I see that we have a quorum. Before i go forward, i understand the speaker of the house, ms. Pelosi will be stopping by. I must consent that she participate at any point she rise during the hearing. There she is. Madam speaker, would you like to make some remarks . Speaker pelosi thank you very mr. Chairman. For having this hearing today. It is with Great Sadness that i come here because we had such optimism and such hope. The u. S. Congress has always spoken and the bipartisan house and Senate Democrats and republicans with one voice and defense of those being oppressed by beijing in support of freedom, justice and real autonomy for the people of hong kong. We continue to urge president to hold chinese officials abuses,ble for including taking steps under the hong kong human rights and democracy act. We must consider all tools available, including economic penalties. Here today i am very honored to join the general secretary Hong Kong Confederation of trade union. Carl peterson, law of university of hawaii. At university of washington. And virtually, electronically, nathan, legislative counsel, former member of hong kong and former chairman. For years, the world has watched in horror as beijing has accelerated its campaign to dismantle the rights and freedoms of the people of hong brutal response to peaceful protest, to the introduction of the horrific extradition law that was put in. So many times his committee, mr. Mccall, mr. Eliot engel, the senate, marco rubio, mr. Cardin over there, democrats and republicans have put the bright spotlight on what is happening. Of chinaessional chair chaired by mr. Mccubbin and cochaired by mr. Smith. Cochair chris smith has worked. Hard with hearings to have this Committee Call attention to all of this. The commission on human rights, a former chair on this committee, in a bipartisan way has called attention to all of in terms ofe years, hong kong, more specifically, leading up to 1987 and including that. And what is so sad about it is regime thinksse they can act with impunity in repressing the spirit of democracy. Outllion people turned against the extradition law. 2 Million People. That is a big crowd in the United States. But when you understand it was 25 of the population of hong kong, almost anybody who could go out showed up against what the chinese regime was going to do. They want the most horrible form. F horror i keep saying the same word. Fighting for someone who was imprisoned, for the regime to say, nobody cares, nobody pays attention or remembers you and , or why are in prison you are even there. We know why they are there. Something deep in the soul of all of us. Something the young people commemorated having to guide the democracy as their symbol. Something we have led the way on and that we cannot turn our backs on. Beijing announced its intention to pass the socalled National Security law. We were concerned and frightened. It is nothing more of an allout effort to negate the rights of the people of hong kong, in violation of the agreement made under the one country to system. We will can we were concerned of what it might be, and it exceeds even those horrors. Brutal, sweeping crackdown against the people of hong kong, intended to destroy the freedoms they were promised. Thank you to the committee for holding this hearing, which asks the question, is this the end of the one country to system . One country two system . Stated, beijings National Security law passed on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the handover of hong kong from the u. K. To china signals the death of the one country two systems principle. The purpose is to suppress the people of hong kong were peacefully demanding the freedoms they have long been owed. All freedom loving people must come together to condemn the law, which accelerates beijings years long assault on hong kongs political and economic freedom. Us mr. Smith and i have been working for three generations. Joshua, seeing the courage of these people speaking out as they have done, and to see matters just getting worse in terms of this regime. Right now we are also concerned about tibetans. The list goes on. What we were finding out this morning is that not only were they putting them in concentration camps, by social media and the rest, they were tracking them throughout the world and what their communication is with people inside. This reaches into our own country. Will say, all freedom loving people must come together to condemn this law. We must Work Together in a multilateral way to monitor the implementation of this law and hold beijing accountable for its violations of the joint declaration and the basic law. ,s i have said many times over i have said this over and over again, if we do not speak out for human rights and democratic freedoms in china, lets just talk about here, if we dont speak out for human rights and religious freedoms in china, we lose all moral authority to speak out any place. Our silence is because of commerce. We refused to speak out for human rights in china because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority. Out forrity to speak human rights anyplace in the world. