Amata Chairs Portion of Congressional Hearing on China and North Korea

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata, who is Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) within the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), chaired the closing portion of Wednesday's hearing titled, "Lives, Not Leverage: The Long Arm of China and North Korea's Repression." Chairwoman Young Kim (R-CA) opened the hearing. Following the statements of the witnesses and the Chairwoman's questions, Vice Chairman Amata served in the chair to complete the hearing.

Congresswoman Amata chairing the EAP Subcommittee during hearing this week

"These are important and challenging discussions, and I'm grateful to these witnesses, and especially the courage of two witnesses who have directly and personally experienced these wrongs," said Vice Chairman Amata. "I appreciate the opportunity to support Chairwoman Kim and the Committee in examining these serious facts, where people's lives and personal freedom are at stake, and Chairwoman Kim's work to reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act."

Last week, the U.S. State Department elevated its travel advisory for China, due to the rising threat of arbitrary detention of Americans. Testimony focused on the actions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) engaging in hostage "diplomacy," in which Beijing is detaining Americans seemingly to garner leverage over the United States, as well as transnational repression, targeting PRC-persecuted minorities within the United States.

The hearing also focused on testimony of the continued hostile human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The hearing included testimony from these witnesses:

• Mr. Peter Mattis, President, The Jamestown Foundation;
• Ms. Deborah Choi, North Korean Refugee, Human Rights Activist;
• Ms. Sylvia Zin, wife of a U.S. citizen wrongfully detained in China;
• Dr. Victor Cha, President and Korea Chair, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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