[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 113 (Monday, July 16, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H7785-H7786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MADE IN CHINA

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I have a longer speech today which I will 
insert for the record, but I want to highlight some of the key points.
  During the debate over granting China permanent normal trade 
relations status, proponents argued that economic liberalization would 
lead to political liberalization in China, that exposing China to the 
West's ideas and values would lead them to play a more constructive 
role in the international community, and that the U.S. and other 
industrialized nations could influence China through economic activity 
to better respect the rights of its citizens to fundamental human 
rights.
  Instead, we have seen why the protection of basic liberties should 
not come second to economic growth. The China today is worse than the 
China of yesterday, or of last year, or of the last decade.
  And now, in addition to all of the horrible things the Chinese 
government does to its own citizens, it is doing to other countries' 
citizens as well.
  Just read the headlines:
  Toothpaste from China containing an industrial solvent and prime 
ingredient in some antifreeze.
  Chinese-made Thomas the Tank children's trains slathered in lead-
based paint, a substance that is toxic if swallowed.
  Unsafe food products from China including prunes tinted with chemical 
dyes, dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical, scallops 
and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria, and mushrooms laced with 
illegal pesticides.
  Five types of farm-raised shrimp and fish from China banned by the 
FDA because they are so contaminated from unsafe drugs in China's 
polluted waterways.
  Malfunctioning fireworks from China responsible for critical 
injuries, including in my hometown of Vienna, Virginia on July the 4th.
  Chinese-made tires sold without a critical safety feature that 
prevents the tread from separating from the tire.
  Within a year, China will also be the biggest source in the world of 
greenhouse gases from all the new coal-fired power plants being built.
  I could take several 1-hour special order speeches to detail China's 
egregious human rights record:
  Slave labor camps;
  Religious persecution, including torture and imprisonment of Catholic 
bishops, Protestant church leaders, Muslim worshipers, Falun Gong 
followers, and Buddhist monks and nuns;
  Human organ harvesting and selling;
  Sophisticated system of espionage against the U.S. government and 
American businesses;
  World's leading producer of pirated products.
  Then there's China's foray into Sudan, selling weapons to the very 
government orchestrating the genocide in Darfur.
  And despite all of these abhorrent acts, China was still awarded the 
honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics.
  Where is the outrage over China's unacceptable behavior in the 
Congress and in the administration? The facts are before us. The United 
States can no longer say that things are improving in China.
  Next time you make a purchase and you see the words ``Made in 
China,'' think of the poisoned toothpaste, the contaminated food, the 
polluted waterways and airspace, the exploding tires, malfunctioning 
fireworks, the human rights abuses, and the intimidation of religious 
leaders.
  Madam Speaker, imagine a country where factory workers have no 
workplace safety, labor or environmental protections and are required 
to work 80-hour weeks for no more than $110 per month to produce goods 
for export.
  Imagine a country which boldly supplies missiles and chemical weapons 
technology to countries that support or harbor terrorists.
  Imagine a country that oversees a network of espionage operations 
against American companies and the U.S. government.
  Imagine a country which tortures and imprisons Catholic bishops, 
Protestant church leaders, Muslim worshipers, Falun Gong followers, and 
Buddhist monks and nuns just because of their faith and systematically 
destroys churches and confiscates Bibles.
  Imagine a country which has a thriving business of harvesting and 
selling for transplant kidneys, corneas and other human organs

[[Page H7786]]

from executed prisoners who are thrown in prison with no trial or 
sentencing procedures.
  Imagine a country which maintains an extensive system of gulags--
slave labor camps, also known as the ``laogai''--as large as existed in 
the former Soviet Union that are used for brainwashing and 
``reeducation through labor.''
  Sadly, none of this is imaginary. Such a nation exists. It is the 
People's Republic of China.
  Sadly, too, that's just part of the list of egregious actions.
  In 2006, the Chinese government arrested 651 Christians that we know 
of. Currently, China has 6 Catholic bishops in jail and another 9 under 
house arrest. Renowned human rights advocate Rebiya Kadeer has watched 
from exile as the Chinese government arrests and beats her family 
members in her homeland.
  Late last year, western mountain climbers captured on videotape a 
horrifying scene: Chinese police shooting from their North Face tents 
at a group of Tibetan refugees crossing Nangpa Pass. A 17-year-old 
Buddhist nun was killed and several others were wounded.
  There are some who assert that human rights are something that should 
come once stability has been attained. They say that protection of 
human rights comes second to attaining economic power and wealth. We 
must reject that notion.
  During the debate over granting China permanent normal trade 
relations status, proponents argued that economic liberalization would 
lead to political liberalization in China, that exposing China to the 
West's ideas and values would lead them to play a more constructive 
role in the international community, and that the U.S. and other 
industrialized nations could influence China through economic activity 
to better respect the rights of its citizens to fundamental human 
rights and the unfettered practice of their faith.
  Instead, we have seen why the protection of basic liberties should 
not come second to economic growth. The China of today is worse than 
the China of yesterday, or of last year, or of the last decade. China 
is not progressing. It is regressing. It is more violent, more 
repressive, and more resistant to democratic values than it was before 
we opened our ports to freely accept Chinese products.
  And now, in addition to all of the horrible things the Chinese 
government does to its own citizens, it does to other countries' 
citizens as well. It poisons children in Panama, the Dominican 
Republic, and Australia, with toothpaste containing an industrial 
solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze. This toothpaste was 
marketed under the brand name ``Mr. Cool.''
  Some 1.5 million wooden toys in the Thomas the Tank Engine line of 
children's trains were recalled after manufacturers discovered that the 
Chinese-made toys were slathered in lead-based paint, a substance that 
is toxic if swallowed.
  China continues to send American consumers adulterated and mislabeled 
food products, including prunes tinted with chemical dyes, dried apples 
preserved with a cancer-causing chemical, scallops and sardines coated 
with putrefying bacteria, and mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
  Food and Drug Administration inspectors who traveled across the world 
to investigate the recent mass poisoning of U.S. pets stemming from 
tainted pet food from China arrived at two suspected Chinese factories, 
only to find the factories had been cleaned out and all equipment 
dismantled.
  On June 28, the FDA banned the import of five types of farm-raised 
shrimp and fish from China because they are so contaminated from unsafe 
drugs in China's polluted waterways.
  A recent NPR story described how garlic from China outsold garlic 
grown in California for the first time last year. China began dumping 
garlic at U.S. ports below cost in the 1990s. Hefty tariffs kept the 
garlic imports at bay for a few years, but since 2001, imports of 
Chinese garlic have increased fifteen-fold.
  Several Fourth of July celebrations in my district, including in my 
hometown of Vienna, VA, included malfunctioning fireworks that injured 
11 people, including children and an infant. These fireworks came from 
China.
  Some 450,000 imported tires were recalled from Foreign Tire Sales 
after it was discovered that the Chinese-made tires were sold without a 
critical safety feature that prevents the tread from separating from 
the tire. A blown tire can cause the driver of the vehicle to lose 
control of his or her car and crash.

