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25–459PDF 2017

DISAPPEARED, JAILED, AND TORTURED IN CHINA:

WIVES PETITION FOR THEIR HUSBANDS’ FREEDOM

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

MAY 18, 2017

Serial No. 115–31

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

TED LIEU, California

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

KAREN BASS, California 

AMI BERA, California 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

Ms. Chen Guiqiu, spouse of Xie Yang .................................................................... 6

Ms. Wang Yanfang, spouse of Tang Jingling ........................................................ 27

Ms. Jin Bianling, spouse of Jiang Tianyong .......................................................... 42

Ms. Li Ching-Yu, spouse of Li Ming-Che ............................................................... 47

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Ms. Chen Guiqiu: Prepared statement .................................................................. 9

Ms. Wang Yanfang: Prepared statement ............................................................... 30

Ms. Jin Bianling: Prepared statement ................................................................... 44

Ms. Li Ching-Yu: Prepared statement ................................................................... 50

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 62

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 63

The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global 

Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations: 

Testimony of Jiang Tianyong from November 10, 2009, hearing .................... 64

Letter from scholars to Xi Jinping on Li Ming-Che .......................................... 66

List of Xie Yang’s torturers ................................................................................. 70

(1)

DISAPPEARED, JAILED, AND TORTURED IN 

CHINA: WIVES PETITION FOR THEIR 

HUSBANDS’ FREEDOM 

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m., in 

room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. 

Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order, and good afternoon to everyone and welcome to our hearing this afternoon. 

Lawyer Xie Yang was tortured for the better part of 2 years because he dared to represent China’s poor and persecuted. The account of his detention is both harrowing and horrible. 

Xie Yang was sleep deprived and kept in isolation. Squads of police punched and kicked him for hours at a time. He was forced to 

sit for hours on a precarious stack of plastic chairs, his feet dangling painfully off the ground. Police made threats to his wife and 

children and said that they would turn him into an invalid unless 

he confessed to political crimes. 

Xie Yang and his fellow human rights lawyers wanted the best 

for China but what they got was the very worst. Since July 2015, 

almost 250 lawyers and legal assistants were detained, sending a 

chilling message to those fighting for legal reforms and for elemental human rights. 

We are here today to shine a bright light on the brutal, illegal, 

and dehumanizing use of torture and forced disappearance of 

human rights lawyers and rights advocates in China. We shine a 

light on dictatorships because nothing good happens in the dark 

and, as we will learn today, there are some very, very dark places 

in China. 

Chinese officials repeatedly tell us and they tell me all the time 

that I should focus more on the positive aspects of China and not 

dwell so much on the negative. That is a difficult task when you 

read Xie Yang’s story or read Gao Zhisheng’s account of his torture, 

and his wife and his daughter previously have testified before our 

subcommittee, or read the account of many other very, very brave 

women and men who are standing up for human rights in China. 

2

It is a difficult task when you look at Li Chunfu and his brother, 

Li Heping. These are some of China’s best and bravest and brightest, and now women and men with broken bodies, shattered minds, 

broken noses and faces, men and women who have aged 20 or more 

years after just 2 years or 3 of solitary confinement or torture. It 

is shocking, offensive, immoral, barbaric, and inhumane. It is also 

completely possible that Chinese officials believe the international 

community will not hold them to account. 

While President Xi Jinping feels feted at Davos and lauded in 

national capitals for his public commitments to openness, his government is torturing and abusing those seeking rights guaranteed 

by China’s own constitution and, of course, its international obligations. One Oxford University scholar said that Xi Jinping has built 

a ‘‘perfect dictatorship,’’ an increasingly repressive garrison state 

that avoids any international censure. 

Through the United Nations and the sanctions available in the 

Global Magnitsky Act, however, we should be seeking to hold accountable any Chinese officials complicit in torture, human rights 

abuses, and illegal detentions. Xie Yang identified at least 10 police 

officers who tortured him. We have a list of those officers who he 

has named. They need to be investigated by the administration and 

sanctions meted out individually to these individuals who have visited such horror and cruelty upon him. 

We are in the process of gathering names of others as well. I, as 

chairman of this subcommittee, will send those names to President 

Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley 

and the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs 

and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pursuant, again, to 

the Magnitsky Act protocol. We will seek U.N. investigations into 

the torture of China’s human rights lawyers and human rights offenders. As we all know, on several occasions the Special 

Rapporteur for Torture has looked into the use of torture in China 

and has found it to be absolutely systematic. 

If you are arrested and you are a religious prisoner or you are 

a political prisoner, a prisoner of conscience, you will be tortured 

and you will be tortured with depravity and with utter cruelty. 

We know that this also violates China’s obligations as a signatory to the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Where’s the enforcement? 

We will also seek investigations under the Global Magnitsky Act, 

as I said. I introduced the House version of that bill, which as 

signed into law last year. That law explicitly—and it says explicitly—that any foreign government officials who engages in or is 

complicit in torture can be sanctioned by denying entry visas into 

the United States or by imposing financial sanctions. Those who 

tortured Xie Yang and Li Heping should never benefit from access 

to the United States or to our financial system. We will hear testimony today from some of the wives who have suffered. 

When a prisoner of conscience is sent off the jail and suffers it’s 

not just that dissident who suffers. It is the wives, the families, the 

extended families. Very often they are rounded up as well and interrogated and beaten. 

You know, we have the great Chen Guangcheng in our audience 

today and his wife, Beijing. When Chen suffered the barbarity of 

3

the Chinese dictatorship for speaking up on behalf of women who 

have been coerced into forced abortions in Linyi, he suffered in 

prison, then under house imprisonment. But his wife and his children also suffered and showed incredible bravery during that entire 

terrible ordeal. But he persevered, he persisted, and today is now 

free and speaks out very boldly and effectively on behalf of human 

rights abuses in China. 

Pastor Bob Fu, who will be doing some of the translation, he too 

was incarcerated as a prisoner of conscience. But, again, he persisted along with his wife as well and found their way to freedom 

and now speaks out boldly as leader of ChinaAid. 

Finally, we will hear about Mr. Li from Li Ming-Che, his wife, 

who will also be providing testimony to us today. After entering 

mainland China in March of this year for a personal trip, Mr. Li 

went missing for 10 days before the Chinese officials confirmed 

that he was being held on so-called national security grounds. 

