[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 64 (Monday, May 16, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CHINA'S ANTI-SECESSION TARGETING DEMOCRATIC TAIWAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVAN PEARCE

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 16, 2005

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, on March 14, China's unelected Parliament 
passed its Anti-Secession Law targeted at Taiwan. Later that month, 
Taiwanese citizens took to the streets protesting the law, while senior 
U.S. administration officials and U.S. Congress repeatedly and on many 
occasions expressed their grave concern regarding the passage of the 
Chinese legislation. The European Union has also decided not to lift 
its arms embargo against China at this time.
  Clearly, the Chinese anti-secession legislation has impeded cross-
strait dialogue, threatened peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific 
region and, more importantly, allowed the world to see the true nature 
of the Chinese Communist Party. It is a party that hasn't changed much 
from the days of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989.
  Indeed, despite China's recent economic growth and prosperity, China 
remains authoritarian. The Chinese Communist Party is the supreme 
source of power. Human rights violations are widespread, stemming from 
the authorities' intolerance of dissent, fear of unrest, and the 
absence of laws protecting basic freedoms. Abuses include torture and 
mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, and arbitrary and 
lengthy incommunicado detention. Prison conditions are harsh. The 
government has placed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the 
press, assembly, association, religion and privacy. In many cases, the 
judicial system denies criminal defendants basic legal safeguards and 
due process. Thousands of people are detained or serving sentences for 
``counterrevolutionary crimes'' or ``crimes against the state,'' 
including those arrested for issuing petitions or open letters calling 
for reforms and greater democracy.
  For the sake of peace and stability in the Asian-Pacific region, 
especially in the Taiwan Strait, I therefore urge President Hu Jin-tao 
to rescind the Anti-Secession Law and improve China's dismal human 
rights record. As a start, China should censure its bloody Tiananmen 
crackdown, reverse its verdict on June 4th and release the more than 
250 political prisoners jailed for their involvement in the 1989 pro-
democracy movement.
  China's Anti-Secession Law and human rights abuses need to be 
recognized by the world for what they are: antiquated measures to 
impose China's rule on its neighbor and its own people. If China wants 
to be recognized as a world power, it must act responsibly in a 
peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue and correcting human rights at 
home.

                          ____________________