FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2003
Contact:
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency, is disappointed
that a scheduled visit to China in early August 2003 could not proceed
as planned due to unacceptable last-minute conditions imposed upon
the Commission's visit by the Chinese government.
Since its inception, the Commission has made several formal requests
for an official invitation to visit China. In December 2002, at
the U.S.-China bilateral human rights dialogue in Beijing, the Commission
was informed that Chinese officials conveyed to Assistant Secretary
of State Lorne Craner the Chinese government's decision to
invite the USCIRF to visit China. The Commission believes that a
successful visit is in the mutual interests of the United States
and China, and should have gone forward with the full access to
relevant areas and people as was promised to Assistant Secretary
Craner.
Since February 2003, when the Commission began negotiations with
the Chinese government regarding the parameters of a visit, the
Commission made it clear that Hong Kong was an integral part of
the visit. The Chinese government has always assured the United
States that Hong Kong is an open city not requiring special access.
The USCIRF was also given assurances by Chinese Embassy staff that
Hong Kong would not be a problematic part of our itinerary. The
Commission proceeded with that assumption until two weeks ago when
it was informed that the Chinese government "strongly discouraged"
our visit to Hong Kong. The Chinese government's position
then moved from discouragement to "insistence" that
the Commission drop Hong Kong from its itinerary.
"This action on the part of the Chinese government suggests
a degree of Chinese control over foreign access to Hong Kong that
is unprecedented and in contradiction to the concept of ‘one
country, two systems.' It further raises the concern that
just six years after the handover, Hong Kong's autonomy is
already seriously in doubt. As a commission concerned with religious
freedom and related rights, we cannot possibly accede to such a
condition," said USCIRF Chair Michael K. Young.
In addition, the Commission is deeply concerned that just one week
before the Commission delegation's scheduled arrival in China,
the Chinese government did not provide the Commission with an itinerary
of confirmed meetings with government and Communist Party officials
responsible for religious policy and its implementation in each
of the places the Commission requested. Nor did the Commission receive
assurances it would be able to visit prominent religious houses
of worship and meet privately with religious leaders. Instead, the
Commission was simply told that there would be meetings appropriate
to the important nature of its visit.
In light of the circumstances and last-minute limitations that
the Chinese government imposed, the Commission could not accede
to the conditions and the trip was postponed.
"The Commission fully anticipates and hopes that the Chinese
government will honor its commitment to Assistant Secretary Craner
and allow the trip to proceed as originally promised," said
Young.
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