U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
Hearings on “Access to Information and Media Control in the People’s Republic of China” and “The Memorandum of Understanding
Between the United States and China Regarding Prison Labor Products”
Are you interested in receiving regular updates about the Commission's activities via fax or email, or would you like to update your contact information or unsubscribe to our updates? Please email your contact information to contact@uscc.gov.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Erik Pederson (202) 624-1487
June 5, 2008 epederson@uscc.gov
Web site: www.uscc.gov Nick Barone (202) 624-1484
nbarone@uscc.gov
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will conduct two public hearings the week of June 16 -- the first on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 on “Access to Information and Media Control in the People’s Republic of China,” and the second on Thursday, June 19, 2008 on “The Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and China Regarding Prison Labor Products.” Both hearings will be held in Room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building, located at Delaware and Constitution Avenues, NE, Washington DC 20510.
The June 18 hearing will seek to examine the ways in which media censorship and restrictions on publicly-available information within China can affect the economic, diplomatic, and security relationships between China and the United States. The June 19 hearing will address the formal agreements between the United States and Chinese governments vis-à-vis products made with prison labor, and seek to determine the status of Chinese government compliance with these agreements.
Scheduled to testify on June 18 are: Dr. Randolph Kluver, Director of the Institute for Pacific Asia at Texas A&M University; Ms. Lucie Morrillon, Washington Representative of Reporters Without Borders; Mr. Dan Southerland, Vice President for Programming and Executive Editor of Radio Free Asia; Col. Susan Puska (USA-Ret.), Defense Group Inc.; Mr. Xiao Qiang, Director of the China Internet Project at the University of California-Berkeley; Dr. Ronald J. Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab-Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Principal Investigator for the OpenNet Initiative; Dr. Peter Gries, Harold J. & Ruth Newman Chair in US-China Issues at the University of Oklahoma; Dr. Perry Link, Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University; Mr. Charles Freeman, Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Mr. Gilbert Kaplan, Partner at the Law Firm of King & Spalding, Legal Representative for the California First Amendment Coalition.
Scheduled to testify on June 19 are: Mr. Harry Wu, Executive Director of the The Laogai Foundation; Mr. Gary Marck, Partner of Marck & Associates; and Mr. Dan Ellis, Attorney for the Law Firm of Lydy & Moan, Legal Representative for Marck & Associates. Representatives from the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the State Department have been invited to testify. A copy of the agenda is attached at the end of the press announcement.
Hearing Co-Chairs: Commission Chairman Larry Wortzel and Commissioner Jeffrey Fiedler will co-chair the June 18 hearing, Chairman Larry Wortzel and Commissioner Peter Videnieks will co-chair the June 19 hearing.
What: Public Hearings on “Access to Information and Media Control in the People’s Republic of China” and “The Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and China Regarding Prison Labor Products”
When: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 8:30 am to 4:45 p.m., and Thursday, June 19, 2008, 8:30 am to 11:45 am
Where: Room 418, Russell Senate Office Building, Delaware and Constitution Avenues, NE
Washington DC 20510
Panelists’ bios and written statements will be available on the Commission’s Web Site at www.uscc.gov on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.
Reservations are not required to attend – seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Visit the USCC website, www.uscc.gov, for transcripts of previous hearings, commissioned research reports, the Commission’s annual reports to the Congress, and other information about the Commission’s activities.
Hearing on “Access to Information and Media Control in the People’s Republic of China”
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Room 418, Russell Senate Office Building Delaware and Constitution Avenue, NEWashington, DC 20510
As of June 5, 2008
Hearing Co-Chairs: Chairman Larry Wortzel and Commissioner Jeffrey Fiedler
08:30 am Panel I: Congressional Perspectives
- Members of Congress (Invited)
09:00 am – 10:15 am Panel II: Information Control and Media Influence Associated with the Olympics
- How have preparations for the Olympics affected the efforts of the PRC government to control domestic and international perceptions of China’s domestic situation and foreign engagements?
- Is the PRC government honoring its previous pledges of media freedom made in association with its bid to host the Olympics?
- Dr. Randolph Kluver, Director, Institute for Pacific Asia, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
- Ms. Lucie Morrillon, Washington Representative, Reporters Without Borders, Washington, DC
10:30 am – 11:45 am Panel III: Information Control and Media Influence Associated with China’s Ethnic Unrest and Outbreaks of Infectious Disease
- How does the PRC government seek to control information about social unrest resulting from social problems (land seizures, pollution, etc.), and in what ways are the internet and new technologies being used as tools of mobilization by civil society groups?
- How does the PRC government seek to control information, both domestically and internationally, about domestic ethnic unrest (in Tibet, Xinjiang, etc.)?
- Mr. Dan Southerland, Vice President for Programming and Executive Editor of Radio Free Asia, Washington, DC
- Col. Susan Puska (USA-Ret.), Defense Group Inc., Washington DC
11:45 am – 12:30 pm Lunch Break
12:30 pm – 1:45 pm Panel IV: Access to the Internet and the Participation of U.S. and Western Firms in Chinese Internet Controls
- What are the ways and means by which the state controls publicly-available content on the internet?
- What has been the involvement of U.S. firms in facilitating control of the internet by the PRC government?
- Mr. Xiao Qiang, Director, China Internet Project, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
- Dr. Ronald J. Deibert, Director, Citizen Lab-Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Principal Investigator for the OpenNet Initiative
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm Panel V: Popular Chinese Nationalism and Its Relationship to Chinese State Media
- What are the main ways in which popular Chinese nationalism is expressed, and how does its expression affect U.S.-China relations?
- How does the Chinese government oscillate between fostering nationalism and xenophobia for purposes of domestic political mobilization and then impose restraints on their expression because they are potential threats to social order?
- Dr. Peter Gries, Harold J. & Ruth Newman Chair in US-China Issues, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
- Dr. Perry Link, Professor, East Asian Studies at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm Panel VI: Information Controls as a Potential WTO Violation
- Can Chinese government information controls (particularly applied to financial services sector information) be considered as a WTO violation?
- What are the U.S. government’s and the European Union’s views on this question, and how and why do they differ?
- Mr. Charles Freeman, Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC
- Mr. Gilbert Kaplan, Partner, Law Firm of King & Spalding, Washington, DC, Legal Representative for the California First Amendment Coalition, San Rafael, CA
Hearing on “The Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and China Regarding Prison Labor Products”
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Room 418, Russell Senate Office Building
Delaware and Constitution Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20510
As of June 5, 2008
Hearing Co-Chairs: Chairman Larry Wortzel and Commissioner Peter Videnieks
08:30 am – 09:00 am Panel I: Congressional Perspectives
- Members of Congress (Invited)
09:00 am – 10:15 am Panel II: Prison Labor in China’s Prison System
- What is the current status of prisoners and prison labor in China’s prison and “laogai” system?
- What kinds and quantities of products produced by China’s prison labor have been exported for sale in the United States?
- Mr. Harry Wu, Executive Director, The Laogai Foundation, Washington, DC
- Mr. Gary Marck, Partner, Marck & Associates, Toledo, OH
- Mr. Dan Ellis, Attorney, Law Firm of Lydy & Moan, Toledo, OH, Legal Representative for Marck & Associates, Toledo, OH
10:30 am – 11:45 am Panel III: Chinese Compliance with the Prison Labor MOU -- Administration Perspectives
- What are the provisions of the agreements between the United States and China regarding export to the United States of products made by prison labor in China?
- What is the state of compliance by China with the Prison Labor MOU?
- Representative, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (Invited)
- Representative, U.S. Department of State (Invited)