Let me just say we all know this—what a joke. People ask for 

human rights protections and they are accused of national security 

violations. It just doesn’t pass the straight face test and it’s about 

time that subterfuge and that lie, that big lie, is fully done away 

with and exposed. 

Many fear that Mr. Li is being detained under a harsh new Chinese law to monitor and control foreign-funded NGOs enforced earlier this year as part of the crackdown on civil society. 

As some of you may know, I also chair the Congressional-Executive Commission on China along with Marco Rubio, and every year 

we put out a very extensive account of the human rights abuses in 

China. One of the big changes—worsening changes—there are 

many—is the fact that the NGOs are now being—who had very 

limited freedom to begin with—have far less now just as religious 

organizations and denominations are also being cracked down by 

this cruel dictatorship. 

Let me just conclude by saying that we welcome the testimony 

of these wives. I hope and I pray and we will monitor to ensure 

that because they have spoken out boldly and in a open forum like 

today that any further retaliation against their husbands or any 

members of their families will be watched closely and Xi Jinping 

will be noticed and I do hope the Trump administration will be 

bold and effective as well as Secretary Tillerson in raising individual cases, because when you raise the individual cases, obviously, it helps all the others as well. 

I yield to Mr. Castro. 

Mr. CASTRO. Thank you, Chairman, for your remarks and for 

your leadership on human rights issues worldwide. 

Ranking Member Bass is unable to join us here today. I am not 

the superstar that she is but I am glad that she’s allowed me to 

be the ranking member this afternoon in her absence. 

Let there be no doubt that the United States will marshal its political and economic might for the cause of human rights around 

the world and that we will ask the same of our allies. As we move 

further into the digital age, information is more accessible than 

ever, which means that the suffering and harm to people is also 

more visible than ever. 

4

The United States and nations around the world cannot turn 

away from what we see and we must take action. The tenure of 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been accompanied by an increasingly harsh crackdown on any individuals and groups deemed to be 

subverting state power. The passage of the law on the management 

of foreign NGO activities raises serious concerns. According to the 

2016 State Department report on human rights, the Chinese law 

describes foreign NGOs as ‘‘national security threats’’ and requires 

all NGOs to undergo a difficult registration process. 

In doing so, the Chinese Government has greatly restricted the 

political space of its civil society. Chinese environmental activists, 

ethnic minorities, religious leaders, and political dissidents, among 

others, are routinely arrested and given years long prison sentences, often for actions as trivial as posting a comment online. 

And the lawyers representing these individuals often suffer equally 

severe treatment. Chinese human rights lawyers are routinely harassed by the Chinese security apparatus, detained for extended periods of time, tortured, charged with crimes, and sentenced to 

lengthy prison terms. 

Last month, President Trump met with President Xi where they 

discussed economic and political issues. The meeting came at a 

time when China’s crackdown on human rights reached new 

heights. While President Trump raised the issue of human rights 

with President Xi, Secretary Tillerson dismissed the idea of discussing human rights in a separate dialogue. The Secretary instead 

stated that U.S. core values of human rights would be part of U.S. 

economic or political dialogue with China. 

Yet, Secretary Tillerson was the first Secretary of State who did 

not attend the annual release of the State Department’s human 

rights report since the mid-1990s. 

We here in Congress will pay close attention to the actions of the 

administration and ensure they follow through on U.S. commitments to advancing the cause of human rights in China and in nations around the world. 

Today, we will hear from four brave women who continue to 

show their courage by testifying in front of the United States Congress. Each of their husbands has endured unjust imprisonment 

and inhumane treatment under dubious circumstances. They deserve our appreciation for taking great risks by providing firsthand 

accounts of China’s increasingly restrictive political environment. 

The perseverance of our witnesses and their families is a reminder that the fight for just and accountable government is a 

cause worth fighting for. It’s also a reminder that progress toward 

a free and fair society is fragile and must be pursued every day. 

And, of course, being a Member of Congress from Texas, I want 

to acknowledge that one of our witnesses has been residing there. 

After narrowly escaping Chinese authorities in Thailand, Ms. Chen 

made her way to my home state. We are happy to have you here, 

Ms. Chen. 

Again, I want to thank each and every one of you for sharing 

your stories and your family stories with us today. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Castro. 

5

I would like to introduce our distinguished witnesses and again 

thank them for—thank you for your bravery and courage in coming 

forward. 

We will begin first with Chen Guiqui, who is the wife of Christian human rights attorney, Xie Yang. Xie Yang focused his professionally life in helping those victimized by the Communist regime’s 

forced demolitions and migrations as well as impoverished people 

whose rights were trampled on by the Chinese Government. 

Because of his work, he was taken away on July 11th, 2015 as 

part of Xi Jinping’s nationwide crackdown on human rights defenders. I mentioned some of the horrific ordeal that he has endured 

in my opening and we will hear from his wife very shortly. 

We will then hear from Wang Yanfang, who is the wife of Tang 

Jingling, who is a human rights lawyer whose clients have included 

villagers fighting government corruption and victims of illegal land 

appropriation. In 2006, Tang’s license to practice law in China was 

suspended, after which he became involved in a nonviolent civil 

disobedience movement in China. 

In 2012, he was detained for 5 days following his work investigating the death of a human rights defender. In 2014, Mr. Tang 

was detained on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power in 

the weeks leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Government’s violent crackdown in Tiananmen Square. He was tried 

in July 2015 along with two other prominent political advocates, 

and Ms. Wang is currently staying in the U.S. while she advocates 

for her husband’s release. 

We will then hear from Jin Bianling, wife of Jiang Tianyong. 

Jiang Tianyong is a veteran human rights lawyer who has worked 

on prominent cases including those of Chen Guangcheng and Gao 

Zhisheng. He has also worked on cases advocating for the rights of 

AIDS and hepatitis B-infected people as well as other human rights 

and humanitarian cases. 

From 2009 to 2012, Chinese officials harassed, kidnapped and 

physically tortured Tang and on numerous occasions for his human 

rights work. In November, he traveled to Hunan to pay a visit to 

Chen Guiqui, the wife of the imprisoned human rights lawyer who 

will speak momentarily. He was kidnapped while returning to Beijing on November 21st and placed under residential surveillance 

for alleged subversion of state power. He is now being held. 

Finally, we will hear from or we will hear from Li Ching-Yu, the 

wife of detained Taiwan community college worker Li Ming-Che. 

Ms. Li graduated from the Department of Labor Relations at the 

Chinese Culture University in Taiwan where she and her husband 

met and began to participate in social movements. Before 2014, Mr. 

