When “The Best Era for Human Rights in the Great Country” Meets the CECC Report

CECC Chairman, Republican Congressman Christopher Smith, spoke at a congressional hearing on December 5. (Video Screenshot)

People News - On December 10, 2024, the world marked the 74th anniversary of "International Human Rights Day." Human rights organizations focused on China stated in the U.S. that 2024 saw an expanding scope of human rights violations and an increasing number of prisoners of conscience in China. Middle-class individuals in China are being arrested for discussing economic issues or criticizing Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. These organizations report that the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) human rights abuses against dissidents are becoming increasingly severe, leaving prisoners of conscience and activists in dire straits.

On December 20, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released its 2024 annual report on human rights and the rule of law in China. CECC Chair, Republican Representative Christopher Smith, stated: "Once again, the CECC stands with the Chinese people against the Chinese Communist Party. We have compiled a report on the CCP’s most egregious human rights violations." He also emphasized, "Notably, we have condemned Western companies complicit in these abuses, particularly those whose supply chains are tainted by forced labor. They can no longer claim ignorance."

Widespread and Brutal Human Rights Violations

According to data from the China Political Prisoners Concern Database (CPPC), over 1,700 well-known prisoners of conscience are currently detained in China, with countless others unknown to the public. Zhou Fengsuo, Chairman of Humanitarian China, said CCP statistics indicate that 5% of Xinjiang's 11 million Uyghur population—at least 550,000 individuals—have been detained for their faith. In 2024 alone, 863 practitioners of Falun Gong were newly sentenced or died due to persecution. The numbers of persecuted Christians and adherents of other faiths remain unaccounted for.

Zhou Fengsuo noted that in 2024, the CCP’s human rights abuses became more widespread, systematic, and severe, with harsher sentencing. Surveillance of dissidents and prisoners of conscience has intensified. "The scope of human rights violations continues to expand. For instance, middle-class individuals are being arrested for discussing economic issues or inadvertently mentioning Xi Jinping," he said.

CCP Claims Human Rights Are at Their "Best"

Despite this, the CCP, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and state media, has repeatedly and unabashedly declared that human rights in China are at their "historical best." On December 10, 2024, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning enthusiastically claimed at a routine press conference: "China has always placed great importance on respecting and protecting human rights. By taking a people-centered approach, we have charted a path of human rights development suited to our national conditions, achieving historic progress in our human rights cause."

What Does the CCP's "Human Rights Path with Chinese Characteristics" Mean? Mao Ning pointed to poverty eradication, "whole-process people’s democracy," and 305 pieces of legal protections as examples of China's progress. However, critics argue that these claims are a façade. From the people's perspective, the reality is widespread corruption, brainwashing, exploitation, and control by the CCP. Laws are crafted to serve the Party’s interests while suppressing dissent.

Mao Ning also condemned other nations for "politicizing and weaponizing human rights" and called for an end to "microphone diplomacy" and interference in other countries’ internal affairs.

Ironically, it is the CCP that politicizes human rights, interferes in foreign nations, steals political and economic secrets, sows discord between governments and their citizens, and operates covert police stations abroad.

The CCP Extends Its Persecution Overseas

On the eve of International Human Rights Day, at the "2024 Annual Conference on China’s Human Rights" held in the United States, Li Haifeng, the head of the San Francisco branch of the China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, specifically addressed the issue of "CCP's transnational repression." He mentioned that between June and August 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 25 overseas Chinese human rights activists whom the CCP viewed as threats. These individuals reported that CCP police had contacted them or their families in China, pressuring them to stop their activities abroad. Some individuals cited examples, such as malicious media attacks launched by certain U.S. news outlets against Falun Gong performance groups, or lawsuits against the "Flying Heaven" performance. These actions could be seen as expressions of CCP’s overseas repression. Even Shen Yun, which earned over 200 million dollars, became a target of such attacks. A successful commercial enterprise, which shows that the quality of its product is high, its audience enjoys it, and the market welcomes it, was turned into a "crime." Even students were unjustly suing teachers in a democratic country—such absurdities are unprecedented. He suggested that these malicious attacks be reported to U.S. or Taiwanese police or taken to court to determine whether these individuals were working for the CCP, whether there was CCP economic backing, or if they were CCP infiltrators and spies interfering in other countries' internal affairs.

The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released its 2024 annual report on human rights and rule of law in China, sharply exposing the CCP's evil human rights violations. CECC Co-Chair Jeff Merkley stated: "The Chinese government's (CCP) violations of human dignity not only affect the people of China but increasingly affect people worldwide, including in the United States."

He added, "The CECC has reported on these transnational human rights abuses and inspired legislation such as the Transnational Repression Policy Act. When the Chinese government refuses to acknowledge the yearning of its people for freedom and dignity, we have a responsibility to speak up for them."

CECC Report

In its 2024 annual report, the CECC provided a detailed account of the CCP's systematic human rights violations in China (PRC), including exposing the continued use of forced labor in supply chains and U.S. government procurement sources, and seeking more mechanisms to combat the import of goods produced with forced labor, such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

The report suggested that the U.S. Congress and government should provide sufficient resources to enforce laws like the UFLPA to prevent the import of forced labor-produced goods.

The CECC’s executive summary also highlighted the CCP's crimes of "organ harvesting." The report recommended that U.S. Congress pass the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 (S.761/H.R.1154) and refuse visas to Chinese doctors and researchers known to have been involved in forced organ harvesting activities before 2015.

The report noted that human rights and freedoms in China continued to deteriorate in 2024, including issues like civil liberties (freedom of speech, religion, and civil society), judicial rule of law, discrimination, abuse, human trafficking, workers' rights, and key issues related to Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Macau. The CCP's attempts to destroy the languages and cultures of minority groups, including Tibetans, Mongolians, and Uyghurs, were also discussed.

The report also mentioned several political and religious prisoners still being held in detention.

Over the past year, the CCP has continued its efforts to control, co-opt, or dismantle civil society, restricting free speech, media, and internet freedom, while continuing to harass, detain, and imprison those who peacefully participate in protests, demonstrations, and other gatherings.

Additionally, the CCP has increasingly strengthened its control over religious activities. Among the 2,764 prisoner records known or believed to include religious prisoners, 1,686 contained information about the prisoners' religious beliefs. The report noted that the CCP government this year issued legal provisions such as the Regulations on the Management of Religious Sites and the Patriotic Education Law of the People's Republic of China, which further tightened control over religious activities. The government has also cracked down on civil religious activities it deems a threat to its authority, continued to demolish or remove Islamic architectural elements from mosques, and pressured Hong Kong religious groups to comply with the "Sinicization" policy of China.

The report also pointed out that the CCP’s repression of human rights has extended beyond the mainland to Hong Kong, where freedom of speech and the space for exercising civil and political rights have gradually diminished. Once-vibrant civil society in Hong Kong now exists under a cloud of fear.

The report also provided a detailed account of the tools the CCP uses in its efforts, including cyberattacks, smear campaigns, threats against individuals, and detentions of their family members.

Now, the CCP seems to be silent; it has yet to lash out and respond furiously. It may be planning how to fabricate lies for a counterattack or might be at a loss, unable to come up with a plausible lie to counter these accusations.