[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 104 (Tuesday, August 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          RETHINK CHINA POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentlewoman from California 
[Ms. Pelosi] is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, for the past 5 years Congress has 
consistently and strongly supported using our trade leverage with China 
to express concern over human rights abuses in China and Tibet, the 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rouge nations, and 
China's market barriers to American-made products. All of these 
conditions still exist. The problems still exist.
  Last week the CIA, in an unclassified report, states that China's 
trade surplus with the United States would be at least $28 billion for 
1994, an increase of $5 billion over this year.
  The proliferation of weapons to rouge states continues. Yesterday in 
a special order I reviewed that, and have communicated that to our 
colleagues, the closeness of the North Korean military to the Chinese 
military, their meeting in June where they said China and North Korea 
are as close as lips and teeth, the pledge of 82,000 troops in case of 
war, and also a pledge in case of U.N. sanctions of credit assistance 
for food and energy to the North Koreans. In addition, the Cambodian 
Government has reported that their intelligence agency has stated that 
China has sold 18 million dollars' worth of weapons to the Khmer Rouge 
under Pol Pot, and that is just as recently as this spring. The list 
goes on and on and on.
  Today I want to talk about what leading human rights groups have said 
about the situation in China, particularly in the last couple of months 
since President Clinton's announcement.

                              {time}  1120

  The U.S. Catholic Conference says,

       There are increasing reports that China is cracking down 
     harder on nonapproved religious gatherings and is giving more 
     legal power to public safety bureau officers to conduct 
     raids, make arrests and impose fines. I urge you to vote in 
     favor of H.R. 4590.

  That is the bill that is supported by the gentleman from Missouri 
[Mr. Gephardt], majority leader, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. 
Bonior], majority whip, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf], and the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] on the Republican side, and over 
100 Democrats and Republicans in this body.
  The International Campaign for Tibet says that:

        The United States more than any other nation has the 
     ability to pressure China to come to the negotiating table 
     with the Dalai Lama or his representatives. But in order for 
     China to take U.S. efforts seriously, a strong message must 
     be sent that China cannot have the sort of relationship they 
     would like with the U.S. until they make progress on Tibet. 
     H.R. 4590 helps send this message.

  The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights states, and 
this relates to what the situation is in terms of human rights in 
China,

       The Administration has made it clear that its relationship 
     with China is full of many conflicting priorities and that 
     concern for human rights takes last place. It is up to 
     Congress to reverse this misguided policy by sending a strong 
     message to China's leadership that repressive practices that 
     threaten human dignity and development do not qualify China 
     for preferred treatment from the United States.

  From Human Rights Watch/Asia,

       in the absence of international pressure, China has 
     steadily tightened the news on all forms of dissident 
     activity. The authorities in Beijing have apparently 
     calculated that there is no price to be paid for continued 
     political repression in the name of guaranteeing `social 
     stability' at a time when major economic reforms are 
     underway.

  I might add, that a few days after the President's statement, the 
Chinese prime minister announced a new edict redefining and tightening 
the noose on dissent by redefining counterrevolutionary 
activity and sabotage. Counterrevolutionary activity is now defined as 
any disagreement on any issue with the Chinese Communist Party.

  I have more that have been sent out in a Dear Colleague today of 
statements from those who are commenting on the human rights situation 
in China and the need for Congress to send a strong message. I urge my 
colleagues to support H.R. 4590.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the body of the statement of 
Amnesty International on this same subject. ``It remains unclear today 
what constitutes the Administration's human rights policy toward China 
and Tibet,'' states the Amnesty International report. ``Equally 
troubling is the Administration's failure to make human rights policy 
since the MFN decision, an integral part of overall U.S. engagement in 
China. This is particularly evident as the Administration aggressively 
pursues its economic and strategic interests, leaving human rights 
floundering on the periphery. As a result, Clinton's commitment to 
human rights issues cannot be taken seriously, not only by China but by 
other countries.''
  Mr. Speaker, in this legislation that I alluded to earlier, the 
gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt], majority leader, the gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Bonior], House majority whip, the gentleman from 
Virginia [Mr. Wolf], whom we heard from earlier here, the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Gilman], and over 100 Democrat and Republican 
cosponsors have in H.R. 4590 put forth legislation which focuses on 
only products made by the Chinese military and selected other state-run 
industries.
  By continuing to provide preferential MFN treatment for military 
exports, American consumers are subsidizing the Chinese military 
modernization; in effect, it is a program of guns to butter to guns. 
The Chinese military exports into our country products such as stuffed 
animals, household appliances, pharmaceuticals, et cetera. With the 
profits off of these products, they are able to modernize their army, 
pursue their nuclear weapons program, sell nonconventional weapons to 
rogue states. It is one thing for the American consumer to exercise a 
choice and buy these products. I think the American consumer should 
understand the choice that it is making. But in addition to that, it 
just does not seem right that the American taxpayer should give a 
preferential tax break to the Chinese military, thereby giving them 
properties to pursue their militarization and their proliferation of 
weapons.
  It is in that spirit that I ask my colleagues to stand with the man 
before the tank rather than subsidizing the tanks that crushed the 
dissidents in Tiananmen Square, brutally occupies Tibet and, once 
again, proliferates weapons to rogue states.

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