Li began discussing Taiwan’s historical experiences and issues of 

transitional justice with a group of Chinese friends through the instant messaging app WeChat. 

In 2015, Mr. Li’s WeChat account was blocked from using the 

group chat feature and Mr. Li began proactively seeking books as 

gifts to his Chinese contacts who are interested in human rights 

and/or modern history. Around February, 2016, he was called on 

friends through WeChat to raise funds for the family of a Chinese 

civil rights activist. 

6

Later that year in August 2016, the books he sent to Chinese 

friends were confiscated. He went missing as he was entering 

China from the city of Macao, on March 19, 2017, so that is just 

a few weeks ago. Ten days later after his forced abduction, the Taiwan Affairs Office admitted he was in custody and that is why we 

are here today to seek his release as well. 

Because we do want to hear all of you, Mr. Castro and I will take 

a brief respite to go vote. But we will then come back and we look 

forward to your testimony and I apologize for that inconvenience. 

We stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. 

[Recess.] 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will resume its sitting and I would 

like to yield to Randy. Randy, any comments you might have? 

Mr. HULTGREN. I’ll be very brief but I just wanted to say thank 

you for being here. Just humbled and amazed by your courage, by 

the stands that you are taking but also that your husbands are 

taking and it is so important for us to hear your stories to be able 

to share that with others. But also know this is, it is hard for us 

to still even comprehend or wrap our mind around what you are 

going through and what others like your families are going 

through. 

So our hope is meetings like this, hearings like this, can encourage and push those entities that are doing these horrible atrocities 

to stop, to free your husbands and to make sure that this doesn’t 

happen to anyone else’s husband. So thank you for being here. 

I’ll look forward to hearing more of what we can do and, hopefully, seeing some positive results in very difficult circumstances. 

So thank you, Chairman. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. I thank Chairman Hultgren for coming but also for 

his great work that he does as chairman of the Lantos Human 

Rights Commission. He does wonderful work there including on 

human rights abuses in China. So thank you, Randy. 

I would like to now ask Chen Guiqui if you could provide your 

testimony. 

STATEMENT OF MS. CHEN GUIQIU, SPOUSE OF XIE YANG 

[The following statement and answers were delivered through an 

interpreter.] 

Ms. CHEN. Honorable Chairman Chris Smith, Honorable Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and 

International Organization Representatives, ladies and gentlemen, 

I am the wife of human rights lawyer Xie Yang. 

I would like to thank God, the Trump administration, ChinaAid 

Association, and the hardworking diplomats. I also want to express 

my gratitude toward Representative Chairman Smith as well as 

other politicians and the friends who are concerned with the development of human rights and the judicial system in China. 

With your help, my two daughters and I escaped from the jaws 

of death and arrived in the United States, the land of freedom. 

With your help, I am able to stand here to speak on behalf of the 

victims in China who do not have a voice. 

I would like to give you a better idea of human rights conditions 

in China. And the next I will—with the help of Bob Fu to help me. 

So I have a request to submit the torture record of my husband 

7

and also my husband’s declaration on January 13, 2017, about his 

torture as part of the record. 

Mr. SMITH. Without objection, all of those additions will be made 

a part of the record and that goes for all of our wives. Whatever 

it is you’d like to become a part of the record will be, without objection. 

Ms. CHEN. Thank you so much. Xie Yang represented dozens of 

cases on behalf of the downtrodden, including poor Chinese citizens 

who have had their houses or land seized from them without compensation, dissidents, members of China’s religious communities, 

and other marginalized and persecuted groups. 

Due to his work defending human rights, he was jailed and brutally tortured. After Xie Yang was arrested by national security 

agents in Changsha and placed in secret detention for 6 months, 

his captors brutally tortured him attempt to make him confess and 

provide evidence against his colleagues. 

The methods of torture included beatings delivered in rotation by 

a roster of guards, exhausting interrogations for over 20 hours at 

once, having cigarette smoke blown into his face and eyes, starvation, dehydration, and the refusal of medical treatment for his illness. To force him to surrender, his interrogators even threatened 

to arrange a car accident to injure his wife and children. He was 

beaten by a prison guard named Yuan Jin during his detention. 

On November 21, 2016, his defense lawyer, Zhang Chongshi, visited Xie Yang for the first time and witnessed Yuan Jin beating 

him while he was waiting. Xie Yang’s head swelled up and began 

to bleed. 

Inmates who have been released from his detention center told 

me that he was not allowed to access money so he could not even 

buy toothpaste and toilet paper, not allowed to communicate with 

others. 

He was purposely singled out. The guards specifically arranged 

for criminals sentenced to death to live with Xie Yang so that he 

would be beaten up and harassed. The publication of Xie Yang’s 

torture account has had an immediate impact both inside China 

and internationally, as I just submitted today. 

Xie Yang’s court session was held on May 8, 2017. None of the 

witnesses showed up. None of the defense lawyers I hired showed 

up. I did not even receive a notice of the court session. Instead, Xie 

Yang attended the session with an official lawyer appointed by the 

government. The friends who planned to witness the court session 

were seized and arrested by the national security agents. 

Xie Yang was forced to admit his guilt and deny the torture he 

suffered in the detention center. Regarding the fact that he was not 

allowed to see his lawyer for 16 months or communicate with the 

outside world, he was forced to acknowledge that his rights were 

protected. He was bailed out after the court session but still has 

not regained freedom. The national security agents followed him 

wherever he goes. 

I strongly hope the Honorable President Trump and the U.S. 

Congress can immediately and effectively urge China’s central government to investigate the actual facts behind the torture of those 

arrested in the 709 crackdown, simultaneously enacting legal sanctions against those who practice torture. 

8

I request that China clearly ensures that other incarcerated prisoners of conscience do not continue to receive harm. I call on President Trump to conscientiously implement the Global Magnitsky 

Human Rights Accountability Act, punishing those who we have irrefutable evidence of them practicing torture and infringing on 

human rights. 

I earnestly request that President Trump meet with the family 

members of the Chinese people who have suffered before he goes 

to China, as he’s visiting with them publicly with this concern for 

China’s worsening religious freedom, rule of law, and human rights 

conditions. 

I also ask that he publicly give China’s leaders a list of prisoners 

of conscience and to free the 709 case’s victims. 

Chen Guiqui. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Chen follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Ms. Chen, thank you so very much for your testimony 

and, again, for you and all of the wives for your bravery. 

