On March 10, 2020, Republican Congressman Chris Smith spoke at a policy forum on organ harvesting and extrajudicial executions in China, held on Capitol Hill. (Samira Bouaou/The Dajiyuan)
[People News] Two heavyweight Republican members of Congress have called on the Trump administration to support a lawsuit alleging that Cisco’s technology aided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
According to a report by English-language Dajiyuan journalist Eva Fu, in a letter dated October 29, Representatives Chris Smith and John Moolenaar—who respectively chair the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party—urged the administration to press the Supreme Court to allow the case to proceed to trial.
Falun Gong practitioners filed the case in 2011, accusing the California tech giant of playing a major role in designing and building China’s vast surveillance network, thereby exacerbating the CCP’s sweeping persecution of the faith group that began in 1999.
The plaintiffs stated that, with Cisco’s assistance, the CCP built the “Golden Shield Project,” a nationwide platform enabling the regime to identify and monitor Falun Gong practitioners in real time, leading to their arrests and torture. According to the complaint, the system also created detailed profiles of practitioners (and suspected practitioners), including their locations, family members, and contacts.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice centered on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. In the 1990s, it attracted between 70 million and 100 million followers. During the nationwide persecution, many were arbitrarily detained, subjected to forced labor, torture, and even killed through organ harvesting.
Lawmakers’ Letter to the Solicitor General
The two congressmen addressed their letter to U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, writing: “The allegation that an American technology company customized tools for the CCP to assist in persecuting a religious minority is extremely serious. We believe the plaintiffs deserve the opportunity to substantiate their claims.”
Sauer represents the U.S. government’s position in cases before the Supreme Court, which is currently reviewing Cisco’s petition to dismiss the case. The Court has sought Sauer’s opinion, and he is expected to submit a written brief early next year.
Smith and Moolenaar said Cisco’s argument that the lawsuit could harm U.S. foreign policy is “entirely without merit.” They wrote, “Members of Congress have long made it clear that U.S. companies must not be complicit in the CCP’s human rights abuses.”
They noted that during a 2006 congressional hearing, Smith and other lawmakers questioned a Cisco executive about the company’s role in aiding human rights violations through its technology.
Cisco Technology and the “Golden Shield Project”
A leaked 2008 Cisco marketing PowerPoint presentation revealed that the company promoted the Golden Shield Project as a tool for “public network information security monitoring,” with one of its key focuses being the “crackdown on Falun Gong.”
In their lawsuit, more than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners—including U.S. citizens—described their arrests and severe torture, saying that Cisco’s technology played a facilitating role.
Smith told The Dajiyuan: “This case is an example of the tragedy caused when an American company develops technology for the CCP—mass persecution, harassment, intimidation, and even torture.”
The lawmakers’ letter cited a recent Associated Press (AP) investigation into Cisco and several other U.S. technology companies, finding that their roles in enabling human rights abuses were “far greater than previously known.”
The letter stated: “These newly revealed facts show that such lawsuits are necessary tools to ensure corporate compliance with U.S. policy.”
At the core of the case lies the question of whether U.S. companies like Cisco should be held accountable for providing technology developed domestically but used abroad to facilitate human rights violations.
In July 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a lower court’s dismissal of the case, ruling that the plaintiffs’ allegations were sufficient to proceed. Cisco is now asking the Supreme Court to throw out the case.
In a statement to The Dajiyuan, Cisco said the company “has long been committed to upholding and respecting human rights for all people.” It added, “If the Ninth Circuit’s 2023 decision stands, it would open the door to lawsuits against U.S. companies merely for lawfully exporting off-the-shelf products and services.”
Human Rights Law Foundation Executive Director and lead plaintiffs’ attorney Terri Marsh thanked the lawmakers for their support.
She told The Dajiyuan: “Representatives Smith and Moolenaar have powerfully demonstrated how the Cisco lawsuit advances key congressional policies.”
Marsh said the case would “further strengthen the Trump administration’s stance against the use of U.S. technology to support China’s military and against technology-driven authoritarianism.” △
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