Name: Lives, not Leverage: the Long Arm of China and North Korea’s Repression
Uploaded: 2026-09-16T18:00:00+00:00
Duration: 4800 s

08:05 - 12:53

Speaker 1

The Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific will come to order. This hearing will explore how China's coercion is expanding outside of its own borders to directly impact Americans, as well as the continued negative human rights situation in North Korea. So let me now recognize myself for an opening statement. Good afternoon and I want to welcome everyone 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'll hear from the 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. Selva Zin, the wife of wrongfully detained American researcher Min Zin, who had been 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 them and detained Mr. Zin ahead of the upcoming Trump-Xi summit. Notably, the last time the leaders of our two countries met, Pastor Ezra Zin of Zion Church in China was freed by the CCP afterwards.

So I hope to see Min 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 cannot forget that China's aggression also reaches inside our borders. The so-called Ethnic Unity and Progress Law enacted this spring enshrines Beijing's practices of bullying the Uyghurs, the Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, and other minority groups on American soil. This is a direct assault on US 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 to the United States in 2006 as part of the first group of refugees under the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004. Today, she's 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. So, thank you, Ms. Choi, for joining us. Finally, we welcome Mr. Peter Mattis, president of the Jamestown Foundation.

Thank you for being with us. And Dr. Victor Cha, president and Korea chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department. Thank you for being with us. We look forward to the expertise you all bring and the policy recommendations you have for us today. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

By exposing those murderous regimes, repressing their citizens and targeting our own, we take a vital step toward breaking their reach. So, let me now recognize the ranking member from California, Representative Ami Bera, for his opening statement.

12:53 - 14:34

Speaker 3

Thank you, Chairwoman Kim, and thank you for holding this hearing to examine human rights abuses perpetrated by the People's Republic of China and the North Korean regime. In addition to our witnesses from the academic and policy communities, Mr. Mattis and Dr. Cha, we are honored to have two witnesses who can speak from their own lived experience. Ms. Sin, thank you for being here to share your family's experience and speak on behalf of your husband's wrongful detention. And Ms. Choi, thank you for being willing to share your story of escaping North Korea and rebuilding your life here in the United States. I care deeply about the human rights situation in the PRC and the Korean Peninsula.

I was proud to co-lead the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2025 alongside Chairwoman Kim to reauthorize and update the North Korean Human Rights Act. Ms. Choi, I understand that you were among the early group of North Korean defectors resettled in the United States under this law, which is a powerful testament to the importance of America's commitment to this issue. Chairwoman Kim and I were also proud to advance the Uyghur Policy Act to combat forced labor and human rights abuses against the minority groups in Xinjiang. And earlier this Congress, I also led a bipartisan resolution condemning PRC harassment and intimidation of scholars and diaspora groups in the United States. For years, PRC authorities and their proxies have targeted human rights advocates, ethnic and religious minorities, journalists, critics of the Chinese Communist Party, both inside China and around the world.