United States: Testimony of U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall G. Schriver

On July 24, 2003, the Congressional Executive Commission on China in Washington, D.C. held a discussion entitled "Will Religion Flourish under China's New Leadership?" Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall G. Schriver, from the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs was invited to discuss the current state of religious freedom in China. In Mr. Schriver's testimony, he discussed several specific areas of concern, including registration requirements for all religious groups in China, issues of minors Xinjiang, Tibet, Falun Gong, South China Church, relations with the Vatican, North Koreans in China, numbers of believers, community activities, and potential for change under the new leadership. He also discussed the many efforts the U.S. Administration has taken to push for greater respect for religious freedom in China.

Mr. Schriver said in his testimony, "As you know, President Bush is deeply and personally concerned over the state of religious freedom in China, and he has raised his concerns in his meetings with Chinese leaders and in public remarks in China."

"Addressing Chinese students at Beijing's Qinghua University in February 2002, the President said, 'Freedom of religion is not something to be feared, it's to be welcomed, because faith gives us a moral core and teaches us to hold ourselves to high standards, to love and to serve others, and to live responsible lives.' Speaking to the strong interest we have over the situation in China, the President added, 'My prayer is that all persecution will end, so that all in China are free to gather and worship as they wish.'"

"These concerns are shared by all of us in the Department of State, and in our mission in China. Promoting respect for religious freedom is one of our top foreign policy goals. So I welcome today's hearing on this important topic, and look forward to continuing the dialogue in the future."

Mr. Schriver first described the U.S. government's assessment of current conditions in China. He said, "As you know, the Secretary of State has designated China one of six "countries of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act."

He said, "We made this designation because we found that the Government of China 'is engaged in or tolerates particularly severe violations of religious freedom' in a manner that is 'egregious, ongoing and systematic.'"

"During the last 12 months, the government's respect for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience remained poor overall, especially for many unregistered religious groups and spiritual movements such as the Falun Gong. Thousands of believers -- Catholics, Protestants, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslims, or members of the Falun Gong and other groups -- remain in prison for seeking to exercise their religious or spiritual views. Some have been tortured; many have been abused."

He said, "We remain very disturbed at the harassment and serious mistreatment of many religious believers in China, as well as by the Chinese Government's continued insistence on controlling religious activity."

Regarding the Falun Gong issue, Mr. Schriver said, "An issue well known to all of us is China's continued harsh repression of groups [...] including the Falun Gong. Various sources report that thousands of Falun Gong adherents have been arrested, detained, and imprisoned, and that several hundred or more Falun Gong adherents have died in detention since 1999. I am sad to report that the repression of the Falun Gong continues, and continues to be an issue of great concern internationally and in Washington. We have raised these issues with the Chinese repeatedly, and will continue to do so."

When discussing the potential for change under the new Chinese leadership, Mr. Schriver pointed out, "...But while we have a clear picture of who is sitting where, we have not yet seen a clear sign that the new leadership plans to grant significant new freedoms
to religious believers, or even to work with the international community on concerns over religious freedom, or concerns over human rights more generally."

"At last December's human rights dialogue, China committed to cooperate with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, as well as with the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Chinese leaders promised that all three groups would soon be visiting China, but to date no such visits have been scheduled. Some of this can be attributed to the SARS outbreak, and we acknowledge that the epidemic created obstacles to many types of exchanges. However, the worst of the outbreak is behind us, and we now expect China to move forward quickly on its commitments to work with these international bodies."

"In addition, Chinese leaders agreed last December to invite the Congressionally-chartered U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to visit China. I believe that Commissioner Felice Gaer, who will speak later, plans to go on the trip. We understand that this trip is scheduled to take place next month. We look forward to hearing the Commission's findings upon their return."

He continued, "As for the broader question on the willingness of Chinese leaders to take steps to address restrictions on religious activity in China, I can only say that we are waiting for progress in a number of key areas."

"Moments ago, I discussed the problems surrounding the registration requirements, and we have repeatedly urged China to liberalize -- or drop altogether -- these requirements, and to stop arresting those who do not register. We continue to make this demand, and to watch for a clear policy shift in this area. In addition, Chinese officials repeatedly told us that minors are free to participate in religious activity anywhere in China -- to participate in programs of religious training, and to enter places of worship. While no policy statement has emerged from Beijing, we expect China to honor its pledge to address this issue."

"So whether or not the Chinese people will enjoy greater freedom to practice and express their faith under the new leadership remains an open question. We have seen a few positive developments, but these take place in an environment where respect for religious freedom remains poor overall. We call again on Chinese leaders to honor the commitments they made to the United States last December, and to address the concerns of the international community in a more systemic, comprehensive manner"

In the end, Mr. Schriver discussed actions the U.S. government has taken to increase respect for human rights generally, and religious freedom in particular. He said, "As I mentioned at the start, the Administration has made this an extremely high priority. The U.S. Government raises religious freedom issues with Chinese leaders on a regular, frequent basis, and at all levels. President Bush discussed religious freedom in his meetings with former President Jiang Zemin. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford has traveled twice to China -- the only country he has returned to so far -- and meets regularly with Chinese officials in Washington. Other senior officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner, and U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt have all repeatedly called on China to halt the abusive treatment of religious adherents and to respect religious freedom. Ambassador Randt also raises our concerns in almost all of his public speeches, on both sides of the Pacific. The Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and the U.S. Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang all make concerted efforts to encourage religious freedom, repeatedly urging Chinese officials to respect citizens' rights to religious freedom and release those detained for the practice of their faith.

The issue of religious freedom also was raised during the official U.S.-China human rights dialogue in December, which was conducted by both Assistant Secretary Craner and Ambassador Hanford. Part of the U.S. delegation, led by the Assistant Secretary, traveled to Xinjiang to meet with Muslim clerics and government officials and to express concern that authorities were using the war on terrorism as an excuse to persecute Uyghur Muslims. Another part of the delegation, headed by Ambassador Hanford, engaged in a roundtable discussion on religion and held several in-depth meetings on religion with key policy makers.

[...]

Let me close by saying again that the situation of religious freedom, as with many things in China, is a decidedly mixed picture. China's new leadership has not yet made clear what its policy toward religious freedom in particular, and human rights in general, will be. China remains a country of particular concern, and yet we have seen a few hopeful signs. We have no illusions about China's history of hostility to religion -- and in particular to religious groups that refuse to take direction from the State. Nevertheless, we will continue to call for China to make the right choices here, and to understand clearly the President's message that China has nothing to fear from the unfettered worship of people of faith. We will also continue to make clear to our interlocutors that this is an issue that will not go away for us, that concerns over human rights and religious freedom will remain an obstacle to closer ties between China and the United States, and between China and the rest of the world."

Source: http://www.timesoftibet.tibetsearch.com/artman/publish/article_1653.shtml