We’d like to now ask Wang Yanfang. So Ms. Wang. 

STATEMENT OF MS. WANG YANFANG, SPOUSE OF TANG 

JINGLING 

[The following statement and answers were delivered through an 

interpreter.] 

Ms. WANG. Honorable Chairman Smith, Honorable Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and 

International Organizations representatives, ladies and gentlemen, 

my name is Wang Yanfang, wife of human rights lawyer, Tang Jingling. 

I would like to express my gratitude to Representative Chris 

Smith, Senator Marco Rubio, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Representative Hultgren, and many other Representatives, as well as 

Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid Association, for your attention to 

and support of my husband and many other victims of human 

rights abuse in China. I would like to request the committee to archive my husband’s report on the violation of human rights in Chinese prisons. The rest of my testimony will be read by Jasmine 

Chia Shih. 

As the institution of religious freedom, rule of law, and human 

rights continues to deteriorate in China, support for the victims of 

the international community is very valuable and precious. 

This is also an important milestone in joint endeavors to maintain universal values all over the world. In the past few decades, 

people of many countries terminated their seemingly powerful and 

long-lasting autocratic regimes through nonviolent resistance and 

fulfilled the transition from autocracy to democracy. 

My husband is a well-known human rights lawyer. He is also the 

initiator and a keen advocate of the civil disobedience movement. 

He is dedicated to promoting the civil disobedience movement, hoping to bring forth a democratic and free China. In 1995, the national security police began to monitor Tang Jingling after he expressed his lifelong mission to promote democracy in China. In 

1999, he published an article on China’s democratization in 

Guangzhou. Then, he was forced to leave the big law firm he was 

working for. 

As a human rights lawyer, he’s been involved in many major 

cases of human rights abuse, political rights abuse, and workers’ 

rights abuse. For example, in 2003, a petition was initiated to abolish the internment and repatriation regulations and cancel the 

temporary residence permits policy after college student Sun 

Zhigang’s death. Tang Jingling served as the legal counsel. In 

2004, he was the defense lawyer for the two people charged in the 

Xingang labor unrest case in Dongguan. 

In January 2005, he defended the newly elected village head in 

the Shibi Third Villagers’ campaign to remove old village officials. 

In August 2005, he was one of the key lawyers in the case of the 

Taishi villagers’ campaign to remove village officials. Due to his involvement in human rights cases, the authorities forced his law 

firm to terminate his employment and suspended his lawyer’s license. 

28

In 2006, he planned to attend an event in the U.S., but he was 

stopped at customs and his passport was confiscated by the police. 

He’s still not allowed to leave the country to this day. After losing 

his lawyer license, he participated in many human rights cases as 

a citizen, including the poisonous vaccine lawsuit, the investigation 

of Li Wangyang’s death, and many other cases involving land property, forced demolition, and so on. 

My husband graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 

1993. He began to participate in law in 1998. He lost his lawyer 

license in 2005. Due to his work in human rights protection during 

the Jasmine Movement in February 2011, he was charged with inciting subversion of state power and was detained in a black jail 

where he was threatened and tortured, including extensive sleep 

deprivation for 10 days in a row. He was allowed to sleep for 1 to 

2 hours a day after he began to have some dangerous symptoms 

like trembling all over, numbness in both hands, and heart discomfort until he was released on August 2, 2011. 

He initiated and promoted the civil disobedience movement to 

seek justice for people at the bottom of the society. But his wife 

was forced to lose her job in May 2008. 

During his detention in February 2011, I was forcibly brought to 

Conghua and detained. They took my phone, bruised my arms, and 

didn’t allow me to notify my family and lawyer, which caused my 

severe depression and poor health. Then the police tricked my 

mother to go to Guangdong to take care of me, and I was put under 

house surveillance for a long time. I was not allowed to meet with 

any family and friends. I was not even allowed to leave my home. 

More than 20 people took turns watching me. I was completely isolated from the outside world for almost 5 months. When my husband was released, my physical and mental health had been severely damaged. 

On May 16, 2014, Tang Jingling was criminally detained on the 

charge of ‘‘picking quarrels and provoking troubles’’ and was arrested on June 20 with the charge of ‘‘inciting subversion of state 

power.’’

On September 23, his mother passed away on hearing of his arrest. His lawyer and I applied to bail him out to attend his mother’s funeral. But the authorities ignored everything on legal, moral, 

and humanitarian levels and rejected our request. They didn’t notify him of her death until October and caused deep sorrow. The 

authorities forbade his lawyer to meet with him for 6 months while 

his case was being transferred to the procuratorate. 

During the 2 years in the detention center all communication 

was banned. There was no way to guarantee his rights. 

On January 29, 2016, he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment 

with the charge of inciting subversion of state power. He’s serving 

the sentence in Huaiji Prison, Guangdong Province. 

Since he was arrested in August 2013, I was put under 24-hour 

surveillance, which brought huge emotional pressure and fear to 

me. However, I’ve been appealing for my husband. I request the release of him. 

On July 1, 2014, I went to Hong Kong to attend a demonstration 

and appealed in the media to urge people to pay attention to Tang 

Jingling and other prisoners of conscience like Yuan Chaoyang and 

29

Wang Qinqying. I was threatened by the police after returning to 

Guangdong and my freedom was restricted during the so-called 

‘‘sensitive’’ period. After the massive arrest of human rights lawyers on July 9, 2015, I got in touch with families of arrested human 

rights lawyers and went to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate 

with them. 

In August, I was not allowed to leave home. Since Tang Jingling 

worked as a lawyer more than a decade ago, he participated in 

many human rights cases and promoted civil disobedience movement. Consequently, he lost his lawyer license. He was detained, 

monitored, arrested, tortured and sentenced, and I lost my job, was 

harassed, summoned, monitored, and detained. 

Today, other 709 case lawyers are still suffering from such torture. Many prisoners of conscience are still unable to meet with 

their lawyers and families. Christian churches are still being shut 

down. Christians are still being detained and sentenced. 

Thus, I sincerely plead with President Trump and the U.S. Congress to urge the Chinese Government guarantee Tang Jingling’s 

right to meet with his lawyer and his right to reading, communication, medical treatment, and food with enough nutrition as well as 

ensure that Tang Jingling, Wang Quanzhang, Jiang Tianyong, Wu 

Gan, Yuan Xinting, and other 709 case lawyers and prisoners of 

conscience have their basic human rights in prison and make certain that they are not being tortured and are released to reunite 

with their families. 

