[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2605 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                               H. R. 2605

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To require the United States to oppose the making of concessional loans 
 by international financial institutions to any entity in the People's 
                           Republic of China.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2605

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To require the United States to oppose the making of concessional loans 
 by international financial institutions to any entity in the People's 
                           Republic of China.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Communist China Subsidy Reduction 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the People's Republic of China has enjoyed ready access 
        to international capital through commercial loans, direct 
        investment, sales of securities, bond sales, and foreign aid;
            (2) regarding international commercial lending, the 
        People's Republic of China had $48,000,000,000 in loans 
        outstanding from private creditors in 1995;
            (3) regarding international direct investment, 
        international direct investment in the People's Republic of 
        China from 1993 through 1995 totaled $97,151,000,000, and in 
        1996 alone totaled $47,000,000,000;
            (4) regarding investment in Chinese securities, the 
        aggregate value of outstanding Chinese securities currently 
        held by Chinese nationals and foreign persons is 
        $175,000,000,000, and from 1993 through 1995 foreign persons 
        invested $10,540,000,000 in Chinese stocks;
            (5) regarding investment in Chinese bonds, entities 
        controlled by the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        have issued 75 bonds since 1988, including 36 dollar-
        denominated bond offerings valued at more than $6,700,000,000, 
        and the total value of long-term Chinese bonds outstanding as 
        of January 1, 1996, was $11,709,000,000;
            (6) regarding international assistance, the People's 
        Republic of China received almost $1,000,000,000 in foreign aid 
        grants and an additional $1,566,000,000 in technical assistance 
        grants from 1993 through 1995, and in 1995 received 
        $5,540,000,000 in bilateral assistance loans, including 
        concessional aid, export credits, and related assistance; and
            (7) regarding international financial institutions--
                    (A) despite the People's Republic of China's access 
                to international capital and world financial markets, 
                international financial institutions have annually 
                provided it with more than $4,000,000,000 in loans in 
                recent years, amounting to almost a third of the loan 
                commitments of the Asian Development Bank and 17.1 
                percent of the loan approvals by the International Bank 
                for Reconstruction and Development in 1995; and
                    (B) the People's Republic of China borrows more 
                from the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
                Development and the Asian Development Bank than any 
                other country, and loan commitments from those 
                institutions to the People's Republic of China 
                quadrupled from $1,100,000,000 in 1985 to 
                $4,300,000,000 by 1995.

SEC. 3. OPPOSITION OF UNITED STATES TO CONCESSIONAL LOANS TO THE 
              PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 
262o-262o-1) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1503. OPPOSITION OF UNITED STATES TO CONCESSIONAL LOANS TO THE 
              PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 
United States Executive Directors at each international financial 
institution (as defined in section 1702(c)(2) of the International 
Financial Institutions Act) to use the voice and vote of the United 
States to oppose the provision by the institution of concessional loans 
to the People's Republic of China, any citizen or national of the 
People's Republic of China, or any entity established in the People's 
Republic of China.
    ``(b) Concessional Loans Defined.--As used in subsection (a), the 
term `concessional loans' means loans with highly subsidized interest 
rates, grace periods for repayment of 5 years or more, and maturities 
of 20 years or more.''.

SEC. 4. PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD BE ADHERED TO BY ANY UNITED STATES 
              NATIONAL CONDUCTING AN INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION PROJECT IN 
              THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    (a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to create 
principles governing the conduct of industrial cooperation projects of 
United States nationals in the People's Republic of China.
    (b) Statement of Principles.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
any United States national conducting an industrial cooperation project 
in the People's Republic of China should:
            (1) Suspend the use of any goods, wares, articles, or 
        merchandise that the United States national has reason to 
        believe were mined, produced, or manufactured, in whole or in 
        part, by convict labor or forced labor, and refuse to use 
        forced labor in the industrial cooperation project.
            (2) Seek to ensure that political or religious views, sex, 
        ethnic or national background, involvement in political 
        activities or nonviolent demonstrations, or association with 
        suspected or known dissidents will not prohibit hiring, lead to 
        harassment, demotion, or dismissal, or in any way affect the 
        status or terms of employment in the industrial cooperation 
        project. The United States national should not discriminate in 
        terms or conditions of employment in the industrial cooperation 
        project against persons with past records of arrest or internal 
        exile for nonviolent protest or membership in unofficial 
        organizations committed to nonviolence.
            (3) Ensure that methods of production used in the 
        industrial cooperation project do not pose an unnecessary 
        physical danger to workers and neighboring populations or 
        property, and that the industrial cooperation project does not 
        unnecessarily risk harm to the surrounding environment; and 
        consult with community leaders regarding environmental 
        protection with respect to the industrial cooperation project.
            (4) Strive to establish a private business enterprise when 
        involved in an industrial cooperation project with the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China or other state 
        entity.
            (5) Discourage any Chinese military presence on the 
        premises of any industrial cooperation projects which involve 
        dual-use technologies.
            (6) Undertake to promote freedom of association and 
        assembly among the employees of the United States national. The 
        United States national should protest any infringement by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China of these freedoms 
        to the International Labor Organization's office in Beijing.
            (7) Provide the Department of State with information 
        relevant to the Department's efforts to collect information on 
        prisoners for the purposes of the Prisoner Information 
        Registry, and for other reporting purposes.
            (8) Discourage or undertake to prevent compulsory political 
        indoctrination programs from taking place on the premises of 
        the industrial cooperation project.
            (9) Promote freedom of expression, including the freedom to 
        seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, 
        regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, 
        in the form of art, or through any media. To this end, the 
        United States national should raise with appropriate 
        authorities of the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        concerns about restrictions on the free flow of information.
            (10) Undertake to prevent harassment of workers who, 
        consistent with the United Nations World Population Plan of 
        Action, decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of 
        their children; and prohibit compulsory population control 
        activities on the premises of the industrial cooperation 
        project.
    (c) Promotion of Principles by Other Nations.--The Secretary of 
State shall forward a copy of the principles set forth in subsection 
(b) to the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development and encourage them to promote principles similar to 
these principles.
    (d) Registration Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Each United States national conducting an 
        industrial cooperation project in the People's Republic of 
        China shall register with the Secretary of State and indicate 
        that the United States national agrees to implement the 
        principles set forth in subsection (b). No fee shall be 
        required for registration under this subsection.
            (2) Preference for participation in trade missions.--The 
        Secretary of Commerce shall consult the register prior to the 
        selection of private sector participants in any form of trade 
        mission to China, and undertake to involve those United States 
        nationals that have registered their adoption of the principles 
        set forth above.
    (e) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            (1) the term ``industrial cooperation project'' refers to a 
        for-profit activity the business operations of which employ 
        more than 25 individuals or have assets greater than $25,000; 
        and
            (2) the term ``United States national'' means--
                    (A) a citizen or national of the United States or a 
                permanent resident of the United States; and
                    (B) a corporation, partnership, or other business 
                association organized under the laws of the United 
                States, any State or territory thereof, the District of 
                Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the 
                Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

SEC. 5. PROMOTION OF EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL, SCIENTIFIC, AGRICULTURAL, 
              MILITARY, LEGAL, POLITICAL, AND ARTISTIC EXCHANGES 
              BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA.

    (a) Exchanges Between the United States and China.--Agencies of the 
United States Government which engage in educational, cultural, 
scientific, agricultural, military, legal, political, and artistic 
exchanges shall endeavor to initiate or expand such exchange programs 
with regard to China.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that a 
federally chartered not-for-profit organization should be established 
to fund exchanges between the United States and China through private 
donations.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 6, 1997.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.