humanitarian parole scheme that you americans don't understand this, when you are weak, vacillating and kowtowing they beat us more. when you are tough -- >> that was congressman smith from a couple of weeks ago with the china executive commission. they're going to gavel in here momentarily following up on the case of the blind chinese civil rights activist chen guangcheng who is imprisoned by the chinese government. fled to the embassy in beijing and is now awaiting paperwork before he travels to the u.s. live coverage here on c-span3.

committee will come to order. i want to thank all of you for joining us for this hearing to examine the status of chinese human rights offender chen guangcheng and that of his family on the those who have been targeted in connection with this case. this hearing will also focus on chen's cause. chen guangcheng is among the bravest defenders of women's rights in the world. chen defended thousands of women from the ongoing most egregious state spon spored exploitation and abuse of women in human history. pervasive forced abortion and involuntary sterilization as part of china's one child per couple policy. and has suffered as a result of his defense cruel torture, degrading treatment, unjust

incarceration, and multiple beatings. the sheer magnitude of this exploitation of women has been largely overlooked and trivialed by many and even enabled. the united nations population fund has for over 30 years supported, defends and whitewashed the crimes against women and children chen struggled to expose. that's why president reagan and more recently president bush defunded the u.n. population fund in an indefensible reversal, the obama administration has provided approximately $165 million to the u.n. fpa. mr. chen as we know was blinded by a severe fever as an infant. and is a self-taught lawyer. he garnered international attention in 2005 when he organizationed a class action lawsuit against local officials who are forcing women to undergo

abortions and sterilizations to comply with china's one child per couple policy. there were as many as 130,000 involuntarily abortions and sterilizations performed in a county in a single year. in response to his heroic efforts to defend women and men from forced sterilization and women from forced abortion, mr. chen was sentenced to 51 months in prison on trumped up charges.

are corroborating his fears. chinese officials starting breaking in the homes of his family in the same village and rounding up those who have assisted him for interrogations. when local officials and thugs broke into the home of mr.

guangcheng's his -- the day after the emergency hearing on may 4th. the chinese ministry of foreign affairs posted on their website, a chinese citizen like mr. chen may apply like other chinese citizens like other real vaent departments. the u.s. department of state announced a press release quoting the chinese government quoted that mr. guangcheng has the same right to travel abroad as any other citizen of china. mr. chen has been offered a fellowship from an american university. the chi geez government has indicated that it will accept mr. chen's application for prerpt travel documents. the united states government expects that the chinese government will expeditiously process his applications for these documents. now 11 days later, mr. chen is still in the same hospital room with his wife and two children

under defacto house arrest. although mr. chen is under the impression that his application for a passport was made last when he was visited by a chinese official and under chinese law blind persons are supposed to be able to apply orally for travel documents, he has not been notified of any further action on the application. with can exception the half-hour each morning and a afternoon that the children are escorted outside by one of the nurse, he and and his family are not allowed to leave the hospital and no one is allowed to see them. anyone who attempts to see mr. chen risks severe retaliation. a lawyer attempted to visit mr. chen many the homt. he was forcibly taken away by police officers. it was later reported that he was beaten so severely that he lost his hearing in at least one

year and has been forced to move from beijing until after the 18th party congress. he was here in the united states in october of 2009 and testified twice before the human rights commission. an amazingly heroic man. one of his recommendations was that president obama should speak with the president about freeing a number of political prisoners. chinese nationals are not the only ones being prohibited from trying to meet mr. chen. the foreign coronets club of china reported in early may that officials threatened to revoke the visas of foreign journalists

who went through the hospital without permission. a note that mr. journalists have demonstrated amazing courage and laudable perseverance in publicizing mr. chen's plight. it is largely due to their promotion of mr. chen's case that it has reached this stage of a possible travel to the united states. i would earnestly ask them not to forget mr. chen and his family and extended family and others who are risking their security and their loves on his behalf. the story unfortunately is far from over. before i turn to our panelists of distinguished witnesses to discuss the current events, i would like comments by my fellow colleagues who some are en route here part of the record without objection. i'd like to ask our witnesses if they would come to the witness table and i would introduce them to the eskimo. pastor bob fu was a leader in

tinman square and later became a house church pastor. in 1996 authorities arrested and imprisoned them for their work. after their released they escaped to the united states in 2002 and founded the china aid association. chinese monitors and reports on the -- on human rights in china. pastor fu is frequently interviewed by media outlets around the world and has testified at u.s. congressional hearings including the one on guangcheng, including the china commission and it was again bob fu whose cell phone and his translation and content made that very important connection with guangcheng on may 3rd. we'll hear from mr. chang who served two jail sentences totaling more than 18 years in china for his prodemocracy work.

