United States: Congress Members Request That Mary Kay Inc. Revoke Requirement That Its Sales Associates in China Sign "Behaviour Standards Statements"

On November 17, U.S. Congress members Chris Smith (Vice Chairman of Committee on International Relations), Tom Lantos (Ranking Democratic Member), and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Chair of Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia) wrote to Mr. Richard R. Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Mary Kay Inc. to request an immediate revocation of the requirement imposed by Mary Kay China on its sales associates to sign "Behaviour standards statements" which specifically mention Falun Gong or any other religious, spiritual or political movement.

The three influential congress members said in the letter, "We write to express our great concern over the decision of Mary Kay Inc. to play an active role in enforcing China's repressive laws related to the participation of Chinese citizens in religious and spiritual organisations. We are particularly surprised by Mary Kay's decision given the stated importance of faith to Mary Kay Inc."

The letter said, " As you know, the Chinese government has engaged in a systematic and brutal campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual movement since 1999. Labelling the Falun Gong movement a "cult," the Chinese Government has sentenced tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners to prisons, "re-education through labour camps," and psychiatric institutions. According to the U.S. Department of State, several hundred Falun Gong adherents have died in detention due to torture, abuse and neglect, with their bodies immediately cremated to prevent their families from seeing the abuse inflicted upon their relatives. Those Falun Gong adherents lucky enough to avoid imprisonment by the Chinese Government have been subjected to a high-pressure government indoctrination campaign to force practitioners to renounce Falun Gong."

The three congress members said, "Since the crackdown began in 1999, the United States has protested the horrendous treatment of Falun Gong practitioners at the highest levels. Just last year, President Bush stated in a letter to Congress that the United States has "repeatedly stressed to the Chinese government that there is no justification for its brutal repression of Falun Gong." Both the House and Senate have also repeatedly called on the Chinese Government to end its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners."

"It is for these reasons that we are shocked by the decision of Mary Kay Inc., confirmed by your Headquarters staff in Dallas, to require that its sales associates in China, numbering in the tens of thousands, sign a "behavioural standards statement" indicating that they will neither practise nor advocate Falun Gong. According to Falun Gong representatives, several Mary Kay sales associates have already been dismissed for failure to sign this statement. We also understand from your staff that Mary Kay China issued this directive in August 2003, but that Mary Kay International has yet to issue a directive reversing this policy."

The letter says, " It is unconscionable that Mary Kay Inc. would make an affirmative decision to play a front-line role in enforcing the Chinese Government's brutal campaign against a particular spiritual movement in China. While it may be reasonable to request all Mary Kay sales associates in China to abide by Chinese laws, the fact that the only law cited is the prohibition on adherence to Falun Gong indicates that the goal of this exercise is to identify and dismiss all Falun Gong adherents, or force Falun Gong adherents to renounce their beliefs in writing in order to maintain employment with Mary Kay. While we are not asking Mary Kay Inc. to aggressively confront China's restrictive laws related to Falun Gong and other religious and spiritual movements, we are shocked that an American company, particularly one which purports to put "God first," would be willing to enlist in the Chinese Government's brutal campaign to identify and persecute members of a particular spiritual movement."

The three congress members said, " We therefore request that Mary Kay Inc. immediately revoke the requirement imposed by Mary Kay China on its sales associates that they sign "Behaviour standards statements" which specifically mention Falun Gong or any other religious, spiritual or political movement. The Chinese Government will undoubtedly be displeased with Mary Kay's decision, but the fact that Mary Kay employs tens of thousands of Chinese citizens in a nation with rising unemployment will give the Chinese Government little choice but to acquiesce to a principled decision by Mary Kay."