith that
the U.S. Congress condemn the public executions and
organ harvesting in a resolution that may induce the
Chinese government to adjust its policy— "I want
the U.S. Congress to inform China that it will not tolerate
public executions that children are allowed to watch. What
kind of government permits such barbaric
education?" Mr. Wu concluded, "We must put
a halt to such human rights abuses and trampling of
prisoners’ decency, which are an insult to
civilized human society."