I hope President Trump can meet with families of the victims in 

the U.S. before his visit to China, talk about his attention to China’s worsening religious freedom and human rights situation during his visit, and give the list of prisoners of conscience to the Embassy. 

I believe this is also an important action to maintain universal 

values all over the world. 

Thank you. Wang Yanfang. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Wang follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Thank you so very much for your very moving statement. 

And I would like to now yield such time as you may consume to 

Ms. Jin. 

STATEMENT OF MS. JIN BIANLING, SPOUSE OF JIANG 

TIANYONG 

[The following statement and answers were delivered through an 

interpreter.] 

Ms. JIN. Honorable Chairman Chris Smith, Honorable Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and 

International Organizations Representatives, ladies and gentlemen, 

thank you very much for your attention to my husband Jiang 

Tianyong’s suffering. 

Jiang Tianyong is a Chinese human rights lawyer. He began to 

advocate for human rights in 2006, representing hepatitis B patients, AIDS patients, and numerous Falun Gong practitioners. 

In order to promote the legal rights of lawyers, he contributed to 

the direct election of the Beijing Lawyers Association and exposed 

corruptions within the Beijing judicial system, such as blackmailing and racketeering. I am willing to provide photographic evidence of our heavy surveillance surrounding our house in China 

and also the audio recording of my husband when he was disappeared during the Jasmine Revolution. 

On October 29, 2009, Jiang Tianyong participated in a U.S. congressional hearing and spoke on the main theme, which was the 

problem with China’s legal system and religion. 

I am bearing witness to how the national security police retaliated against our entire family as a result of this testimony. 

Ever since Tianyong was forced to stay home on sensitive dates, 

such as meetings of the National People’s Congress, the Political 

Consultative Conference, June 4, which is the anniversary of the 

1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, or during important political 

leaders’ visits to China, he could only get out of the house by taking their police cars. I have videos to verify all of this. 

Beginning on February 15, 2011, Tianyong disappeared for 2 

months during the Jasmine Revolution. He was brutally beaten, 

deprived of sleep, forced to watch CCTV news, sing songs, and recite patriotic articles to praise the Chinese Communist Government, and write thousands of pages of repentance letters. The videos can serve as evidence. 

On May 3, 2012, five national security agents from the Haidian 

District, Beijing, represented by Du Yuhui, beat Tianyong up when 

he attempted to visit the barefoot lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, at the 

hospital. Tianyong temporarily lost his hearing due to the perforation of his left ear’s tympanic membrane. The police repeatedly 

took Tianyong away for questioning and threatened him, saying 

that our child could not go to school if he refused to cooperate. 

They also said that I, as his wife, could be affected as well. The 

long-term harassment and threats consumed me. 

I even thought of suicide. My child’s mental condition was severely disrupted. Desperate, I brought my daughter to the U.S. in 

May 2013. 

43

On March 20, 2014, the local national security agents arrested 

Tianyong again in Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang while he was representing Falun Gong practitioners. The police broke eight of 

Tianyong’s ribs during the 16 days of detention. I have the diagnosis from the hospital as proof. 

On November 21, 2016, Jiang Tianyong disappeared on his way 

back to Beijing after visiting the family members of lawyer Xie 

Yang. Now the government has already banned him from meeting 

with lawyers for 178 days and we do not know where he is detained. Tianyong’s parents have been put under surveillance. The 

national security agents follow them wherever they go. According 

to the news on May 12, 2017, Tianyong has been tortured, and his 

legs are too swollen to walk. 

In order to safeguard human rights and the universal worth of 

defending legal rights, I strongly hope the Honorable President 

Trump and the U.S. Congress can immediately and effective urge 

China’s central Government to investigate the actual facts behind 

the torture of those arrested in the 709 crackdown, simultaneously 

enacting legal sanctions against those who practice torture and request that China clearly ensures that other incarcerated prisoners 

of conscience do not continue to receive harm. 

In addition, I want to mention that Tianyong has already received a letter confirming his political asylum in the United States. 

I hope that President Trump can negotiate with the Chinese Government during his visit and let Tianyong reunite with me and my 

daughter. 

May 19th is Tianyong’s 46th birthday. I hereby make a wish on 

behalf of Tianyong and our family. I hope he can regain freedom 

so his aging parents would not have to worry constantly and his 

daughter could have her wish fulfilled and embrace her father. 

I hope I can forever set aside my heart, which anxiously worries 

about Tianyong, and a tranquil and merry life can come to our 

household. 

Thank you. Jin Bianling. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Jin follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Ms. Jin, thank you so very much. 

I would like to now yield to Ms. Li. 

STATEMENT OF MS. LI CHING-YU, SPOUSE OF LEE MIN-CHE 

[The following statement and answers were delivered through an 

interpreter.] 

Ms. LI. Chairman Smith, members of the committee, good afternoon. I am Li Ching-Yu, wife of Li Ming-Che. 

I would like to thank each of you for upholding and defending 

the values of freedom and democracy, values that human rights activists, including my husband, have dedicated their entire lives and 

energies to. I would also like to express my gratitude toward all the 

congressmen, especially Chairman Royce and Chairman Smith, 

who strive to maintain and further secure the implementation of 

the Taiwan Relations Act. 

I am deeply honored to be here today alongside these three respectable women who have gone through such perilous situations 

for the cause of democracy and human rights. 

It’s after hearing about their journeys that I realized how fortunate I am as a Taiwanese. I further understood the blessings of our 

democracy, which exists today, thanks to the support of the U.S. 

Government and all the 20th century Taiwanese human rights activists, as mentioned by Chairman Royce in the March 14, 2014, 

hearing on the TRA. 

My husband, Li Ming-Che is from a—is from a Chinese refugee 

family that emigrated to Taiwan following the nationalist government in 1949. 

His background and emotional connection to China have contributed to his supports of Chinese human rights efforts. From 2012 

until his disappearance, he gave online lectures through WeChat 

on the democratization of Taiwan and the history of the White Terror period. He also managed and contributed to a social justice 

fund for the purpose of financially supporting Chinese political 

prisoners and their families experiencing economic hardship that 

stemmed from their support of the values of freedom, justice, and 

democracy. 

