[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 58 (Thursday, May 12, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          MAINTENANCE OF MOST FAVORED NATION STATUS FOR CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I have taken this time to talk about a very 
important issue that is going to be facing us in the not-too-distant 
future. Actually, the real decision lies down at 1600 Pennsylvania with 
President Clinton. I am talking about the maintenance of most-favored-
nation trading status with China.
  We know that on June 4 we will be marking the fifth anniversary of 
one of the greatest tragedies in recent history, that being the 
massacre that took place in Tiananmen Square, when we saw those young 
people who were fighting on behalf of democracy, liberty, freedom, 
gunned down by the military in China. We all remember vividly those 
pictures which came across the screen throughout the world, where we 
saw the tragic treatment that those young people received.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the natural responses which one would have to an 
incident like the Tiananmen Square massacre would be to eliminate any 
kind of tie whatsoever with China, and that is sort of the gut response 
that one has to an incident like that. However, I have concluded, after 
having gone through the past 5 years, having talked with many people on 
this issue, including former President Nixon and many others, that the 
best way for us to bring about retribution and actually move towards 
the kind of political pluralism and further economic recovery in China 
is for us to not only maintain but to expand trade ties between the 
People's Republic of China and the West; specifically, the United 
States.
  There are some who believe that because of the horrendous human 
rights violations which we have observed over the past several years, 
that we should end most-favored-nation trading status, and we will, by 
doing that, be able to alienate China from the United States and the 
rest of the world.
  Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. If we revoke 
most-favored-nation trading status with China, there is no doubt in my 
mind whatsoever that we will not alienate China from the rest of the 
world, but we will succeed in alienating the United States of America 
from the rest of the world, and I believe that that would be a very 
grave mistake.

                              {time}  1740

  And I hope very much that President Clinton does not make the 
decision to do that.
  As we look at reports which have come out, just the report that came 
out this morning of the dissident who was released in the Fukien 
Province in the southern part of China, we are seeing indications that 
the human rights situation is improving, it is getting better. And even 
when we look at the tragedy of Tiananmen Square, if we take the past 
decade, what we find is that there have been improvements in the human 
rights situation in China.
  So it is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that when we look towards this June 3 
date that the President makes a decision to renew most-favored-nation 
trading status, and if by chance some Member of Congress were to decide 
to offer a resolution of disapproval that our colleagues, Republicans 
and Democrats alike, Members of the House and Senate will stand up and 
firmly support the one thing that can move us toward better human 
rights, to a better human rights situation in China, and that is 
maintaining that trade tie.
  One of the things that people have often forgotten is that we need to 
look at the broad context on the situation of our relations with China. 
Not everyone is aware of the fact that China is the most populous 
nation in the world. Nearly 1.3 billion people live in China, almost 
five times the population of the United States of America.
  Next Wednesday morning we are going to be hearing from the Prime 
Minister of the second largest country in the world, second most 
populous country, that being India. But China, as the most populous 
country, as a nation which has embarked on many business arrangements 
with the United States and other parts of the world, recognizes that it 
is important to keep those ties going. And I hope that we will be able 
to do the same thing.
  But this broad context question puts us in a position where we can 
work with China to do things like maintain and ensure that we do not 
have a nuclear Korean Peninsula. We know about the great tensions that 
exist today between the government of Kim Il-song in North Korea and 
the South Koreans, and it seems to me that trying to work to maintain 
ties with China will keep China working with us to ensure that we do 
not see a nuclear buildup on the Korean Peninsula.
  Also, it is very important, Mr. Speaker, for us to recognize the 
support that we have had from China in the United Nations Security 
Council, and we want to do what we can to discourage the export of 
weapons from China to other parts of the world.
  Let us work to maintain most-favored-nation trading status. I hope 
President Clinton will do that. If there is a motion of disapproval 
that were to come forward, I hope that our colleagues will come 
together and do everything we possible can to defeat it.

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