John Whitehead's Commentary
Standing Silent as the Blood of Chinese Christians Flows
The People's Republic of China, like the United States, has a McDonald's, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Hard Rock Café. Other major American multi-corporations also operating in China, including General Motors, Boeing, Microsoft, Motorola, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart, have made millions for themselves and the Chinese government. Hungrily gobbled up by Americans, these items are produced by a people who are routinely terrorized by their own government with no regard for their rights or living conditions.
"Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread and was reported in many state institutions as well as in workplaces and homes," Amnesty International noted in its report on China. "The victims included people detained on suspicion of criminal and political offences, bystanders at protests, migrant workers, vagrants and women suspected of prostitution. Common methods of torture included kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation."
Confronted with accounts of China's inhumane treatment of its people, leading U.S. politicians continue to insist that our ability to influence change--in what has been a totalitarian regime for over fifty years--depends upon continued trade relations with China. Yet, as the U.S.-China Security Review Commission's 2002 report to the U.S. Congress indicates, the U.S. may very well be reinforcing China's practices. As the report states, "Many leading experts are convinced that certain aspects of our policy of engagement have been a mistake. They argue that the PRC faces enormous economic and social problems, that its leaders are intractably antidemocratic, that they are hostile to the U.S. and its prominent role in Asia, and that we are strengthening a country that could challenge us economically, politically and militarily."
If this is so, the U.S. government's practice of pouring millions of dollars in foreign aid and other benefits into the Chinese government seems to be accomplishing little in the way of relief for the Chinese people. Indeed, recent information smuggled out of China indicates an increasing persecution of religious people--namely, Chinese Christians. This is graphically illustrated in a series of disturbing photographs, smuggled out of the country and available for viewing at here, in which Chinese policemen, hoping for a promotion, allowed themselves to be photographed torturing Christians.
These grisly photos show, for example, a Chinese policeman standing over Sister Aizhen Miao, a house church believer who has been forced to kneel on a brick. The policeman is gripping the back of her head with one hand and applying an electric cattle prod to her cheek, as Sister Miao expresses great pain.
Another photo shows a man lying on the floor shirtless, while a policeman digs his boot heels into the prisoner's arms, forcing him to wince and, thus, open his mouth. The next photo reveals three policemen forcing water into the man's mouth in an attempt to swell his stomach. Again, the pain is evident.
The reported cases of persecution are also revealing. A prime example is Sister Ma and her family. One night in May 2001 as they were sleeping, Chinese police burst into their home and arrested Sister Ma, as well as her son and daughter-in-law. "They used the electrical prods on me all over," she said. "They wanted to humiliate us." Their crime? Sister Ma has a house church. As a result, dozens of church members were also arrested and beaten with clubs, jolted with cattle prods and burned with cigarettes. "When they fainted," writes Bob Fu in The Voice of the Martyrs magazine (June 2003), "buckets of water were poured on them to revive them. Interrogators stomped on the fingers of male prisoners and stripped off the clothes of young women prisoners and abused them."
Ma Yugin, interrogated for the same "crime," refused to give in to her torturers. As Nicholas Kristof writes in The New York Times (Nov. 26, 2002), "She never broke when she was tortured with beatings and electrical shocks. Even when she was close to death, she refused to disclose names of members of her congregation or sign a statement renouncing her Christian faith."
Such persecution of religious individuals has been common in China for more than half a century, where people--whose only crime is worshiping God--are routinely burned with cigarettes, beaten with clubs and otherwise martyred for their faith. Nevertheless, these persecuted Christians remain steadfast.
Ironically, in the first half of the twentieth century, although thousands of Christian missionaries were allowed to proselytize freely in China, they left a negligible imprint of their faith. However, the coming of the Communist state and persecution has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese Christians. For example, in 1949 there were 834,000 Chinese Protestants. By 2000, there were approximately 80 million in the house church movement alone.
While the Chinese constitution declares that citizens shall enjoy freedom of religious belief, that so-called freedom can only be exercised within the walls of the state-approved church. This, of course, makes the growing house church movement the enemy of the Chinese government and, therefore, illegal. The intent is to force religious doctrine to conform to the dictates of the Communist state. Thus, if a house church does not register with the state and come under its control, its worship services are terminated and its leaders arrested and sent to labor camps.
As a proponent of democracy, the U.S. government cannot afford to turn a blind eye to such atrocities--if not for the sake of human rights, then for American survival. "If China becomes rich but not free," concludes the U.S.-China Security Review Commission, "the United States may face a wealthy, powerful nation that could be hostile toward our democratic values, to us, and in direct competition with us for influence in Asia and beyond."
In other words, China--which operates largely with U.S. money--is a monster in the making. This is certainly no great secret, as the facts are widely reported and known to both President Bush and Congress.
As the U.S.-China Security Review Commission reported, "They consistently limit the freedom of the Chinese people to obtain and exchange information, practice their religious faith, to publicly express their convictions, and to join freely organized labor unions. Chinese leaders frequently use nationalistic themes to rally support for their actions, including crackdowns on dissenters."
Some of the techniques are eerily familiar, as American dissenters and religious groups come under increasing scrutiny by U.S. agencies. Could it be that the U.S. has not chosen to stop funding an inhumane regime because some of our leaders obviously don't find its practices all that reprehensible? Or, perhaps given our greed and lack of moral backbone, is it simply easier to watch as heads are cracked and blood flows rather than risk our own hides?
Either way, this moral dilemma of epic proportions must be addressed by those who run the American government. One limited remedy may come through the courts, which have been asked to decide whether U.S. corporations can be sued for human rights abuses that occur abroad in connection with their foreign business dealings.
