[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
                     MFN AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, today the Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights of the Committee on International 
Relations, under the leadership of the chairman, the gentleman from New 
Jersey, Christopher Smith, held a hearing on most-favored-nation status 
for China and human rights in China. The purpose of the hearing was to 
take a measure of whatever progress might have occurred in China since 
our last review of most-favored-nation status.
  Today, many distinguished witnesses testified to who will give you 
documentation on the worsening state of human rights in China and 
Tibet. I commend them for their ongoing efforts to shine the public 
light on a terrible situation, for their continuing fight to assist 
those who promote freedom and basic human rights. Their expertise and 
in some cases their willingness to expose themselves, their friends, 
and families to danger in order to document the continuing egregious 
violations of human rights in China and Tibet is inspiring and I look 
forward to their presentations.
  It is important to note for the record that according to the State 
Department's own Annual Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995, as 
well as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International 
Campaign for Tibet and other reputable independent human rights 
organizations, repression in China and Tibet continues. The State 
Department's own report documents the failure of constructive 
engagement to improve human rights in China, and notes that,

       The experience of China in the past few years demonstrates 
     that while economic growth, trade, and social mobility create 
     an improved standard of living, they cannot by themselves 
     bring about greater respect for human rights in the absence 
     of a willingness by political authorities to abide by the 
     fundamental international norms.

  It is clear that as the Beijing regime consolidates its power by 
increasing its foreign reserves through trade and the sale of weapons, 
China's authoritarian rulers are tightening their grip on freedom of 
speech, religion, press, and thought in China and Tibet.
  Today we hear comparatively little about those fighting for freedom 
in China not because they are all busy making money, but because they 
have been exiled, imprisoned, or otherwise silenced by China's 
Communist leaders. According to the State Department's report, ``by 
year's end almost all public dissent against the central authorities 
was silenced.'' We cannot allow this to continue. If they are not 
allowed to speak out for themselves, we must speak out on their behalf. 
We cannot forget the indomitable spirits of Wei Jingsheng, Bao Tong, 
Chen Ziming, Tong Yi, and the hundreds of thousands of others, known 
and unknown, who suffer under China's repressive regime.

  Our great country is ignoring the plight of China's pro-democracy 
activists. In the process, we are not only undermining freedom in 
China, but we are also losing our ability to speak out for freedom and 
human rights throughout the world.
  There is some reason for hope. I would like to bring to the attention 
of my colleagues here today an event held in San Francisco over the 
past weekend. Over 20 rock groups and other musical artists 
participated in a 2 day Tibetan Freedom concert to bring attention to 
the plight of the people of Tibet. Organized by the Milarepa Fund and 
the Beastie Boys, this concert was attended by over 100,000 young 
people who can take the message about Tibet to communities across this 
Nation. The energy and enthusiasm of the concert participants was 
inspiring and demonstrates that the fight for basic human rights is 
being taken up by the younger generation. The participants in the 
concert, like the pro-democracy activists in China, are the future. Our 
cause will utlimately prevail, but we must keep up the fight.
  The past few months have seen China act to intimidate the people of 
Taiwan in their democratic elections, diminish democratic freedoms in 
Hong Kong, crack down on freedom of religion by Christians in China and 
Buddhists in Tibet, and smuggle AK-47s into the United States via its 
state-run companies.
  The MFN vote provides us with the only opportunity to demonstrate our 
concern about United States-China relations and our determination to 
make trade fairer, the political climate freer and the world safer. I 
urge our colleagues not to turn their backs on these important 
principles.

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