House Committee Condemns Human Rights Abuses in China

On March 9, the House International Relations Committee approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (H. Con. Res. 83) urging the U.S. representatives to the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a resolution calling upon the government of the People’s Republic of China to end its human rights violations in China.

Sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• According to the State Department, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and international human rights organizations, the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses against the Chinese people;
• The Chinese government continues to impose a coercive birth limitation policy that relies on the threat of job loss and punitive fines, and has included the use of forced abortion and forced sterilization;
• The coercive birth limitation policy has led to sex-selective abortion, the abandonment and infanticide of baby girls, and a disproportionate number of male children in China;
• The disproportionate number of male children in China has already led to the reported abduction and trafficking of women as “brides” in some areas, and will have serious and detrimental sociological impacts on China for years to come; and
• The trafficking in persons remains a serious problem within China, and reports persist of complicity by local officials in trafficking, alien smuggling, and prostitution involving trafficked women.