Freedom in China Summit to be Held in Washington DC this week

China Aid Association

Media Advisory
1015 15th Street NW   Sixth Floor   Washington, DC
20005    Ph: 202-974-2400    Fx: 202-974-2410
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
MAY 1, 2006 8:00AM Grace Terzian, 202-974-2417;
Esther Koo 202-974-2413
FREEDOM IN CHINA SUMMIT 2006
WASHINGTON — The Hudson Institute, in conjunction
with the Institute of Chinese Law & Religion
(www.lawreligion.org), will host a summit to promote
discourse on the severely limited freedom of
expression, religious freedom, and the rule of law in
China.  Closely following President Hu Jintao’s visit
to the US, this is a rare opportunity to dialogue with
high-profile Chinese activists and dissidents who
participate in this conference despite grave risks to
their personal safety.
Participants will include internationally renowned
dissident author Yu Jie; Yang Maodong (a.k.a Guo
Feixiong), assistant to Gao Zhisheng; legal scholar
and activist Li Baiguang, and Wang Yi, author of
China’s most read dissident blog.  Gao Zhisheng, Fan
Yafeng and Zhang Xingshui also accepted invitations to
speak yet were prevented by the Chinese government
from attending the Summit.  All of the participants
place themselves in danger by taking part in this
conference and have been subjected to imprisonment,
harassment, and persecution for their efforts to bring
freedom to China.  This summit is sponsored by such
organizations as Freedom House, the Ethics and Public
Policy Center, Becket Fund, National Association of
Evangelicals, and the Institute on Religion and Public
Policy.  Opening remarks will be made by Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs, James R. Keith.
WHAT: One-day summit composed of two panel
discussions.
WHO: Panel speakers include Yu Jie, Yang Maodong
(a.k.a Guo Feixiong), Li Baiguang, Wang Yi, and Bob
Fu.  Panels will be moderated by Arthur Waldron and
David Aikman.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 2, 2006
8:30 am — 12:00 pm — Registration and Summit
12:00 pm — 12:30 pm — Media Availability
Conference
12:00 pm — 1:00 pm — Complimentary Lunch and Q & A
WHERE: Hudson Institute, 1015 15th St., NW, Sixth
Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005.
RSVP: 202-974-2413 or e-mail Esther Koo at[email protected]
MEDIA INQUIRIES:  English:  Grace Terzian
202-974-2417; Esther Koo 202-974-2413
      Cantonese/Mandarin:   Layne Cai 432-296-8833
Hudson Institute is a non-partisan policy research
organization dedicated to innovative research and
analysis that promotes global security, prosperity,
and freedom.  We challenge conventional thinking and
help manage strategic transitions to the future
through interdisciplinary and collaborative studies in
defense, international relations, economics, culture,
science, technology, and law.  Through publications,
conferences and policy recommendations, we seek to
guide global leaders in government and business. For
more information about Hudson Institute, visit our
website at www.hudson.org.
Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC),
The Institute of Chinese Law and Religion,
& The China Aid Association
Invite you to a staff roundtable discussion with
Chinese human rights activists on
Freedom in China
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
10 a.m.—11:30 a.m.
Room: 1640 Longworth HOB
To discuss these important issues, we will welcome as
expert witnesses:
Mr. Yu Jie, author of A Son of Tiananmen Square
Professor Wang Yi, Professor of Law, Chengdu
University
Mr. Li Baiguang, Director, Beijing Qimin Research
Center
Mr. Guo Feixiong, Legal Advisor, Shengzhi Law Office
Mr. Zhang Xingshui, Executive Director, Beijing
Jingding Law Firm (invited)
Mr. Fan Yafeng Senior Researcher, Institute of Studies
on Law, China Academy of Social Sciences (invited)
Mr. Gao Zhisheng, Director for Beijing Shengzhi Law
Firm (invited)
If you have any questions, please call Evan Baehr
(Rep. Wolf) at x5-5136 or Maryamu Aminu (Rep. Lantos)
at x5-3531.  This event is open to the media and the
public.
Frank R. Wolf                                       
                                Tom Lantos
Co-Chair, CHRC                                      
                            Co-Chair, CHRC
Yu Jie
Author
Mr. Yu is the author of several works in Chinese,
including Fire and Ice, a collection of essays which
first launched him into the spotlight in 1998, sold
over one million copies by 2000, and garnered high
acclaim from Chinese intellectuals.  Since, he has
earned international renown as a bold voice openly
criticizing the Chinese government and fearlessly
raising controversial issues.   In 2002, he was
awarded the Chan Foundation of Journalism and Culture
Award.  In 2003, he visited the U.S. at the invitation
of the State Department to participate in an academic
exchange program.  In 2004, he visited France to
attend a cultural exchange at the invitation of the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Currently, Mr.
Yu’s work includes international speaking
engagements, activism, and his responsibilities as a
founding member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center,
in addition to his writing endeavors.  His books have
been banned from publication in China and his most
recent work, A Son of Tiananmen Square, was published
in Hong Kong in 2005.
“From this moment on, the one who lives in fear will
not be me—it will be those fellows who hide in the
dark corners.  From this moment on, I will live out in
the sunlight.  I will live a fuller and happier
life.”
Yang Maodong (a.k.a. Guo Feixing)
Legal Advisor
Shengzhi Law Office
Mr. Yang is an independent academic, writer, and
self-educated legal advisor who gained an
international reputation as a persecuted rights
defender when beaten, arrested, and detained for his
work with Taishi villagers seeking to remove a corrupt
official from power.  He advised the villagers to
practice passive resistance and worked on their behalf
to attract the attention of the international media,
posting online news and commentary.  Mr. Yang was
detained on September 13, 2005 until December 27,
2005, when he was released without charge.  On
February 4 of 2006, Mr. Yang was beaten and detained
again for 12 hours, after which he entered into hiding
in fear for his life.  He emerged on February 8 to
issue an open letter of protest to President Hu Jintao
and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao regarding excessive use
of force, censorship, forced evictions and government
sanctioned violence against human rights attorneys.
