VALUES AND PHILANTHROPY
Religious Freedom Activists Have High Expectations for Bush's China Trip
By MARK O'KEEFE
c.2002 Newhouse News Service
 
February 14, 2002
WASHINGTON -- When President Bush visits China Feb. 21-22, he will be the
guest of one of the world's worst persecutors. It's a place where those
who practice their religion without government approval are subject to
surveillance, harassment, imprisonment, labor camp, torture and even
death.

With fresh evidence that the plight of the faithful is worsening, human
rights activists are calling on Bush to aim a bright spotlight on China's
abysmal record of mistreating the Falun Gong, evangelical Christians,
Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and imprisoned Roman Catholic bishops.

"Here's a chance to really step out and make a point about human rights,"
said Michael Young, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom, a government entity that advises the president.

"This is the time when convictions become something more than wishes.
This is the time when convictions become policy."

Religious freedom activists had high expectations when Bush took office
more than a year ago. Those hopes have not been realized, experts say,
because of the administration's focus on the war on terrorism, pressure
from businesses operating in China and delay in filling an ambassadorship
that focuses solely on religious persecution.

While few question Bush's personal commitment to religious freedom,
patience is running low in some quarters.

Even Young, a staunch Bush supporter, calls the administration's
performance "a little uneven," not only in China, but in other countries
where the United States has documented state-sponsored persecution of
religious believers.

Others go further.

"Unfortunately, I have failed to note any significant policy change under
George W. Bush from that of the previous three administrations," said
Steven Snyder, president of International Christian Concern, a
Washington-based human rights group.

Young's nine-member commission has urged Bush to appeal directly to the
Chinese people during his visit. In a Jan. 31 letter, the commission
suggested an approach similar to President Reagan's in 1988, when he
passionately spoke to students at Moscow State University about the
United States' commitment to defending their human rights.

Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the National Security Council, which is
coordinating Bush's China visit, said that advocating religious freedom
is "on the agenda." But he provided no details.

"He'll raise those issues he feels need to be raised in the manner he
feels it needs to be addressed," McCormack said.

McCormack said Bush raised concerns about religious freedom when he met
privately with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in October.

Activists want more. In written testimony Wednesday before a House
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, Young publicly
unveiled the commission's recommendations for a new religious freedom
policy in China. They include:

-- Using every diplomatic opportunity to urge the Chinese to stop using
torture, detention, intimidating surveillance and "other unconscionable
practices."

-- Proposing and promoting a resolution to censure China at annual
meetings of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

-- Ensuring that religious freedom is a prominent agenda item during
every state visit with the Chinese, whether in China or the United
States.

The U.S. State Department lists China, Burma, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and
Sudan as "countries of particular concern," meaning they are
"particularly severe violators of religious freedom."

The language and categories come from 1998 legislation that made
promoting religious freedom abroad a permanent objective of U.S. foreign
policy. In addition to creating the commission, the law authorized a new
State Department office devoted to religious freedom, headed by an
ambassador-at-large. But the ambassador's post has been vacant since
President Clinton's appointee resigned months before Bush took office.

Bush's appointee, John Hanford, was confirmed Jan. 25 by the Senate,
after extended delays. Hanford is likely to begin his duties before the
end of the month.

"Our job isn't only to promote this in foreign policy, but to integrate
it, to make it part of the wallpaper," said Thomas Farr, who has run the
office in the interim. "We're not there yet. That will be the challenge
of the ambassador."

Farr added: "The president cares about this. By that, I mean it's
something that comes from his own personal conviction. He doesn't need to
be tutored on it."

Bush recently showed concern about the plight of a Hong Kong businessman,
Li Guangqiang, who had allegedly brought 30,000 Bibles into China to an
unauthorized evangelical Christian group.

Guangqiang was charged with disseminating "cult publications," a
violation punishable by death. Since its 1999 anti-cult law, the Chinese
government has been quick to label unauthorized religious groups as
cults. Authorized religious groups, which register with the government
and agree to a wide array of restrictions, are allowed to operate.

When Bush protested, the sentence was reduced to two years, then nothing.

But pressure is building for Bush to speak out for many more believers,
including those of other faiths, said Xiqiu Fu, executive director of the
Committee for Investigation of Persecution of Religion in China, based in
Bayside, N.Y.

Of particular concern is a renewed crackdown on the Falun Gong, a large
movement that doesn't consider itself a religion but uses spiritual
exercises, and the South China Church, an evangelical group of more than
50,000 in central China.

Fu, who escaped China after serving a prison term for evangelizing, said
many believe Guangqiang got media attention, then advocacy from the White
House, because he was a Hong Kong businessman.

The same can't be said for five South China Church leaders given death
sentences in December, Fu said. Human rights groups have said charges of
rape and other crimes are bogus, based on allegations made by women
tortured by police.

"How about these five death sentences for the South China Church
leaders?" Fu asked in an interview. "I gave the State Department all the
evidence I had on them, but nobody responds."

To pressure Bush, Fu's group, in conjunction with other human-rights
organizations, on Monday released documents showing that China's ruling
Communist Party has secretly renewed harsh crackdowns on unauthorized
groups, even as it says publicly that it will give more freedom to those
who submit their faith to the government.

With the help of more than 10,000 people inside China, including
sympathetic government sources, Fu said his group collected data from 22
provinces and 200 cities, focusing on evangelical Christians and going
back to 1983. The group determined that more than 23,600 Christians have
been arrested since then, with more than 20,000 beaten and 129 put to
death.

Academic experts on China have studied the documents and said they appear
to be authentic.

(Mark O'Keefe can be contacted at mark.okeefe@newhouse.com)