he was forced into exile in 1989 but continued to advocate for human rights and democracy in china. in 1998 he became the chairman of the overseas chinese democracy coalition. an umbrella organization for many chinese democracy groups. he is also president of a foundation and the asian democracy alliance. i would note that i first met chang when he was released very briefly in 1994 in january of 1994 he was such a highly prized hoolt ever human rights advocate if china thought if they released one dissident they would prokur olympics 2000. when that didn't happen, he was rearrested and brutally beaten and tortured until his eventual release because he was close to

death. this is a truly remarkable man. when i met him in china he said something and then i'll go to the next. he said when americans and werners coddle and treat in a kowtowish way the chinese government they beat us more in the chinese prisons. when you are tough and transparent, and say what you mean and mean what you say, they beat us less. i'll never forget that lesson. he said that in hotel in january of 1994. that was before his re-arrest. she has legally represented chinese refugees in numerous political asylum cases and testified before the european and british parliaments, the white house and congress. she serves as the expert on

china's one child policy for the chinese association and human rights without frontiers which she is the president and ceo. and has issued several ground breaking reports from inside of china about the suffering caused by the enforcement of the one child per couple policy. we'll hear from the founder of all girls allowed. an organization dedicated to restoring life and dignity to girls and mothers and to revealing the gross injustice of china's one child policy. she also established the foundation and serves as one of its board members. the foundation supports the most inspiration pringsal and humanitarian efforts of students through grant opportunities. a stunt herself during the teenman square movement. one of the most wanted by the chinese government.

a very heroic candidate. she was named glamour women of the year and nominated twice for the nobel peace prize. and has saved a number of little girls who would have been subjected to self-selected abortions who are living today because of her intervention and organization. we'll hear from another woman who was born in 1958 because of the culture revolution she was unable to finish school. she and her husband were married in 1981. as a factory worker she waswork forced by the family planning commission to undergo five forced abortions. she came to the u.s. in 1999 and lives with her husband in new epg land. she has one son and lives in the united states. her dream is to return to school and to finish her education.

>> thank you for your work in championing human rights everywhere. i join you in the case of ongoing human rights in china. the case of mr. chen not only highlights these abuses but the need to evaluate the current status of u.s., china registrations. while still unfolding mr. chen appears to mark a watershed moment for u.s.-china relations. despite many serious remaining concerns i believe it's important to stress the significance of the u.s. reaching two deals on this sensitive crisis with the chinese as well as engaging in the annual strategic and economic dialogue as planned.

these talks underscore the vast array of national and economic security issues in which is u.s. and china must continue. we must continue to work toward greater understanding. with regard to north korea, iran, the south china sea, international property rights and currency manipulation. i believe efforts to improve cooperation officially and through enhanced public diplomacy will allow us to better address areas of mutual interest and those of disagreement. including the mere ad of security challenges in the serious cases of human rights abuses like the one that mr. chen has endured and those revealed in the course of his brave work. beyond bilateral engagement to address these issues the u.s. must continue to pursue engagement including the u.n. to effect positive change in china. it is important to note in fact, that the u.n. population fund in china was among the first organizations to raise mr.

chen's rights and abuse with chinese government officials. i look forward to hearing more about the status of mr. chen in ways the u.s. and international community can ensure the safety of his family and his supporters. with china facing a generational leadership change later this year coupled with major societal, economic and humanitarian issues as a result of its one child policy. iles hope we consider that the deal on mr. chen reflecks about the internal political situation in china and appropriate u.s. actions. in closing i once again want to thank the chairman for calling this important hearing and the witnesses for being here today to share their stories. thank you. >> thank you very much. i'd like to ask pos tar bob fu if you'd proceed. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you very your leadership.

