{"id":1918190,"date":"2023-04-22T20:56:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T00:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wife-of-chinas-missing-human-rights-lawyer-implores-us-lawmakers-for-assistance\/"},"modified":"2023-04-22T21:01:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T01:01:24","slug":"wife-of-chinas-missing-human-rights-lawyer-implores-us-lawmakers-for-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wife-of-chinas-missing-human-rights-lawyer-implores-us-lawmakers-for-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Wife of China\u2019s Missing Human Rights Lawyer Implores US Lawmakers for Assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwife-of-chinas-missing-human-rights-lawyer-implores-us-lawmakers-for-assistance%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1918190&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0422\/3f1e6bab-ccd1-4650-8643-a87301170127\/audio.mp3?length=7593741&#038;duration=633\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>It has been more than five years and Geng He still doesn\u2019t know whether her husband in China is still alive.<\/p>\n<p>Her husband, Gao Zhisheng, a renowned human rights lawyer, went missing from his home in northern China\u2019s Shaanxi Province in August 2017. At that time, Gao had already been subjected to torture by Chinese police during his previous disappearances.<\/p>\n<p>Geng was one of the witnesses testifying before a <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.house.gov\/hearing\/chinas-political-prisoners-wheres-gao-zhisheng\/\">hearing<\/a> held by a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 30, which marks Gao\u2019s 59th birthday. The hearing was titled \u201cChina\u2019s Political Prisoners: Where\u2019s Gao Zhisheng?\u201d to raise awareness of the fact that Gao\u2019s whereabouts remain unknown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has not been any information about my husband for the last 2,067 days, which is equivalent to about five years and eight months,\u201d Geng told NTD, sister media to The Epoch Times, following the hearing. \u201cI am very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geng, who fled China to the United States with their two children in 2009, said Chinese authorities have prevented her family members from leaving their place of residence in China to look for Gao.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2811862\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/02\/22\/gaozhisheng32211-1200x895.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng in a file photo. (Verna Yu\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2><b>Nobel Peace Prize Nominee<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>During her testimony, Geng spoke about her husband\u2019s aspiration to see China one day become a \u201cfree, democratic, and constitutional country\u201d like the United States. She added, \u201cThis dream has motivated him to strive for 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gao, a self-taught lawyer and a devoted Christian, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. He began practicing law in 1996, defending victims of government land seizures; families of miners, who were seeking compensation after their loved ones died in coal mining accidents; as well as persecuted Christians and adherents of Falun Gong.<\/p>\n<p>Before his disappearance, Gao was placed under house arrest, after being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/gao-zhisheng-chinese-rights-lawyer-freed-from-prison_853051.html\">released<\/a> from prison in August 2014, having served prison time for his conviction of \u201cinciting subversion of state power\u201d in 2006. The subversion charge is a catch-all charge the Chinese regime often uses against dissidents.<\/p>\n<p>Geng emphasized that Gao has not violated any of China\u2019s laws but he is being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI implore you to help me,\u201d Geng told the subcommittee. She expressed her desire to see U.S. embassy officials in China to visit Gao and asked the U.S. Congress to urge China to allow Gao to be put on a public trial and grant Gao\u2019s family visitation rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf these cannot be achieved, it\u2019s okay to have Gao Zhisheng give me a call and tell me he\u2019s still alive, just knowing he\u2019s alive is enough,\u201d Geng said during her testimony.<\/p>\n<p>When speaking to NTD, Geng elaborated that it would send China a \u201cpowerful\u201d message if U.S. embassy officials visit her family in China.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Decouple From China<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Another witness at the hearing, Sophie Luo, pointed to Gao\u2019s case, as well as the recent sentencings of her husband Ding Jiaxi and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong in China, to highlight what the Chinese regime really is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe CCP is a barbaric government that does not respect any rule of law,\u201d Luo said during her testimony.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5214262\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/22\/id5214262-GettyImages-1368456964-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> As a photo of her husband Chinese human rights activist Ding Jiaxi is on display in the background, Sophie Luo testifies during a hearing before The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 3, 2022. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Xu and Ding, both human rights lawyers and prominent figures in the New Citizens Movement, were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/china-hands-lengthy-jail-terms-to-2-human-rights-lawyers_5183493.html\">sentenced<\/a> to 14 and 12 years respectively at a Chinese court on April 10, after being convicted of subversion of state power.<\/p>\n<p>The New Citizens Movement campaigns for great transparency regarding the wealth of CCP officials; it is dedicated to the promotion of civic rights and seeks the peaceful transition of China toward constitutionalism.<\/p>\n<p>Xu and Ding were detained after they organized and attended a private gathering to discuss civil society and political reforms with other like-minded friends in Xiamen, a city in southern China\u2019s Fujian Province, in December 2019. About half a year later, they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/2-chinese-rights-activists-tried-in-secret-for-advocating-democracy-and-human-rights_4558439.html\">put<\/a> on closed-door trials.