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 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices states that, during 2004,
[t]he [Chinese] Government's human rights record remained poor, and the
Government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses
;
Whereas, according to the
same Department of State report, credible sources estimated that hundreds of
persons remained in prison in the People’s Republic of China 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 five 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 February 24,
2005, resolution passed by the European Parliament stated that the Parliament
believes that unless and until there is a significant improvement in the
human rights situation in China, it would be wrong for the EU to envisage any
lifting [of] its embargo on arms sales to China, imposed in 1989
and
that it requests that the Commission formally oppose such a move when it
is discussed in the [European] Council
;
Whereas the governments of 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.) codifies in United States law 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, 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 or 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 reexport or 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 Government of the United States;
Whereas the People's Republic
of China remains a primary supplier of weapons to countries such as Burma and
Sudan where, according to the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom, the military has played a key role in the oppression of
religious and ethnic minorities;
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 27, 2004, the Government of the United States determined that seven
entities or persons in the People's Republic of China, including several
state-owned companies involved in China's military-industrial complex, are
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;
Whereas the authority under
the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 to impose sanctions on Chinese persons or
entities was used 23 times in 2004; and
Whereas the assistance
provided by these entities to Iran works directly counter to the efforts of the
United States Government and several European governments to curb illicit
weapons activities in Iran: Now, therefore, be it
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 any upcoming meetings
with European officials;
(4)
encourages the Government of
the United States to make clear in discussions with representatives of the
national governments of European Union member states 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 strengthen, enforce, and
maintain 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 in all European Union member
states;
(C)
to more carefully regulate
and monitor the end-use of exports of sensitive military and 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)
a permanent and verifiable
end to the ongoing proliferation by state and non-state owned entities and
individuals in the People's Republic of China of munitions, materials, and
military equipment and the trade in such items involving countries, such as
Burma and Sudan, whose armies have played a role in the perpetration of
violations of human rights and of humanitarian law against members of ethnic
and religious minorities;
(D)
improvement in the
administration and enforcement of export controls in the People’s Republic of
China; and
(E)
an end to the ongoing
proliferation by state and non-state owned entities and individuals in the
People’s Republic of China of technology related to conventional weapons,
weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missiles.