ICC Note:

Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith announced today an initiative called the “Free China’s Heroes” initiative to highlight cases of people who have been detained or disappeared in China. Rubio and Smith are chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Rubio said, “we cannot forget the men and women who languish unjustly in prison, the family members who do not know the fate of their loved ones, and the professionals who have disappeared for simply doing their job.” Rubio and Smith highlighted the importance of the opportunity the United States has to change our foreign policy and address these human rights abuses.

4/6/2017 China (CECC) – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)—chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)—announced today the “Free China’s Heroes” initiative to highlight cases of individuals who are imprisoned, detained, or disappeared in China. These cases, among many others, should be raised during Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit this week.

In its 2016 Annual Report, the CECC documented the Chinese government and Communist Party’s efforts to silence dissent, suppress human rights advocacy, and control civil society. This repression has continued apace in 2017. These cases shed light on the human toll of the Chinese government’s crackdown on basic human rights and those who defend them.

All of the cases featured in this campaign are also part of the Commission’s Political Prisoner Database (PPD), which contains records on more than 1,400 political and religious prisoners currently known or believed to be detained or imprisoned.

“As President Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi to Florida, we cannot forget the men and women who languish unjustly in prison, the family members who do not know the fate of their loved ones, and the professionals who have disappeared for simply doing their job,” said CECC Chair Marco Rubio. “These people are not statistics, they are booksellers and pastors, writers and Nobel Laureates, lawyers and rights defenders. While recognizing the broad scope of U.S.-China bilateral relations, it is unacceptable for President Xi to get a pass on human rights. Not only is there a moral imperative to press for dissidents’ immediate and unconditional release, it also aligns with our national interests. No nation that flouts the rule of law at home and disregards the basic rights and inherent dignity of its own citizens can be trusted to be a responsible stakeholder on economic and security issues.”

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