On March 19, 2017, while on an annual visit to China to meet 

with people he worked on the fund with, my husband was subjugated to enforced incommunicado detention. It’s been 61 days 

since I last saw him. I am concerned. I am concerned about his 

health, for he suffers from high blood pressure. I am concerned for 

his safety. I do not know where he is for the Guangdong government has refused to disclose the location of his detention. 

The deprivation of my husband’s liberty by the local Guangdong 

government is arbitrary and transgresses Articles 9, 19, and 20 of 

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Cross-Strait Joint 

Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, and 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

It was not long after my husband’s enforced disappearance that 

I learned about his detainment from a middleman. Since current 

cross-strait relations are highly abnormal, many such cases that involve Taiwanese people being detained or arrested in China are 

settled through brokers. These brokers for the most part represent 

48

the interests of the PRC. I was shown a copy of a letter that was 

written under involuntary circumstances by my husband. 

This letter was in the hands of Li Jun-min, a representative of 

the PRC Taiwan Affairs Office. He threatened me, insisting that I 

cancel my trip to Beijing and also silence myself. Li expressed 

clearly that the detention originated as a result of the provincial 

government of Guangdong’s desire to show its strict enforcement of 

the newly-passed foreign NGO management law. He threatened 

that if I were to go to Beijing, the local Guangdong government 

would release a video of my husband admitting to having committed criminal actions. 

The U.S. has long insisted that its policy of no negotiation with 

terrorists is to be firmly followed. I also believe in that policy. I 

refuse to negotiate with a broker on such unequal grounds. If I did, 

it would be harmful and shameful to my family, my country, and 

my fellow human rights activists. 

Additionally, to my great disappointment, the Chinese Government has unreasonably revoked my travel visa, even though I have 

clearly and calmly explained that I only wanted to travel to better 

understand the situation. 

China’s position toward human rights and the rule of law is drastically different from that of Taiwan and other civilized democratic 

countries. China should not assume that their military and economic growth could force Taiwan to be annexed by it. 

If China maintains that my husband’s actions of spreading the 

values of democracy and aiding the family of members of political 

prisoners can pose a threat to its national security, I believe the 

people of Taiwan will become not only more certain of their unwillingness to be annexed but also hesitant to preserve a close relationship with China. It has only been around 20 years since Taiwan 

successfully overthrew the White Terror’s one-party dictatorship. 

So it is highly unlikely that we will be willing to accept another 

despotic government. 

I have no other choice but to come and stand before you to ask 

for help from you. United States of America is the leading democracy in the free world. It was built upon the unalienable rights of 

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

The U.S. has long been the protector of justice, freedom, and democracy everywhere. It has accepted the moral obligation to aid 

people deprived of their natural rights. The American Congress’ 

unwavering dedication toward these values has influenced many 

countries including my home country, Taiwan, to embrace the spirit of human rights and democracy. 

The U.S. Congress has also voluntarily taken the responsibility 

as specified in Section 2, Clause 3 of the Taiwan Relations Act, to 

preserve and enhance the human rights of the people of Taiwan. 

Therefore, I stand alone before you today to plea for your help 

for my husband. I am pleading to the United States to continue to 

act as according to the TRA. I am pleading the United States to 

continue to support the value of which it has always unbendingly 

defended. I am pleading to the United States to continue to uphold 

the values of which it was formed upon. I am pleading to the U.S. 

Government to pressure China to recognize the provincial governVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:51 Jun 22, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AGH\051817\25459 SHIRL
49

ment of Guangdong’s illegitimate detention of my husband, Li 

Ming-Che, and free him. 

Thank you. Li Ching-yu. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Li follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Ms. Li, thank you very much as well for your testimony. 

Finally, the Taiwanese Government is working behind the scenes 

to resolve the case of Li Ming-Che, although I am sure such efforts 

are hindered by Taiwan’s complicated diplomatic ties with Beijing. 

As I’ve said before, Taiwan is an important democratic ally and 

a beacon of peace and democracy in Asia. The U.S. should remain 

committed to the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as 

the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations. Political issues between 

China and Taiwan should be resolved through appropriate mechanisms between the two sides. The Chinese Government’s decision 

to detain Li Ming-Che singled Chinese officials’ willingness to 

break its international human rights obligations for political gains, 

again, needlessly straining the cross-strait ties. 

We do have a video, about a 4-minute video. It was sent to us 

by the wives of lawyers of Li Heping and Wang Quanzhang. It features Wang Qiaoling and Li Wenzu and it will now play for us. 

[Video shown.] 

Thank you so very much for those insights, horrible and brutal 

as they are, concerning the torture. 

Let me ask a few questions and then I will yield to my colleagues 

for any questions they might have, and first of all, let me begin by 

saying to Ms. Jin how heartbroken I and others are over your husband’s incarceration. 

I will remind members of our subcommittee that your husband 

testified on November 10, 2009, at a hearing that I chaired. He 

very much wanted to present testimony as a human rights lawyer. 

It was the Tom Lantos Commission and I was chairing that hearing, and without objection, his testimony from that hearing will be 

made a part of this record as well. 

But he was very firm, very clear in his testimony. He talked 

about working with Chen Guangcheng on behalf of women who had 

been subjected to the brutality of the one-child-per-couple policy—

a policy that treats women as chattel and kills their children and 

does so right up into the 9th month of pregnancy. As we all know, 

under that brutal policy there are now missing about 62 million females, a direct result of sex-selection abortion, causing huge disparities in the male-female ratio. 

But, as you know, Ms. Jin, your husband bravely tried to defend 

the women from this assault and for that he was incarcerated. 

I would add to that that he returned to China—and this underscores something that has to come out of this hearing and all of our 

efforts going forward. He went back to China. President Obama 

was in Beijing. He asked and thought he had a meeting with him 

along with some of the other human rights lawyers. He did not. 

And hours after the President of the United States left on Air 

Force One, he was arrested and his horrific ordeal that continues 

to this day continues. 

It shows, in my opinion, that there is a consequence for being so 

brave, which is why we are all concerned about you and your husbands and the fact that at the highest levels of government, and 

this appeal is to the President of the United States today and the 

Vice President, Mike Pence, that our voice has to be clear. 

55

We have to look Xi Jinping and other top leaders in the eye, have 

names, lists, the way Reagan did, and did so effectively during the 

worst days of the Soviet Union, when there was always a list of 

dissidents, human rights activists, and Jewish refuseniks that he 

would tender to the leaders of the Soviet Union, and those people—

not all, but many of them got out and for many others the torture 

was ameliorated because we paid attention to what was going on. 