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the recognition. Thank you to mr. Mccall and members for the opportunity with this unanimous consent to express some of the views which i hold to be bipartisan, bicameral in support of the people of china, in this case, hong kong. Thank you. Madam speaker, i want to thank you for your decades of fighting for human rights, particularly for the people of china. And your presence here underlines for the world the importance that america puts on the subject of this hearing. Thank you very much, and thank you for mentioning them. To members, staff and all others physically present in the room, per the guidance of the office of physician, masks must be worn at all times during todays proceedings, and are strongly advised when a member is speaking from their microphone. Please also sanitize your seating area. The chair uses these measures as a safety issue, and an important matter of order and a quorum of this proceeding. Please keep your video function on at all times if you are participating remotely, even when you are not recognized by the chair. Members are responsible for unmutiand a muting an ng themselves. Thisa few moments before was scheduled to begin, our distinguished chair could not for the first portion of this hearing. He has done an outstanding job year after hearings year. I will try to fill in for him today. I am scurrying around trying to put together an Opening Statement. I will first recognize the Ranking Member to deliver his Opening Statement after which i will recognize myself for five minutes. You, mr. Chairman and thank you madam speaker for being here, it shows how important this hearing is. You have been a steadfast champion of human rights and democracy around the world. We dont have moral authority here then we have it nowhere. I think it means a lot to us on both sides of the aisle that you have taken the time for your busy day to be here and to be in our presence. Is the 23rd anniversary of the handover of hong kong to the Chinese Communist party. Ther the bridge treaty people of hong kong were promised one countrytwo systems where they could be allowed some level of autonomy. The one countrytwo system approach worked well for many years. Recently the ccp began to the system by peeling away the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of hong kong. And then yesterday the ccp took a sledgehammer to the one countrytwo system by passing sweeping socalled National Security legislation that strips away the economy of hong kongers violating the terms for the british treaty. They view democracy, individual liberty and free markets as a threat, and have declared war on each. Unfortunately, this was not the ccps only act of little suppression. The world was made aware the Chinese Communist party is using forced sterilization, forced abortion, and courses familyplanning against ethnic minorities, including the muslims. Nots clear the ccp does care about the people of china. They only care about preserving their own power. And by brutally suppressing democracy in hong kong, the ccp is challenging the underlying assumptions that have guided the war since the world since the end of the cold war. Said, here as the speaker not as republicans and democrats, but as americans. United in our strong support for hong kong. Battle between democracy and dictatorship. Between dictatorship and between freedom and oppression. And it is a battle that the world must win. I would like to take this opportunity to speak directly to the people of hong kong. America stands with you and america will always support you. Year, when we heard you seeing our national anthem, and when we saw you carrying our american flag, we knew, and we know that you are telling us that we are not to people, but one. Both united in our belief in freedom and democracy for all. Today is not just the anniversary of the first handover of hong kong to the ccp, its also the one Year Anniversary of the heroic act by one of our witnesses here today. One year ago today, during demonstrations in hong kong, he gave a moving speech where he revealed his identity, subjecting himself to significant prosecution. I have met another one of our witnesses, nathan long. Last year when we passed the hong kong human rights and democracy act, he is an incredible young man, who along with other activists, like joshua, are risking their safety and security every day to fight for freedom. They are all commendable and i am grateful to have them with us here today. As chairman angle and i said in United Stateser, use the available tools under the hong kong human rights and democracy act and other authorities to make clear to beijing that its violations of International Commitments, and its commitments to the people of hong kong will have consequences. To i urge the Administration Issue the sanctions authorized by this congress. And with this hearing today we americas opportunity, stands in solidarity with the freedom loving people of hong kong, and will continue to be a beacon of hope for all those fighting for democracy around the world. So with that, mr. Chairman, i think you and i yield back. Consistent with House Resolution and regulation staff will only mute members and witnesses when they are not under recognition and they will do that for the purpose of eliminating background noise. We meet today to discuss the new National Security law that the Chinese Government has forced on the people of hong kong on the 23rd anniversary of the handover. And is beijings latest most aggressive challenge to hong kongs autonomy. I now recognize myself for five minutes. It is important to know how we. Ot here in 1997. We have the adoption of the one countrytwo system arrangement that guaranteed 50 years of relative upon a meet the hong kong. Freedom of expression, strong democratic systems. Over the past two decades, hong kongs unique status of allowed it to flourish, prosper, Human Capital and financial as a gateway to china with a system of law and courts have turned hong kong into a hub of finance and trade. In hong kong, contact our, judges can rule and independently and academics enjoy freedom of expression and are writes rights generally accepted. A vibranthas created society. This is a glaring embarrassment to the chinese mainland. One country, two systems is an embarrassment if the smaller system is working much better. This does not mean hong kong was perfectly free or the system it had in place last year was perfectly democratic, but compared to the government in beijing, it shows the people of china what can be done by moving in the direction of freedom. In december, as chair of the in september, i hosted a hearing authoritarianism with chinese characteristics, political and religious human rights challenges in china and that hearing featured Vice President of the City University of hong