[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 59 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 59

 Urging the European Union to maintain its arms export embargo on the 
                      People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2005

    Mr. Smith (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Kyl, Mr. 
    Chambliss, Mr. Ensign, and Mr. Shelby) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Urging the European Union to maintain its arms export embargo on the 
                      People's Republic of China.

Whereas, on June 4, 1989, the Communist Government of the People's Republic of 
        China ordered the People's Liberation Army to carry out an unprovoked, 
        brutal assault on thousands of peaceful and unarmed demonstrators in 
        Tiananmen Square, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of 
        injuries;
Whereas, on June 5, 1989, President George H. W. Bush condemned these actions of 
        the Government of the People's Republic of China, and the United States 
        took several concrete steps to respond to the military assault, 
        including suspending all exports of items on the United States Munitions 
        List to the People's Republic of China;
Whereas, on June 27, 1989, the European Union (then called the European 
        Community) imposed an arms embargo on the People's Republic of China in 
        response to the Government of China's brutal repression of protestors 
        calling for democratic and political reform;
Whereas the European Council, in adopting that embargo, ``strongly condemn[ed] 
        the brutal repression taking place in China'' and ``solemnly request[ed] 
        the Chinese authorities ... to put an end to the repressive actions 
        against those who legitimately claim their democratic rights'';
Whereas the poor human rights conditions that precipitated the decisions of the 
        United States and the European Union to impose and maintain their 
        respective embargoes have not improved;
Whereas the Department of State 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        states that, during 2003, ``The [Chinese] Government's human rights 
        record remained poor, and the Government continued to commit numerous 
        and serious abuses,'' and, furthermore, that ``there was backsliding on 
        key human rights issues during the year'';
Whereas, according to the same Department of State report, credible sources 
        estimated that as many as 2,000 persons remained in prison in the 
        People's Republic of China at the end of 2003 for their activities 
        during the June 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China continues to maintain 
        that its crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square was 
        warranted and remains unapologetic for its brutal actions, as 
        demonstrated by that Government's handling of the recent death of former 
        Premier and Communist Party General Secretary, Zhao Ziyang, who had been 
        under house arrest for 15 years because of his objection to the 1989 
        Tiananmen crackdown;
Whereas, since December 2003, the European Parliament, the legislative arm of 
        the European Union, has rejected in four separate resolutions the 
        lifting of the European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of 
        China because of continuing human rights concerns in China;
Whereas the January 13, 2005, resolution of the European Parliament called on 
        the European Union to maintain its arms embargo on the People's Republic 
        of China until the European Union ``has adopted a legally binding Code 
        of Conduct on Arms Exports and the People's Republic of China has taken 
        concrete steps towards improving the human rights situation in that 
        country ... [including] by fully respecting the rights of minorities'';
Whereas a number of European Union member states have individually expressed 
        concern about lifting the European Union arms embargo on the People's 
        Republic of China, and several have passed resolutions of opposition in 
        their national parliaments;
Whereas the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, as a non-binding set 
        of principles, is insufficient to control European arms exports to the 
        People's Republic of China;
Whereas public statements by some major defense firms in Europe and other 
        indicators suggest that such firms intend to increase military sales to 
        the People's Republic of China if the European Union lifts its arms 
        embargo on that country;
Whereas the Department of Defense fiscal year 2004 Annual Report on the Military 
        Power of the People's Republic of China found that ``[e]fforts underway 
        to lift the European Union (EU) embargo on China will provide additional 
        opportunities to acquire specific technologies from Western suppliers'';
Whereas the same Department of Defense report noted that the military 
        modernization and build-up of the People's Republic of China is aimed at 
        increasing the options of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to intimidate or attack democratic Taiwan, as well as preventing 
        or disrupting third-party intervention, namely by the United States, in 
        a cross-strait military crisis;
Whereas the June 2004, report to Congress of the congressionally-mandated, 
        bipartisan United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission 
        concluded that ``there has been a dramatic change in the military 
        balance between China and Taiwan,'' and that ``[i]n the past few years, 
        China has increasingly developed a quantitative and qualitative 
        advantage over Taiwan'';
Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), which codified in 
        1979 the basis for continued relations between the United States and 
        Taiwan, affirmed that the decision of the United States to establish 
        diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China was based on 
        the expectation that the future of Taiwan would be determined by 
        peaceful means;