I would also add that we will ask President Trump—we will 

present him with your testimonies—and Vice President Pence—and 

ask him to meet with you and I would add we would ask him to 

meet with the five daughters as well and a few other very notable 

human rights activists who have suffered for their convictions in 

China. 

We had five daughters here presenting testimony in 2013. We 

called it the Five Daughters Hearing. They all had a dad who was 

incarcerated and subjected to torture. We asked President Obama 

to meet with them so that when he met with Hu Jintao, and after 

that Xi Jinping, he would have their cases and their pleas, their 

appeals, often through tears, uppermost in his mind to convey that 

agony to the leader of the Chinese Government. 

We tried for months to arrange that meeting. At the end of about 

6 months we were told by the White House he doesn’t have the 

time. 

Now, if President Trump and Vice President Pence gives the 

same indifference, same answer, which I think is a callous disregard for suffering people, I will be here at this podium speaking 

out against that lack of concern and empathy for suffering people. 

Those young ladies said at that hearing President Obama has 

two daughters—he’ll understand what it’s like for a daughter to 

speak on behalf of her father. You, as wives, are doing exactly the 

same and I want you to know we, in this subcommittee, both sides 

of the aisle, have nothing but concern and empathy for each and 

every one of you, for your husbands, for your families. 

And just a couple of very quick questions. When your husbands 

are incarcerated, and many of you spoke about this—Ms. Wang, 

you spoke of being severely damaged physically and mentally because of your husband’s incarceration. The Chinese dictatorship 

knows that when they arrest your husbands or any dissident or 

prisoner of conscience the whole family goes to jail. 

They know that the friends of the family of the incarcerated individual goes to jail as well. All the more reason why we need to significantly up our voices, make our voices much clearer in Congress 

and at the White House, at the State Department, and added to 

that, we need to use the tools that are at our disposal from Country 

of Particular Concern for religious believers, sanctioning the Government of China for its egregious human rights violations on religious freedom, use the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and make 

them a Tier 3 country, which they deserve to be for the government’s complicity in human trafficking which is bad and getting 

worse. 

And then for the political dissidents like your husbands, who represent a cross-section of suffering individuals in China, including 

labor rights. There is no doubt that China does not respect ILO 

standards—International Labour Organization standards—from 

56

collective bargaining to even paying a decent wage, and with impunity they crush independent trade union efforts. We have had at 

our hearings in the past leaders of that movement come and testify 

and say, yes, they have a labor union run by the government—it 

is a farce. 

So my question would be the impact on the families and also, if 

you would, speak to your hopes and expectations of what we might 

do next. 

Again, I think you’ve said it in your testimonies—implement our 

laws. We have a toolbox filled with the capacity to hold China to 

account. Magnitsky is just the latest iteration of a tool that can’t 

stay in that toolbox. And the Chinese Government must know, collectively as a government and individually, those who commit these 

crimes need to be held to account and we have the tools to do it. 

So yes, Ms. Chen. 

Ms. CHEN. I have the latest news today. Those public security officers threatened my husband and the family members that if I do 

not return to China, they will give him a heavier sentence. So I 

feel, even in the United States, I don’t feel safe, and I am haunted, 

and I really seek protection by the U.S. 

Mr. SMITH. Would anybody else like to comment before I yield to 

Mr. Castro? Yes. 

Ms. CHEN. So I call upon the U.S. Government to express to the 

Chinese Government to stop the—this kind of brutal persecution 

against the victims of the 709 cases and their family members and 

to restore their dignity. Because the Chinese Government is also a 

signatory country of the anti-torture international covenant. So I 

want to call upon the Chinese Government to release the videos of 

during these victims’ incarceration and to show what they have 

gone through. 

And because all the family members of the 709 cases and others 

persecuted, their children are stopped by the Chinese Government 

for education and schooling, and President Trump has his own children, so I do hope he can meet with ours. We can express that to 

him face to face, and also our family members inside China. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Jin. 

Ms. JIN. By June 1st, it is already 6 months of my husband, 

Jiang Tianyong’s, enforced disappearance. Right now, both of his 

parents are being monitored and followed closely. They were forced 

to write promises that they would not communicate or have any 

contact with me. Of course, we just heard from Ms. Wang Qiaoling, 

the wife of Li Heping, who revealed the torture he had experienced. 

Jiang Tianyong also had been experiencing torture. 

And the similar experience of being drugged was also shared by 

other recently released human rights lawyers, like Li Chunfu, like 

Li Shuyun, and, of course, Li Heping. And to the point attorney Li 

Chunfu was even tortured with serious mental illness. 

Even last night, the Chinese official microblog, Weibo, showed a 

short video clip. On that video, it shows my husband, Jiang 

Tianyong, was kind of walking, and on that video, it claims that 

Jiang Tianyong was not tortured. But when I observed that short 

video, I noticed on the legs, both legs of Jiang Tianyong the kind 

of black and blue marks are still there on his legs, and his face has 

been very swollen and his right arm cannot move when he walked. 

57

So I could not believe what the government claimed, that he was 

not tortured. So I am deeply concerned about what’s happening 

with Jiang Tianyong and his well-being and his life, and even until 

today he was denied lawyer’s visitation. And further, Jiang 

Tianyong has already been approved as a U.S. asylee, granted by 

the U.S. Government in 2016 already. But the Chinese regime refused to let him exit from China. I hope President Trump can really express this point with the Chinese leaders and plead with the 

Chinese Government release Jiang Tianyong and to have family reunion here in the United States with us. 

Today is Jiang Tianyong’s birthday. My daughter and I have 

been here for 4 years but we have never met again. My daughter 

is really, really eager to hug her daddy. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Mr. Castro. 

Mr. CASTRO. I think they just called votes and so I want to say 

thank you to each of you for your courage and your bravery in coming here to Congress and telling us your stories. 

I hope that you’ll continue to give us counsel and guidance on 

how you believe the United States can be more helpful as it comes 

to China and the issue of human rights and we, in turn, will monitor not only your situations and the situations of your husbands 

but also of others who are going through similar things in China. 

And as I mentioned earlier, this should be an effort not only for 

the United States but also for the allies of the United States 

around the world. 

So your suggestions on how you believe that the friends of the 

United States, those nations who also believe in strong human 

rights can be helpful with respect to China and ensuring that 

China is a place that respects the human rights of its people and 

the freedoms of its people. Thank you for being here. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Castro, thank you very much. 

