U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Press Release [excerpt]

August 19, 2002

[…]The text of the letter [to Mr Armitage] follows:

August 15, 2002

The Honorable Richard L. Armitage
Deputy Secretary of State

Dear Deputy Secretary Armitage:

[...]

In China, in your meetings with Chinese officials in preparation for President Jiang Zemin' October 2002 visit to the United States, we urge you to ensure that religious freedom is a prominent agenda item for discussion between Presidents Bush and Jiang. Goals and benchmarks should be established prior to President Jiang' visit in order to measure progress in the protection of religious liberty in China, which has been designated by the Secretary of State as a "country of particular concern" under IRFA. Among these benchmarks should be the release of persons confined on account of their religion or belief and an end to the detention, imprisonment, torture, and other forms of ill treatment of Protestant Christians, Roman Catholics, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and other groups, such as Falun Gong, [..]. Urging the Chinese government to take such steps would demonstrate a determination on the part of the administration to follow up on the recent visit to China of the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, from whom we await a report.

In addition, the Commission strongly recommends that you communicate to Chinese officials U.S. concerns about the situation of thousands of North Koreans who have fled to China and urge the Chinese government to abide by its international commitments to refrain from forcibly repatriating North Koreans and to grant refugee status to those who meet international criteria. In particular, there are reports that 12 North Koreans who, led by South Korean Pastor Chun Ki Won, were arrested by Chinese officials in December 2001 while attempting to enter Mongolia are now facing involuntary repatriation where they will likely face severe penalties, some say including execution, upon their return due to the international publicity surrounding their case.

We understand that there are many interests that the U.S. government must pursue in each of these countries. However, we strongly recommend that religious freedom concerns be prominent in your dialogue with their governments. This is important not least because it is the protection of religious freedom and other human rights that has proven often to be the most effective guarantor that other U.S. interests will be advanced.

Respectfully,

Felice Gaer
Chair

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to give independent recommendations to the executive branch and the Congress.