Whereas the balance of power in the Taiwan Straits and, specifically, the 
        military capabilities of the People's Republic of China, directly affect 
        peace and security in the East Asia and Pacific region;
Whereas the Foreign Minister of Japan, Nobutaka Machimura, recently stated that 
        Japan is opposed to the European Union lifting its embargo against the 
        People's Republic of China and that ``[i]t is extremely worrying as this 
        issue concerns peace and security environments not only in Japan but 
        also in East Asia as a whole'';
Whereas the United States has numerous security interests in the East Asia and 
        Pacific region, including the security of Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, 
        and other key areas, and the United States Armed Forces, which are 
        deployed throughout the region, would be adversely affected by any 
        Chinese military aggression;
Whereas the lifting of the European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic 
        of China would increase the risk that United States troops could face 
        military equipment and technology of Western, even United States, origin 
        in a cross-strait military conflict;
Whereas this risk would necessitate a reevaluation by the United States 
        Government of procedures for licensing arms and dual-use exports to 
        member states of the European Union in order to attempt to prevent the 
        retransfer of United States exports from such countries to the People's 
        Republic of China;
Whereas the report of the United States-China Economic and Security Review 
        Commission on the Symposia on Transatlantic Perspectives on Economic and 
        Security Relations with China, held in Brussels, Belgium and Prague, 
        Czech Republic from November 29, 2004, through December 3, 2004, 
        recommended that the United States Government continue to press the 
        European Union to maintain the arms embargo on the People's Republic of 
        China and strengthen its arms export control system, as well as place 
        limitations on United States public and private sector defense 
        cooperation with foreign firms that sell sensitive military technology 
        to China;
Whereas the lax export control practices of the People's Republic of China and 
        the continuing proliferation of technology related to weapons of mass 
        destruction and ballistic missiles by state-sponsored entities in China 
        remain a serious concern of the United States Government;
Whereas the most recent Central Intelligence Agency Unclassified Report to 
        Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass 
        Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 July Through 31 
        December 2003, found that ``Chinese entities continued to work with 
        Pakistan and Iran on ballistic missile-related projects during the 
        second half of 2003,'' and that ``[d]uring 2003, China remained a 
        primary supplier of advanced conventional weapons to Pakistan, Sudan, 
        and Iran'';
Whereas, as recently as December 20, 2004, the United States Government 
        determined that seven entities of the People's Republic of China, 
        including several state-owned companies involved in China's military-
        industrial complex, should be subject to sanctions under the Iran 
        Nonproliferation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-178; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) 
        for sales to Iran of prohibited equipment or technology; and
Whereas the assistance provided by these entities to Iran works directly counter 
        to the efforts of the United States and several European countries to 
        curb illicit weapons activities in Iran: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) strongly supports the United States embargo on the 
        People's Republic of China;
            (2) strongly urges the European Union to continue its ban 
        on all arms exports to the People's Republic of China;
            (3) requests that the President raise United States 
        objections to the potential lifting of the European Union arms 
        embargo against the People's Republic of China in upcoming 
        meetings with European officials;
            (4) encourages the United States Government to make clear 
        in discussions with Governments in Europe that a lifting of the 
        European Union embargo on arms sales to the People's Republic 
        of China would potentially adversely affect transatlantic 
        defense cooperation, including future transfers of United 
        States military technology, services, and equipment to European 
        Union countries;
            (5) urges the European Union--
                    (A) to close any loopholes in its arms embargo on 
                the People's Republic of China and in its Code of 
                Conduct on Arms Exports;
                    (B) to make its Code of Conduct on Arms Exports 
                legally binding and enforceable;
                    (C) to more carefully regulate and monitor the end-
                use of exports of sensitive dual-use technology; and
                    (D) to increase transparency in its arms and dual-
                use export control regimes;
            (6) deplores the ongoing human rights abuses in the 
        People's Republic of China; and
            (7) urges the United States Government and the European 
        Union to cooperatively develop a common strategy to seek--
                    (A) improvement in the human rights conditions in 
                the People's Republic of China;
                    (B) an end to the military build-up of the People's 
                Republic of China aimed at Taiwan;
                    (C) improvement in the export control practices of 
                the People's Republic of China; and
                    (D) an end to the ongoing proliferation by state-
                sponsored entities in China of technology related to 
                weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
                                 <all>