STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIRS

On July 1, 2021, Chinese President and Communist Party Gen- eral Secretary Xi Jinping commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party with a pugnacious speech touting ‘‘the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,’’ promoting China as a ‘‘new model for human advancement,’’ and threatening that any country challenging China would be met by a ‘‘great wall of steel.’’ This Party-led governance model aims to achieve high-functioning authoritarianism in complete disregard of the human spirit. The Party mobilizes the government to silence any threats to its rule by systematically repressing internationally recognized human rights. Globally, the extensive use of economic coercion, strident ‘‘Wolf Warrior’’ diplomacy, and other efforts to amplify the official narratives give the lie to assurances in Xi’s July 1 speech that the Chinese government does not seek to bully others.

This year marked another anniversary: the 20th year of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s assiduous docu- mentation of human rights and the rule of law in China. This report surveys a bleak landscape. In addition to detailing the genocide being perpetrated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the crushing of Hong Kong’s autonomy, the Commission has over the past year examined the Chinese government and Communist Party’s violations of China’s Constitution and domestic laws as well as numerous international human rights standards. Commission research also continues to record in its Political Prisoner Database more cases of political and religious imprisonment in China, deaths of political prisoners, and routine torture of detainees. The report also highlights myriad ways the people of China speak out, resist authoritarianism, and advocate for change. From the ongoing #MeToo movement to delivery drivers organizing on social media to Tibetan monks practicing their faith, the people continue to stand up to government repression.