  China is one of the world's leading producers of unlicensed copies of 
goods ranging from movies and designer clothes to sporting goods and 
medications. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, 93 
percent of DVDs sold in China are unlicensed copies. The MPAA, the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups say that despite stricter 
Chinese enforcement, product piracy is growing amid China's booming 
economic expansion.
  China is building a new coal-fired power plant every week and within 
a year will be the biggest source in the world of greenhouse gases. It 
is building factories and infrastructure all over the developing world, 
but we have no solid data on China's plans or programs. A recent 
editorial in The Washington Post reported that World Bank experts 
estimate that toxic air and water in China kill some 710,000 to 760,000 
Chinese each year.
  During a recent visit to Sudan, Chinese President Hu Jintao promised 
to build a new palace for the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, 
despite Bashir's role in orchestrating the ongoing genocide in Sudan's 
Darfur region. This is in addition to the recent Amnesty International 
report that China is selling weapons to the Sudanese government, which 
are then being used to kill and maim innocent civilians in Darfur.
  China bullies neighboring Taiwan, repeatedly threatening to launch 
missiles from the mainland for Taiwan's refusal to accept China's 
claims of sovereignty over the democratically governed territory.
  And despite all of these abhorrent acts, China was still awarded the 
honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic Games: an event 
designed to lift up ``the educational value of good example and respect 
for universal fundamental ethical principles,'' according to its own 
charter. Does China's behavior sound like a ``good example'' to the 
rest of the world? Or that it is reflecting ``fundamental ethical 
principles'' that all nations should aspire to?
  Amnesty International reports that the Chinese government is rounding 
up people in the streets of Beijing that might ``threaten stability'' 
during the Olympic Games, and is detaining them without trial. Human 
Rights Watch reports that the Chinese government is tightening 
restrictions on domestic and foreign media, in an effort to control 
what information leaks out about China's repressive and violent nature 
during coverage of the Olympics.
  China has even gone so far as to claim it will ``force rain'' in the 
days leading up to the Olympics, in order to have clear skies for the 
Games. They intend to fire rocket shells containing sticks of silver 
iodide into Beijing's skies, provoking a chemical reaction that will 
force rain--despite mixed reviews on the soundness of this science.
  China's desperation to conceal its true character leading up to the 
Games smacks of the Nazi bid for the Olympic Games. Analysts are 
likening the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 1936 Olympics, in which Nazi 
Germany soft-pedaled its anti-Semitic agenda and plans for territorial 
expansion, fooling the international community with an image of a 
peaceful, tolerant Germany under the guise of the Olympic Games.
  Like the Nazi regime in 1936 Berlin, the Chinese government is 
preparing for the Olympics by hiring U.S. firms to handle public 
relations and marketing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  Where is the outrage over China's unacceptable behavior? The facts 
are before us. The United States can no longer say that things are 
improving in China.
  But China would have America and the world believe that is the case. 
China has hired a number of large lobbying firms in Washington, DC to 
push China's agenda with the U.S. government. Documents from the 
Department of Justice show these lobbyists as having a significant 
presence on Capitol Hill, including almost 200 meetings with Member 
offices between July 1, 2005 and December 31, 2006.
  America must be a country that stands up for basic decency and human 
rights. America must speak out on behalf of those who cannot speak for 
themselves--men and women who are being persecuted for their religious 
or political beliefs. Our foreign policy must be a policy that helps 
promote human rights and freedom. Not a policy that sides with 
dictators who oppress their own citizens.
  Next time you make a purchase, and you see the words ``Made in 
China,'' think of the poisoned toothpaste, the contaminated food, the 
polluted waterways and airspace, the exploding tires, malfunctioning 
fireworks, the human rights abuses, and the intimidation of religious 
leaders. Remember that China poses a threat not only to its own 
citizens, but to the entire world.
  American businesses have an opportunity to capitalize on China's 
failure to protect the safety of its food exports. American businesses 
should seize this opportunity by reclaiming their place in the global 
market. The United States government and American consumers must be 
vigilant about protecting the values that we hold dear.

                          ____________________