However, if there is any hope, it must start at the top. Indeed, if President Bush is really serious about freeing people from oppressive regimes, China is definitely the next place to start.
"Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread and was reported in many state institutions as well as in workplaces and homes," Amnesty International noted in its report on China. "The victims included people detained on suspicion of criminal and political offences, bystanders at protests, migrant workers, vagrants and women suspected of prostitution. Common methods of torture included kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation."
Confronted with accounts of China's inhumane treatment of its people, leading U.S. politicians continue to insist that our ability to influence change--in what has been a totalitarian regime for over fifty years--depends upon continued trade relations with China. Yet, as the U.S.-China Security Review Commission's 2002 report to the U.S. Congress indicates, the U.S. may very well be reinforcing China's practices. As the report states, "Many leading experts are convinced that certain aspects of our policy of engagement have been a mistake. They argue that the PRC faces enormous economic and social problems, that its leaders are intractably antidemocratic, that they are hostile to the U.S. and its prominent role in Asia, and that we are strengthening a country that could challenge us economically, politically and militarily."
If this is so, the U.S. government's practice of pouring millions of dollars in foreign aid and other benefits into the Chinese government seems to be accomplishing little in the way of relief for the Chinese people. Indeed, recent information smuggled out of China indicates an increasing persecution of religious people--namely, Chinese Christians. This is graphically illustrated in a series of disturbing photographs, smuggled out of the country and available for viewing at here, in which Chinese policemen, hoping for a promotion, allowed themselves to be photographed torturing Christians.
These grisly photos show, for example, a Chinese policeman standing over Sister Aizhen Miao, a house church believer who has been forced to kneel on a brick. The policeman is gripping the back of her head with one hand and applying an electric cattle prod to her cheek, as Sister Miao expresses great pain.
Another photo shows a man lying on the floor shirtless, while a policeman digs his boot heels into the prisoner's arms, forcing him to wince and, thus, open his mouth. The next photo reveals three policemen forcing water into the man's mouth in an attempt to swell his stomach. Again, the pain is evident.
The reported cases of persecution are also revealing. A prime example is Sister Ma and her family. One night in May 2001 as they were sleeping, Chinese police burst into their home and arrested Sister Ma, as well as her son and daughter-in-law. "They used the electrical prods on me all over," she said. "They wanted to humiliate us." Their crime? Sister Ma has a house church. As a result, dozens of church members were also arrested and beaten with clubs, jolted with cattle prods and burned with cigarettes. "When they fainted," writes Bob Fu in The Voice of the Martyrs magazine (June 2003), "buckets of water were poured on them to revive them. Interrogators stomped on the fingers of male prisoners and stripped off the clothes of young women prisoners and abused them."
Ma Yugin, interrogated for the same "crime," refused to give in to her torturers. As Nicholas Kristof writes in The New York Times (Nov. 26, 2002), "She never broke when she was tortured with beatings and electrical shocks. Even when she was close to death, she refused to disclose names of members of her congregation or sign a statement renouncing her Christian faith."
Such persecution of religious individuals has been common in China for more than half a century, where people--whose only crime is worshiping God--are routinely burned with cigarettes, beaten with clubs and otherwise martyred for their faith. Nevertheless, these persecuted Christians remain steadfast.
Ironically, in the first half of the twentieth century, although thousands of Christian missionaries were allowed to proselytize freely in China, they left a negligible imprint of their faith. However, the coming of the Communist state and persecution has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese Christians. For example, in 1949 there were 834,000 Chinese Protestants. By 2000, there were approximately 80 million in the house church movement alone.
While the Chinese constitution declares that citizens shall enjoy freedom of religious belief, that so-called freedom can only be exercised within the walls of the state-approved church. This, of course, makes the growing house church movement the enemy of the Chinese government and, therefore, illegal. The intent is to force religious doctrine to conform to the dictates of the Communist state. Thus, if a house church does not register with the state and come under its control, its worship services are terminated and its leaders arrested and sent to labor camps.
As a proponent of democracy, the U.S. government cannot afford to turn a blind eye to such atrocities--if not for the sake of human rights, then for American survival. "If China becomes rich but not free," concludes the U.S.-China Security Review Commission, "the United States may face a wealthy, powerful nation that could be hostile toward our democratic values, to us, and in direct competition with us for influence in Asia and beyond."
In other words, China--which operates largely with U.S. money--is a monster in the making. This is certainly no great secret, as the facts are widely reported and known to both President Bush and Congress.
As the U.S.-China Security Review Commission reported, "They consistently limit the freedom of the Chinese people to obtain and exchange information, practice their religious faith, to publicly express their convictions, and to join freely organized labor unions. Chinese leaders frequently use nationalistic themes to rally support for their actions, including crackdowns on dissenters."
Some of the techniques are eerily familiar, as American dissenters and religious groups come under increasing scrutiny by U.S. agencies. Could it be that the U.S. has not chosen to stop funding an inhumane regime because some of our leaders obviously don't find its practices all that reprehensible? Or, perhaps given our greed and lack of moral backbone, is it simply easier to watch as heads are cracked and blood flows rather than risk our own hides?
Either way, this moral dilemma of epic proportions must be addressed by those who run the American government. One limited remedy may come through the courts, which have been asked to decide whether U.S. corporations can be sued for human rights abuses that occur abroad in connection with their foreign business dealings.
However, if there is any hope, it must start at the top. Indeed, if President Bush is really serious about freeing people from oppressive regimes, China is definitely the next place to start.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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