Congress Schedules Three Hearings to Discuss China’s Population Control Abuses

By Lisa Correnti | November 1, 2011

Beginning today Congress has scheduled three independent hearings to discuss the continued human rights abuses being reported in China as a result of the enforcement of the one-child policy.

The first being held today by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), will examine the abuse and detention of legal advocate Chen Guangcheng. Chen has been subjected to imprisonment, beatings and house arrest since he reported in 2005 that over 100,000 forced abortions and sterilizations were done to enforce the population control program in Linyi, China. Recent reports speculate that the blind human rights activist has been killed.

Witnesses scheduled to appear are NYU Law School Professor Jerome A. Cohen; Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China (HRIC); and Chai Ling, former Tiananmen Square activist and founder of All Girls Allowed.

The second hearing to be held tomorrow by the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, will discuss H.R. 2121, the “China Democracy Promotion Act of 2011” The China Democracy Promotion Act of 2011, introduced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), would give the President of the United States “the authority to deny the entry into the United States of certain members of the senior leadership of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and individuals who have committed human rights abuses in China.”

The third hearing scheduled for Thursday before the full Foreign Affairs committee will examine the results of the 2011 CECC Annual Report. The report released last month by the China commission concluded, “China’s population planning policies in both their nature and implementation constitute human rights violations according to international standards.” Women in both rural and urban areas continue to be coerced to obtain abortions by government officials when they are found to have an “unauthorized pregnancy.”

Hearing Schedule:

Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
Examination into the Abuse and Extralegal Detention of Legal Advocate Chen Guangcheng and His Family
Tuesday, November 1, 2:30 pm
2118 Rayburn House Office Building

House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement
H.R.2121: China Democracy Promotion Act of 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 3:30 pm
2141 Rayburn HOB

Foreign Affairs Committee
Hearing on CECC 2011 Annual Report
Thursday, November 3, 10:00 am
2172 Rayburn HOB

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