[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H331-H332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONFRONTING REALITIES WITH CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Mr. Speaker, at the outset let me stress the 
importance of managing our complex relationship with China in a manner 
that honors the transcendent principles that define America's national 
purpose and our identity.
  Tonight, President Obama, perhaps as we speak, and President Hu 
Jintao will toast one another just blocks from here at the White House 
at an official State dinner. While appropriate for heads of State, we 
must remember that untold thousands in China continue to suffer 
horrific tortures for exercising their right to self-expression. 
Beijing's ruthless treatment of democracy activists and their families, 
Internet freedom advocates, religious minorities, and women and 
families victimized by a callous policy of coerced abortion and forced 
sterilization must continue to make us uncomfortable even as dinner is 
served.
  Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, whose photo is right here, languishes 
in prison right now as his wife and family members remain under house 
arrest. And how many more people suffer in silence, people who have 
disappeared into the vast network of gulags that no human being, much 
less any animal, should ever have to see or experience?
  Mr. Speaker, we must continue to press these points to remain 
deserving of our own identity as a Nation founded on freedom of 
religion, a Nation that embraces freedom of speech and justice, and 
free and fair commerce as worthy foundations for prosperity in future 
generations. Our China policy should reflect these transcendent and 
universal principles.
  On the economic front, nearly $2 trillion of debt and a bilateral 
trade deficit approaching $300 billion also impose weighty concerns. We 
must challenge China to abandon its embrace of unbridled mercantilism, 
which manifests itself in massive subsidies and other trade-distorting 
practices that contribute to this staggering imbalance. China must know 
that global responsibility and accountability are inseparable.
  We must, Mr. Speaker, also look ourselves in the eye and order our 
own fiscal affairs, revise stagnant manufacturing industries, refurbish 
our industrial base, and take responsibility for our economic future. 
We need to look closely at our willingness to place profit over 
principle, and to point the finger of blame at China while perpetuating 
our own economic dysfunction.
  With regard to the future of civilization itself, China is 
modernizing its nuclear arsenal. China is giving cover to North Korea's 
nuclear program. China trades with Iran. And China has controversial 
plans to break with international precedent and build nuclear reactors 
in Pakistan. Just last week, in a show of its ever expanding projection 
of power, China tested a new Stealth fighter aircraft. What kind of 
world are our children and our allies in the Pacific standing to 
inherit? Neither the United States nor China can afford to allow six 
decades of peace and security to slip through our fingers.
  Mr. Speaker, do I want a good relationship with China? Yes, 
absolutely. But we have a responsibility to work together to shape our 
complex relationship with that country, to seek meaningful progress on 
the tough issues, to acknowledge the positive elements of China's 
extraordinary culture and past civilization. However, we must do so 
without shrinking from challenging outright affronts to our principles 
and whitewashing threats to international security.

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