thank you for the honorable congressman for your continued support on behalf of chen and his family. while we're still waiting for real progress report about the chen and his close family members, any plan or about the issuance of a passport from the chinese government today i want to focus on the plight of his extended family members and his supporters. and especially i'm deeply concerned about chen's nephew. and i want to really give you an updated report after talking with at least two of his lawyers and another legal representative in the past few days. he's the chronology for what had

happened to mr. chen. he has been you should criminal detention since april 30th. then on may 9th, he was formally arrested with the trumped up charge called intentional homicide. this is what the so-called homicide happened. after his escape last month the local official who has been directing the persecution of chen, led a group of people in a raid of the home of chen's brother. that began about 11:30 p.m. on april 26th and continued on without showing any i.d.s they broke down the door and jumped over the walls of his home. and then seriously beat him and then his wife.

their son, thought some band its had come to rob them. so he was himself after he walked out of his bedroom, he was violently attacked for at least three hours. according to the eye witnesses and his own report, he was bleeding on his face, on his head. and out of the circumstances he was purely out of self-defense. and witnessing how his parents were violently beaten up. he injured several of the attackers with the kitchen knife. and then early morning of april 2th, he himself in a conversation recorded by a reporter for 50 minutes he was

talking how he was violently attacked. he said he was waking. he called the chinese police telephone like the eviv lent of 911. he wants to surrender himself. but after waiting for a few hours, he was afraid of his life. so he walked away to a neighboring county actually at the nearby province. there he was trying to surrender to the neighboring province. at least from my conversation with one of his lawyers, on april 29th, that in a conversation he had with the

attorney he said, you know, i'm waiting and i was waiting to go to that detention center to surrender himself. and then on april 30th, obviously, he was under a criminal detention. and later on he was charged with the intentional homicide. and almost all of the lawyers who were waiting to handle his case have lost their freedom of moment or had their lawyers' license being confiscated or held by the authorities. and some of them had been simply kidnapped. i talked with a professor of law at the chinese university of political science and law last night. he said he just tried to go to beijing where that is his home

on april 12th and only found himself kicked out on the april 13th. that's the latest. and the attorney is loses his freedom. he's not allowed to travel to either beijing or shandong at all. another attorney from gaunjo -- let's see, only after the same day when he announced he will be the attorney his license was announced being held by the chinese government. he's not allowed to represent the case. based on the experience of the trial or pretrial in 2005 we

could not have any confidence that he will receive any fair trial. those cases about the supporters of mr. chen who had experienced a tremendous persecution in the past week or so to simply forbeing associated with mr. chen or being. it was one of the couple met us from beijing. and just because he tried to visit mr. chen and he and his wife who is pregnant with two month pregnancy was kept. he was invited and forced to have tea with security officers since may 10th and then because

of that harassment and the threat on may 13th, his wife had a miscarriage. of course the other individuals like ores who whom he testified before you, mr. chairman, was beaten and removed from beijing as well. there's individual who is a member of an ngo who has been raising awareness for mr. chen. but he made the -- this month he had been under a criminal

detention. right now he's being held in a district detention center right now. another activist who has been advocate and also constant visitor or trying to visit mr. chen in the past couple years and her passport recently was even declared invalid. so she has no way to even travel to overseas. and other lawyers most of them who are not able to have any freedom at the moment. so i'm very, very concerned that is chinese government especially the local authority will make trumped up charges. based on this trumped up charge and make a fake trial and

expeditiously hand him a very severe sentence and possibly ifos convicted he could be sentenced to death. where is the way out for chen guangcheng? despite of the fact that the united states and china have reached an agreement and are committed to guangcheng's freedom and security and guangcheng remains under defacto house arrest in the hospital, i talk with him pretty much twice a day until last night and this morning we lost contact. all the visitors are barred including the u.s. diplomatic representatives are not allowed to visit him. some of the chinese supporters and friends just try to visit