For this letter, he was arrested once more.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and the
China Aid Association rallied to his aid, issuing
statements calling individuals and organizations to
send appeals to the Chinese government demanding his
immediate and unconditional release.  Mr. Yang was
released on February 9 and placed under residential
surveillance.
Wang Yi, Esq.
Professor of Law
Chengdu University
The censorship of pro-democracy writer Wang Yi by the
Chinese government has been widely publicized and
criticized since Mr. Yi’s web log was closed down in
the Fall of 2005, just days after being nominated for
two awards sponsored by the German radio station,
Deutsche Welle, and Reporters Without Borders.  In
2003, he was banned by the Chinese government from
teaching for 18 months, and then reinstated in March
of 2005 because, he posits, the Chinese government
“€¦can control you better if you remain in the
system.”   Mr. Yi constantly battles the internet
filters the government uses to block access to his web
log on Chinese sites and struggles to find
international internet spaces that will allow his log
to exist.  First created to display a full collection
of his work, his web log gradually developed into a
“microphone”  in which he voices his opinions on
current events through critical, eloquent essays and
commentaries.  Mr. Yi’s essays are banned from
publication in China.  He is a member of the
Independent Chinese PEN Center and lends his legal
expertise to the defense of Chinese Christians
experiencing persecution, including the case of Pastor
Cai.
“Of course it matters that the microphone has been
taken away.  But vocal chords are part of one’s body.
And the right to speak is an inalienable one; one
which is laid down in black and white in China’s
constitution.”
Dr. Li Baiguang, Esq.
Director
Beijing Qimin Research Center
Dr. Li represented the first farmer to bring an
administrative suit against China’s State Council and
has since brought legal action against the government
oh behalf of over 100,000 peasants.  A former
university professor, freelance writer, legal
professional, peasants’ right advocate and legal
scholar, he has been imprisoned three times and
intimidated on numerous occasions.  The most recent
instance of wrongful imprisonment occurred in late
2005 when Dr. Li was arrested and imprisoned for 37
days in Fu’an for providing farmers with legal advice
in their battle against illicit land seizures carried
out by the government.  Mr. Li focuses on legal
education and empowerment of the economically
disadvantaged to foster reliance on the rule of law
and promote democracy.  He is also one of the founding
members of the Association of Human Rights Attorneys
for Chinese Christians and one of Asia Newsweek’s
“Persons of the Year” of 2005.
BARRED FROM ATTENDING:
Zhang Xingshui, Esq.
Executive Director
Beijing Jingding Law Firm
Referred to as the “Gandhi of the courtroom,”  Mr.
Zhang is one of the most active civil rights attorneys
in China.  After witnessing the protest in 1989 at
Tiananmen Square, he decided that gradual change was
preferable to revolution and became a lawyer in hopes
to build a proper legal system and champion the rights
of victims of injustice.  On a case-by-case basis, he
fights and loses, but perseveres to better China by
way of its laws.  Mr. Zhang’s recent projects and
current caseload include the defense of Pastor Cai,
the representation of Tong Qimao, the defense of
dissident Li Jianping, and that of Pastor Lian
Changnian.  Mr. Zhang, like his colleagues, is closely
monitored by the security police and continues his
work despite grave risks.
Gao Zhisheng, Esq.
Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm
The subject of what is suspected to be an
assassination attempt on Jan. 16, 2006, Mr. Gao and
his family are in danger and under strict surveillance
by Chinese intelligence agents for his work as an
outspoken human rights defender in China.  Mr. Gao’s
law firm was ordered to suspend operations for one
year as a result of his defense work and his license
to practice law was also revoked by the Beijing Bureau
of Justice in December of 2005—the same bureau that
had deemed him one of the top ten attorneys of China
in 2001.  His recent projects include the
representation of Pastor Cai Zhouhua, a Christian
house church leader currently imprisoned for printing
and distributing Bibles, investigations into the
atrocities committed against the practitioners of
Falun Gong, homeowners displaced by development
projects connected to the 2008 Summer Olympics, and
the defense of democracy activists and fellow
attorneys.  Mr. Gao continues on with his work in the
face of persecution.  He was named one of the
“Persons of the Year in Asia” in 2005 by Asia
Newsweek and is one of five members of the Association
of Human Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians,
formed in January of this year.
“you cannot be a rights lawyer in this country
without becoming a rights case yourself.”
Dr. Fan Yafeng, Esq.
Senior Researcher
Institute of Studies on Law
China Academy of Social Sciences
One of China’s foremost legal scholars and advocate
for constitutional democracy, Mr. Fan has recently
increased his participation in the activist circuit
through open involvement in the defense of persecuted
Christians, working closely with Gao Zhisheng, Wang
Yi, Zhang Xingshui and Li Baiguang on cases such as
the defense of Pastor Cai, Lian Changnian, and Tong
Qimiao.  He also played a large role in calling
attention to the Taishi episode by his thorough
analysis entitled “Taishi Village Incident
Memorandum.”  In addition to his legal research, Mr.
Fan provides incisive legal commentary to the press,
is a founding member of the Association of Human
Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians, and was
selected as one of Asia Newsweek’s “Persons of the
Year in Asia” of 2005.  Mr. Fan is currently under
great scrutiny by the Chinese government for his
increasingly active role in the human rights movement.