kong students the committee passed a resolution at my suggestion by unanimous consent last year supporting the right of hong kongers to protest. No one should go to jail for voicing their right to opposition. Not in this country, not anywhere. The one country, two systems was designed to safeguard hong kongs rule as a thriving financial center. Now hong kongers are fleeing hong kong out of fear for their safety and we should support their right to do so, though the right we really want to support is the right of all hong kongers to the level of autonomy promised in the one country, two systems agreement. We have witnesses in the last 24 hours, nothing short of terrifying events in hong kong. We need to reject this chinese violation of chinas own International Commitments and the commitments they have made to their own people. The peoples of hong kong expected china to honor the commitment under the two systems part of the agreement, but over the past few years, beijing has chipped away at hong kongs freedoms. In 2014 when officials in beijing curtailed Voting Rights for the people of hong kong, a new generation of democracy activists under the banner of the Umbrella Movement came to the forefront. Year after year, injustice after injustice, a broadening coalition of hong kongers from all walks of life have taken to the streets to protest their rights. Now, chinese president xi jinping has launched an unprecedented attack against hong kong. Beijings National Security law undermines the very essence of hong kongs autonomy by introducing new punishments for socalled crimes against the state. It will serve really it will severely curtail freedom of expression. So why is china willing to break these commitments . Unfortunately, when we look down pennsylvania avenue, we see an administration willing to, in effect, tell china its obligations to human rights, whether it be in hong kong or whether it be the weaker people the uyegher people, it simply will not catch the attention of the administration. We have squandered months without speaking out at the executive level. Hong kong has been on the backburner in an effort to sell soybeans, and we havent even sold the soybeans. President trump spent january and february this year praising xi personally for how he handled the coronavirus. Now, he has taken the exact opposite approach. We need consistency in the white house, and we need a consistent adherence to our own standards of human rights. Im grateful to our witnesses for the insight and experience they bring us, and i will new move towards introducing the witnesses. Our first witness is mr. Lee, a former member of the hong kong legislative counsel. Hes the general secretary of the hong kong trade unions and vicechairman of the hong kong labor party. And why dont we hear from mr. Chairman, mr. Smith would like to make a few opening remarks if that would be acceptable. Are your opening remarks less than five minutes, mr. Mccall . I wasnt keeping time. It was three minutes. I think that would open it up to everyone here. Mr. Chairman, i ask unanimous consent mr. Smith be recognized for three minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you my good friend from virginia. Thank you, madam speaker for your very eloquent statement and we have worked together for well over three decades on combating human rights by china during all the other battles we were joined in a very, very bipartisan way. Frank wolf, all of us speaking very aggressively against aiding and abetting this horrific dictatorship which has only gotten worse under xi jinping, so thank you for your leadership. Mr. Chairman, the great freedom loving people of hong kong have just had another draconian, antidemocratic law imposed upon them, and that is the socalled National Security law. It severely penalizes democracy activists and even terms like collusion are outlined in the new law, and it defines that any contact with external actors like human rights organizations, members of congress, those people like joshua wong and others and said and all we ask, xi jinping, is for freedom. Thats it. And live up to your own promises made in the basis of law and the joint communique between hong kong and china. Which facilitated the transfer of the conveyance of hong kong to china. They have broken their word. You know, words matter, and it is a matter of International Law that they committed for at least 50 years to having these two chinas two systems, one china, and now theyre breaking it with impunity. And lets not forget that xi jinping continues to permit pervasive human rights abuse against Chinese People, including the use of torture which has been documented over and over again by the special people by the united nation. They really pointed out that theyre using those tools of repression as a means of genocide to eliminate the muslims, 10 million strong, theyre going after them to destroy their children, their families, and of course one to two million are in concentration camps. It continues unabated and of course theres no labor rights, and under xi jinping theres an all out effort to endall religious practice unless it comports with marxist principles. It is going from bad to worse. The hong kong human rights act that i was the house sponsor of, it was a bipartisan bill, 130 cosponsors or so, backed by everybody on this committee. That is now law and the president did sign it. And pursuant to that law, on schedule, he did make this statement that the loss of autonomy has happened. So we need to unite now. Democrats, republicans, weve done it before, and weve got to do it with the president , and the world needs to unite against this pervasive human rights abuser xi jinping and this law draconian law they just put into effect. I yelled back. Thank you for those comments and for decades of dedication to human rights. I am going to introduce all the witnesses and then call on them in turn. Our second witness is going to be professor of law at the william s. Richardson school of law and graduate