Opening Statement by Commissioner June Teufel Dreyer
U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission
Hearing on China’s State Control Mechanisms and Methods
April 14, 2005
385 Russell Senate Office Building
I would like to welcome all of you to this hearing of the U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission. I will be chairing the morning panels of today’s hearing on China’s State Control Mechanisms and Methods. The Commission is pleased to receive the statements of Congressmen Wu and Burton, as well as a written statement from Senator Burns and Congressman Cox. This Commission was established to analyze important maters in the U.S. –China relationship and inform and advise the Congress, and we take this responsibility very seriously. It always is beneficial to get feedback and guidance from our clients.
We will be joined shortly by Ms. Susan O’Sullivan from the Department of State. Ms. O’Sullivan is a S enior Advisor in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. She will present highlights of the State Department’s recent report on human rights in China.
Today’s hearing will also serve as the venue for the release of the OpenNet Initiative’s report on internet filtering in China. The OpenNet Initiative, funded jointly by Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto, will release a case-study report entitled “Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005.” This report provides the most detailed analysis to date of China’s censorship strategy, its filtering regime, and the mechanisms it employs to limit the free exchange of information. Discussing the report will be Mr. John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, Mr. Derek Bambauer a Fellow at the Berkman Center, and Mr. Nart Villeneuve, Director of Technical Research at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. This is a fascinating study that probes the specifics of China’s internet control regime, identifying taboo topics and websites. We are pleased that these panelists will be joining us today because their work relates directly to the Commission’s mandate, which instructs us to evaluate Chinese government efforts to influence and control perceptions of the U.S. and its policies. ONI’s report provides insight beyond the fact of China’s internet control – looking into the choices made by China’s government regarding what information should be available for consumption by its citizens.
We will then hear from a panel addressing political developments in China, including Dr. Jiao Guobiao, until recently a Professor at Beijing University’s College of Journalism and Communications; Dr. Perry Link, a Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University; and Dr. Richard Baum, the Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Jiao has the unfortunate distinction of having been recently fired from his post for his groundbreaking – and very courageous – research and commentary on China’s propaganda department. He has both the Commission’s sympathy and respect for that series of events. Dr. Link will share with us his expertise on public intellectuals in China, and Dr. Baum will assess the political and social conditions in China to draw conclusions about the prospect for political reform. The last several decades have seen the development of a dramatic and growing imbalance in China between a drastically changed economy and society and an outdated but unyielding political system that fails to recognize or honor individual liberty. This panel will address the challenging questions surrounding this imbalance and offer an assessment of the prospects and implications of structural political change in China.