[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 490 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 490

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Taiwan should 
    be admitted to the World Trade Organization without making such 
admission conditional on the previous or simultaneous admission of the 
                 People's Republic of China to the WTO.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 1996

 Mr. Cox of California (for himself, Mr. Bono, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. 
  Funderburk, Mr. Lantos, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Royce, Mr. Scarborough, Mr. 
   Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Torricelli, and Mr. Dornan) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on Way and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Taiwan should 
    be admitted to the World Trade Organization without making such 
admission conditional on the previous or simultaneous admission of the 
                 People's Republic of China to the WTO.

Whereas the purpose of the World Trade Organization (hereafter in this 
        resolution referred to as the ``WTO'') is to enable member countries to 
        conduct trade based upon free market principles, by limiting government 
        intervention in the form of state subsidies, by limiting nontariff 
        barriers, and by encouraging reciprocal reductions in tariffs among 
        members;
Whereas the WTO is based on the assumption that the import and export of goods 
        are conducted by independent enterprises responding to profit incentives 
        and market forces;
Whereas the WTO requires that countries with nonmarket economies implement 
        significant reforms to change centralized and planned economic systems 
        before they may be considered for WTO membership, and the existence of a 
        decentralized and a free market economy is considered a condition for 
        fair trade among WTO members;
Whereas, pursuant to its charter and rules, membership in the WTO is not limited 
        to nations nor indicative of sovereignty, a policy illustrated by the 
        fact that Hong Kong will remain a full member of the WTO as a separate 
        customs territory after becoming part of the People's Republic of China 
        on July 1, 1997;
Whereas the Republic of China on Taiwan (hereafter in this resolution referred 
        to as ``Taiwan'') has applied for membership in the WTO as the separate 
        customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, and its 
        application is under review by a Working Party appointed under Article 
        XXXIII of the GATT 1994 (as defined in section 2 of the Uruguay Round 
        Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501));
Whereas Taiwan has a free market economy that has existed for more than 3 
        decades, and is currently the 14th largest trading nation in the world;
Whereas Taiwan has a gross national product that is the world's 20th largest, 
        its foreign exchange reserves are among the largest in the world, and it 
        has become the world's 7th largest foreign investor;
Whereas Taiwan is the 7th largest trading partner of the United States and its 
        purchases of United States exports are more than 50 percent greater than 
        those of the People's Republic of China;
Whereas Taiwan has already agreed to reduce the tariff level of many products, 
        and to eliminate other nontariff barriers as a condition of its 
        admission to the WTO;
Whereas the United States and Taiwan have enjoyed a longstanding and 
        uninterrupted friendship, which has only increased in light of the 
        remarkable economic development and political liberalization in Taiwan 
        in recent years;
Whereas Taiwan reached an historic turning point in the development of Chinese 
        democracy on March 23, 1996, when it conducted the first competitive, 
        free, fair, direct, and popular election of a head of state in over 
        4,000 years of recorded Chinese history, leading to Lee Teng-hui's 
        inauguration as President on May 20, 1996;
Whereas for the past century the United States has promoted democracy and 
        economic freedom throughout the world, and the evolution of Taiwan is an 
        outstanding example of the success of that policy;
Whereas Taiwan's accession to the WTO is important to the United States because 
        it is the largest importer of United States goods that is not already a 
        member of the WTO, and because Taiwan's entry into the WTO would promote 
        significant new market opportunities for United States exporters and 
        investors;
Whereas a declaration of the European Parliament made on July 18, 1996, rightly 
        found that ``the people of Taiwan ought to be better represented to 
        international organizations than they are at present, which would 
        benefit both Taiwan and the whole of the international community'';
Whereas, notwithstanding these circumstances, the People's Republic of China has 
        sought to block the admission of Taiwan to the WTO until its own 
        accession to membership;
Whereas, notwithstanding this opposition, Taiwan is ready for, and meets the 
        criteria for, admission to the WTO;
Whereas the People's Republic of China, in contrast to Taiwan, has applied for 
        membership in the WTO not as a developed nation, but rather as a 
        developing nation, so that it would be relieved of the obligations to 
        reduce its tariffs and eliminate its subsidies for government-controlled 
        industries, even after its admission to the WTO;
Whereas, in contrast to Taiwan, the Communist government of the People's 
        Republic of China maintains strict government controls over most trade 
        within its territory, restricts and often outlaws free market 
        competition, and denies legal and regulatory protections for property 
        rights, all in ways that are incompatible with WTO principles;
Whereas the Communist government of the People's Republic of China maintains an 
        intricate system of restrictive and punitive tariff and nontariff 
        administrative controls to implement its centrally-planned industrial 
        and trade policies, with tariffs on foreign goods, such as automobiles, 
        as high as 150 percent, even though the People's Republic of China has 
        made commitments in the Memorandum of Understanding on market access it 
        signed with the United States on October 10, 1992, and reaffirmed in 
        March of 1995, to reform significant parts of its import regime;
Whereas the Communist government of the People's Republic of China has denied 
        conditions necessary for free trade in announcing in January of 1996 
        that its official news agency, Xinhua, will supervise wire services 
        selling economic information, including Dow Jones-Telerate, Bloomberg, 
        and Reuters Business, and in announcing in February of 1996 the 
        ``Interim Internet Management Rules'', which have the effect of 
        censoring computer networks;
Whereas the People's Republic of China's failure to implement its March 11, 
        1995, agreement with the United States to curtail piracy of products 
        protected by intellectual property rights, including music, videos, 
        books, and software, prompted a United States threat to impose trade 
        sanctions proportionate to an estimated loss of $2,300,000,000 to the 
        United States economy in 1995 that the piracy has caused;
Whereas representatives of the People's Republic of China's two leading state-
        owned arms exporting companies, Poly Technologies and Norinco, were 
        arrested by Federal law enforcement officers for smuggling into the 
        United States 2,000 AK-47 rifles intended for sale to gangs, and 
        offering to sell to Federal undercover agents 300,000 machine guns with 
        silencers, 66-millimeter mortars, hand grenades, and even ``Red 
        Parakeet'' surface-to-air missiles, which, as stated in the criminal 
        complaint against one of those representatives, Hammond Ku, ``Ku 
        said...could take out a 747'' aircraft;
Whereas illegal activities such as these should be taken into account in 
        formulating trade policy with respect to any country;
Whereas the Communist government of the People's Republic of China continues to 
        use direct and indirect government subsidies to unfairly advantage its 
        own exports in contravention of market principles; and
Whereas, as a consequence of these practices, the People's Republic China is not 
        ready for, and does not meet the criteria for, admission to the WTO 
        either as a developed nation or a developing nation, while Taiwan can 
        easily meet and exceed all of the requirements for admission to the WTO: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) Taiwan should be admitted to the WTO as a separate 
        customs territory without making such admission conditional on 
        the previous or simultaneous admission of the People's Republic 
        of China to the WTO, whether as a developing or a developed 
        nation; and
            (2) it should be United States policy to support Taiwan's 
        admission to the WTO forthwith, without making such admission 
        conditional on the previous or simultaneous admission of the 
        People's Republic of China to the WTO.
                                 <all>