East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Kim Delivers Opening Remarks at Hearing on China and North Korea's Repression

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Young Kim delivered opening remarks at a hearing titled "Lives, not Leverage: the Long Arm of China and North Korea's Repression”.

Good afternoon, and welcome to today's hearing, "Lives, Not Leverage: The Long Arm of China and North Korea's Repression." Just last week, the State Department elevated its travel advisory for China, warning Americans of the growing threat of arbitrary detention. This warning reflects the urgency of our work today.

Congress has long championed the rights of persecuted minorities inside the People's Republic of China. But now we must confront a broader danger: the Chinese Communist Party's rising threats against American citizens and residents, both abroad and right here at home. If you travel to China, Beijing may take you hostage as leverage in diplomatic negotiations. And if you are an American belonging to a minority group persecuted by China, you may be subject to the CCP's transnational repression.

Today, we will hear from victims of the brutal regimes in Beijing and Pyongyang to determine how the United States can better protect those in the crosshairs. We are joined today by Mrs. Sylvia Zin, the wife of wrongfully detained American researcher Min Zin, a vocal critic of the Burmese military junta. In June, Mr. Zin was on a regular visit to China for an academic conference. But Beijing wanted to send a message to those whose research inconvenienced it, and detained Mr. Zin ahead of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit. Notably, after the last time the leaders of our two countries met, the CCP freed Pastor Ezra Jin of Zion Church. So I hope to see Mr. Zin free soon, and I thank President Trump for his ongoing efforts to bring wrongfully detained Americans home.

We must never allow foreign adversaries to use hostages as leverage. We also cannot forget that China's aggression reaches inside our borders. The so-called Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, enacted this spring, enshrines Beijing's practice of bullying Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, and other minority groups on American soil. This is a direct assault on U.S. sovereignty. We look forward to Mrs. Zin's testimony.

Our second witness, Ms. Deborah Choi, will shed light on the brutality of the North Korean regime. After escaping North Korea in 2004, Ms. Choi arrived in the United States in 2006 as part of the first group of refugees admitted under the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004. Today, she is living the American dream as a business owner, supporting fellow refugees who have fled the North Korean dictatorship. Her testimony highlights the vital need to reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act through my legislation, which extends these protections through 2030. Thank you, Ms. Choi, for joining us.

Finally, we welcome Mr. Peter Mattis, President of The Jamestown Foundation, and Dr. Victor Cha, President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thank you both for joining us. We look forward to the expertise you bring and the policy recommendations you have for us today. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. By exposing these murderous regimes that repress their own citizens and target ours, we take a vital step toward breaking their reach.