[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     CHINA'S POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, last month the International Republican 
Institute sponsored seminars in Beijing on federalism, the legislative 
process, and elections. There were over 70 Chinese participants, the 
great majority from China's National People's Congress, from 
provincial-level people's congresses, and from local people's 
congresses.
  The purpose of the seminars was to introduce the Chinese participants 
to the practice of American democracy, as manifested in Federal-State 
relations, the workings of the U.S. Congress, our electoral system, and 
the role of the courts in judicial review. The focus of much of the 
discussion was how legislative institutions at various levels can 
fairly and effectively reflect competing social interests, and how they 
can serve as a useful counterweight to executive agencies.
  An important feature of these seminars is that the Americans who 
participated were not theorists but individuals who could describe for 
Chinese participants the nuts and bolts of our political institutions. 
Among them were two outstanding employees of the House of 
Representatives: Charles W. Johnson III, chief parliamentarian, and Ted 
Van Der Meid, minority general counsel.
  I would like to commend the International Republican Institute and 
particularly its Asian regional director, Ms. Lorraine Spiess, for 
sponsoring these seminars and Messrs Johnson and Van Der Meid for 
participating. Sessions like these are a fine example of the ways in 
which the United States, as part of a strategy of engagement, can make 
a significant and positive contribution to discussion in China on that 
country's political system. In the process, we help stimulate greater 
understanding in that country of the rule of law and of democratic 
governance. China will, of course, make its own decisions about its 
political future. Yet Americans who give Chinese a better appreciation 
of how our system works and how elements of it might be adapted to the 
very different Chinese context play an important role as well.

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