The Hill News

The United States should take a harder line with China on human rights issues, a panel of experts told members of Congress during a hearing Tuesday.

Witnesses at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing described a noticeable deterioration in human rights and the treatment of political prisoners.

{mosads}Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), the commission’s chairman, echoed witness suggestions that the United States should be doing more to confront China on human rights.

“There ought not to be a case in our relationship with China when we don’t press the issue of human rights,” Dorgan said.

Joshua Rosenzweig, senior manager for research and Hong Kong operations at The Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group, said recent statistics suggest that as many as 1,500 Chinese were convicted on ‘political’ charges in 2009, more than triple the number convicted in 2004.

And the punishments for such crimes have become in! creasingly harsh in recent years, Rosenzweig said.

“There is mounting evidence that a crackdown is under way,” he said.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said the increasing rate at which ‘political’ punishment is inflicted on foreign citizens is especially worrying.

Richardson said the United States should be “profoundly concerned” with the Chinese government’s approach to ‘political’ crime because of the implications for other aspects of the U.S.-China relationship.

“Until peaceful dissent is tolerated, [China] cannot be expected to be predictably transparent or stable,” Richardson said.

Richardson called for a “strong, explicit” statement from Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and suggested that President Obama welcome former Chinese political prisoners to the White House as a signal of support.

Jerome A. Cohen, New York University Law professor and co-director of the U.S.-Asia ! Law Institute, said that while the scope of the problems in Ch! ina was “breathtaking” and negotiations with China on human rights have been “unimpressive,” there are many things the United States can be doing to address the issue.

Rosenzweig emphasized the need for a clear, consistent message on human rights in negotiations with China.

“The Chinese government may not agree with us all the time on human rights, but they respect a consistent message,” Rosenzweig said.

“Disagreements can be expected, but engagement must be about more than simply ‘agreeing to disagree,’ ” he added.

Dorgan said the panel’s testimony suggested “an important moment” in the U.S.-China relationship. If China wants to become a world leader, he said, the country’s approach to human rights must change.

“If you’re going to be a player on this world stage, and China certainly is, we believe there are certain responsibilities attached to that,” he said.