WASHINGTON, D.C., November 9, 2009 - On Tuesday, November 10 the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) will hear testimony from Laogai Research Foundation Executive Director Harry Wu and other experts on human rights abuses connected to China's one-child policy, which has now been in force for thirty years. In the lead-up to President Obama's state visit to China on November 15th, the hearing highlights the policy's physical and psychological impact on Chinese women, including the grossly skewed gender ratios that have resulted from the policy, as well as the continuation of draconian enforcement methods such as exhorbitant fines, destruction of homes, forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
 
Witnesses include leading authorities on the policy, who will share their latest research on the coercive enforcement of the population planning policy and its effects on Chinese women.
 
Who: Congressmen Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) will be joined by other TLHRC members and witnesses Harry Wu (Laogai Research Foundation); Nicholas Eberstadt (American Enterprise Institute); Rebiya Kadeer (Uyghur-American Association); Reggie Littlejohn (Women's Rights Without Frontiers); Toy Reid (Congressional-Executive Commission on China); Jiang Tianyong (Beijing Global Law Firm, legal counsel to Chen Guangcheng, imprisoned for exposing forced abortions Shandong province); Annie Jing Zhang (Women's Rights in China). Witness list is subject to change.
 
When: Tuesday, Nov. 10, with press conference to start at 12:15 p.m., followed by hearing to start at 1 p.m.
 
Where:  The press conference and hearing will take place in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2318 on the third floor.
 
LRF Executive Director Harry Wu will testify on the Foundation's latest research  on the one-child policy.   In his testimony, Wu argues that, "The One-Child Policy is not a pro-life or pro-choice issue.  The sad reality is that the One-Child Policy represents a morally unconscionable affront to one-fifth of the world's women. I urge the Chinese government to immediately end the One-Child Policy, replacing it with programs focusing on increased education and the empowerment of women which are in line with universal human rights values.  I also urge the US government and the United Nations to publicly condemn the One Child Policy, and ensure beyond a shadow of doubt that no international development funds are being used to support it." 
 
For further press inquiries, please contact Lindsey Purdy at (202) 408-8300 or Lindsey@laogai.org. 
 
 
The Laogai Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992.  Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai-China's extensive system of forced labor prison camps.