Mr. Garrett. 

Mr. GARRETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

It’s troubling as I review the remarks of the ladies here today 

and consider that not only were the victims of the 709 crackdown 

jailed and subsequently tortured because they were brave enough 

to take a stand in favor of human rights but that in fact it would 

appear that a meeting planned with the United States President 

may have been a pretext for an arrest of other individuals in 

China. 

As a member of this subcommittee, I understand that when we 

hold hearings such as this it is our responsibility to try to work to 

help people. But it is my fear that your courage in being here 

might be used as a pretext again to hurt people. 

With that said, I understand that as one Member of 435 and one 

of two chambers in a legislative body there is only so much that 

I can do. But I want to be abundantly clear for the record and for 

these brave women. To the extent that I have the ability to cast 

a vote that will deal favorably or unfavorably with the regime 

based on how it treats its own citizens and people who seek to affect positive human rights changes, I will consider their actions 

when I make my vote. 

58

To the extent that I have the ability to put forward policy that 

will shape the United States policy as it relates to nations based 

on how they treat their citizens and other citizens, I will consider 

these things in how I advance policy. 

And to the extent I am able to influence my colleagues and the 

executive branch of this government as it relates to relations with 

foreign nations to include dominant global forces such as the People’s Republic of China, I will consider how they treat their people 

and other people as it relates to human rights when I seek to exert 

that influence. 

We shouldn’t convene committee hearings to help people that we 

know have the potential to lead to greater harm to people without 

ensuring the folks that we seek to help, you all, that we will do everything in our power to make sure that all we can effect that is 

good is affected. 

With that, I offer my admiration and my thanks for the courage 

of these ladies, my encouragement for people who, in China as everywhere, seek basic human rights as outlined in foundational 

American documents—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—

but as aspired to by people across the globe and promise that within my small ability to make a difference I will side with human 

rights and with people who have suffered like yourselves wherever 

possible and I appreciate the chairman for creating this opportunity and I commend your courage, and to the extent it is appropriate you have my prayers and my promise to do what I can. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Garrett, thank you very much for that very 

strong statement. And you are right, they all have our prayers as 

well as everything we can do as a committee in a bipartisan way 

and as a Congress to assist your husbands and the other lawyers. 

I remember years ago at a Northern Ireland hearing we had a 

woman whose husband was murdered—a human rights lawyer 

named Patrick Finucane—and the bottom line was that by killing 

and hurting lawyers who are really one of the last protections that 

citizens have to exercise due process rights and to get their case 

to resolve grievances, the Chinese Government is going for the jugular with this and I think all of us in the Western countries need 

to realize that our voices have to be raised higher and louder and 

more effectively than ever before. 

And as I said before, every tool that we have in our toolbox needs 

to be deployed on behalf of your husbands. If the lawyers are silenced, where does any aggrieved party go for help? 

Even in a flawed rule of law country like China, still, as your 

husbands did, you effectuated change. They spoke on behalf of victims and, in some cases, got durable remedy. 

So I want to pledge to you that we will all continue. We will 

make that request of the Trump administration, that you meet 

with him and with the Vice President, and we will do that immediately by way of letter and by way of phone calls and visits because he needs to look you in the eyes so that when he looks Xi 

Jinping in the eyes, he has your husband and your interests right 

there front and center. 

So if there is anything you would like to add in terms of what 

we might have missed, this is your opportunity before we run over 

to vote. 

59

We are joined by Chairman Mark Meadows. But if there is anything that you would like to add before we conclude. Yes, Ms. 

Wang. 

Ms. WANG. I would like to add on to what we hope the U.S. Government will be doing. My husband, Mr. Tang Jingling, was not 

participating in anything illegal. These are recognized by both the 

international community as well as China. 

Although he is sentenced to 5 years, I hope that he could be released. Mr. Tang was incarcerated due to his participation in nonviolent civil disobedience, and that resulted in his mother’s death. 

I hope he could come home and visit his elderly father. I hope 

the U.S. would put extra emphasis and follow these situations of 

human rights victims or political prisoners and their families who 

are being persecuted. Because these actions are a violation of 

human rights, we hope that the U.S. Government will bring these 

concerns to the Chinese Government. The torturing of all the incarcerated people should stop. They should also stop the persecution 

against their families, lawyers, and their children. They should also 

stop their persecution against Christians, Buddhists, Falun Gong, 

or other religious groups. 

Thirdly, I would like to request that the Ambassador to China, 

Beijing would meet with these victims and families of these victims. 

I would also like to ask that before President Trump meets President Xi he would also meet with the families of these victims who 

reside in the U.S. 

Thank you very much. 

Ms. LI. My husband’s incidents have caused a panic among Taiwanese NGO workers. I hope the United States could strongly pay 

attention to my husband’s incident because all NGO workers 

around the globe might face the same situation. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Without objection, a letter signed by several scores—I think 

there are about 40 scholars on behalf of your husband—will be 

made a part of the record. It includes a very diverse group of people, including the former the chief of staff for one of our colleagues, 

Senator Claiborne Pell, and without objection this will be made a 

part of the record. 

Anybody else before we close? And Mark, would you want to—

Ms. Jin. 

Ms. JIN. I have another small request. I hope the U.S. Government can raise this issue and ask the Chinese Government to 

launch an independent investigation on the torture against the 

lawyers in the 709 cases, and especially the torture method of 

being drugged. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. I would like to yield to my good friend and colleague, 

Mr. Meadows. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you once again 

for being a voice for so many people who don’t have a voice. 

I mean, there is one person out of 435 Members that is a champion and that is not to be disrespectful of my colleagues. I think 

he would recognize that there is a champion who always wants to 

make sure that he reaches out, and you are recognized by both 

Democrats and Republicans, and I just want to say thank you. 

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But for each one of you, I want to also say that with my colleague opposite from a Democratic perspective but also on the Republican side that we will work in a bipartisan way to address 

these atrocities and these human rights violations. And I can assure you, at the very highest levels of our Government, they will 

be made aware of the personal tragedy that you have had to endure and so I just wanted to say that for the record that your testimony here today is meaningful and it will be shared in the appropriate way. 

And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Meadows, thank you very much and I really appreciate your work on behalf of human rights that has been longstanding and particularly as a member of this subcommittee. 

Thank you. 

The hearing is adjourned and I thank you all very much. 

[Whereupon, at 4 o’clock p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS


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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS


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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

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