<\/p>\n<p>During the months in detention, Luo told the subcommittee that the two were subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including prolonged sleep deprivation, interrogation while\u00a0being forced to sit on a restraining device called the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2015\/05\/13\/tiger-chairs-and-cell-bosses\/police-torture-criminal-suspects-china\">tiger chair<\/a>,\u201d food and water restrictions, and deprived of access to showers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe authorities have been handling these two cases completely against the Chinese Constitution and criminal laws from the beginning to the end,\u201d Luo said in her testimony.<\/p>\n<p>Both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us-condemns-heavy-sentence-handed-to-chinese-human-rights-lawyers_5188203.html\">U.S.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/canadian-embassy-in-china-demands-unconditional-release-of-2-human-rights-lawyers-with-lengthy-sentences_5193710.html\">Canadian<\/a> governments have issued statements calling for Xu and Ding\u2019s unconditional release.<\/p>\n<p>She urged members of Congress, the Biden administration, American companies, and civil societies not to work with Beijing, saying that doing so \u201cis the only way to stop any more human rights abuses in China.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with NTD following the hearing, Luo elaborated on her recommendation, saying that the United States should decouple economically from China in order to prevent the Chinese regime from committing more human rights violations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am going to try to pitch this idea [of decoupling from China] at different institutions,\u201d Luo said, emphasizing that she wanted to convince business leaders that \u201chuman rights issues must come first when doing any business in China.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><b>\u2018Renewed Attention\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the House subcommittee, said it was important to bring \u201crenewed attention\u201d to what\u2019s happening in China, in an interview with NTD following the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of us need to become much more aware of the brutality, that every day is being forced upon wonderful Chinese men and women and children, either because of their faith or because of their political, or because of their ethnicity,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>He named the Tibetans, Uyghurs, Falun Gong practitioners, and Christians, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/replacing-god-the-ccps-century-long-war-against-faith_3883475.html\">victims of China\u2019s persecution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so this hearing was to bring renewed attention to two wonderful political prisoners, men who have just stood up for everyone else\u2019s rights, and now their rights have been completely abridged by the Chinese Communist Party, and to push for their release,\u201d Smith added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5214272\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/22\/id5214272-GettyImages-1483702597-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) (3rd L) greets President of the China Aid Association Bob Fu (4th L), Geng He (5th L), wife of Chinese human rights attorney and dissident Gao Zhisheng, Sophie Luo (6th L), wife of Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, and President of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Andrew Bremberg (R) prior to a hearing before the Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 20, 2023. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Bob Fu, president of Texas-based China Aid Association and another witness at the hearing, said the U.S. President, Vice President, and Secretary of State \u201cshould publicly meet with prisoners of conscience,\u201d starting with Geng and Luo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are in the United States. The White House doesn\u2019t have any legal or any other hurdles from scheduling a meeting with [Geng and Luo],\u201d Fu added. \u201cLeaders\u2019 actions matter. The CCP are [sic] watching. [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping himself is watching, whether those human rights and prisoners of conscience matter to our foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response to Fu\u2019s suggestion, Smith said, \u201cWe will follow up on that and make an official request with the White House to meet with them, and maybe a few others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), a member of the subcommittee, told NTD following the hearing that Americans should know about China\u2019s human rights records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so interesting to talk about the egregious things that happen in America, we have no concept of what\u2019s happening around the rest of the world,\u201d McCormick said. \u201cThis stuff is real life and death, they have no idea if their family members are alive or dead, they cannot communicate with them, they can be killed, they can be starved to death.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><b>Forced Organ Harvesting<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>China\u2019s state-sanctioned practice of forced organ harvesting also came up during the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been more than five years and Geng He still doesn\u2019t know whether her husband in China is still alive. Her husband, Gao Zhisheng, a renowned human rights lawyer, went missing from his home in northern China\u2019s Shaanxi Province in August 2017. At that time, Gao had already been subjected to torture by Chinese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1965,"featured_media":1918191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[3731,5909,5576,24946,3673,4742,10255,5579,4410],"class_list":["post-1918190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-assistance","tag-chinas","tag-human","tag-implores","tag-lawmakers","tag-lawyer","tag-missing","tag-rights","tag-wife"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1965"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1918190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1918191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1918190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1918190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1918190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}