[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 8663-8664]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   STATEMENT ON PERMANENT NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS BY REVEREND RICHARD 
CIZIK, VICE PRESIDENT FOR GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
                              EVANGELICALS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 19, 2000

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw to the attention of the 
House the following statement from Reverend Richard Cizik, Vice 
President for Governmental Affairs at the National Association of 
Evangelicals. Reverend Cizik, who has 30 years of experience on 
religious issues in China, believes that granting permanent normal 
trade relations with China will ultimately result in greater religious 
freedom for the Chinese people.

                                           National Association of


                                                 Evangelicals,

                                          Azusa, CA, May 16, 2000.
     Re: Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China


[[Page 8664]]


     Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
     Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Mr. Speaker: The National Association of Evangelicals 
     is officially neutral on the topic of permanent normal trade 
     relations with China. Evangelicals are not of one mind on how 
     best to encourage China to move toward greater religious 
     freedom. However, I write to express my own concerns.
       The NAE has been vocal about the religious persecution of 
     Christians and others around the world. Its 1996 ``Statement 
     of Conscience Concerning Worldwide Religious Persecution,'' 
     was the touchstone of a movement culminating in the passage 
     of the International Religious Freedom Act. (I helped draft 
     that statement and have been involved with China for more 
     than twenty-five years, most recently participating as a 
     staff member to President Clinton's ``Religious Leaders' 
     Delegation To the People's Republic of China.'')
       Millions of evangelicals, many within our 51 denominations 
     and 43,000 churches, are convinced that we need to end the 
     fractious debate over China trade policy which is damaging 
     confidence in the United States among the Chinese people and 
     elsewhere. Moreover, to have an effective policy that can 
     actually achieve several goals--including gains in human 
     rights and cooperative rather than hostile relations--
     requires a consistent policy that can only come from 
     bipartisan consensus based on public support.
       I respectively suggest the following might help to create 
     that new consensus.
       Send clear signals to the government of the PRC of its 
     primary responsibility to protect human rights and bring 
     about social justice in China. For example, officials in 
     Beijing and in Henan Province should immediately grant full 
     freedom to Pastor and evangelist Peter Xu Yongzhe. Freeing Xu 
     and other prisoners of conscience who have been unjustly 
     detained or imprisoned would be an important step by China in 
     terms of improving human rights, strengthening the rule of 
     law, and building better relations with the United States. 
     (The persecution of people of faith was raised by the members 
     of the Religious Delegation in all of our meetings with 
     government officials--including President Jiang Zemin.)
       Recognize that there are no instant solutions but that 
     progress is being made. China's cultural legacy of 
     authoritarianism, the complexity of change, and the lagging 
     of political reform behind economic developments requires a 
     long-term struggle for human dignity and social justice. We 
     should affirm the far-reaching improvements in personal 
     freedoms and social-economic livelihood achieved over the 
     past twenty years by the Chinese people in their attempt to 
     leave behind the horrors of Maoism and to create a more 
     democratic society.
       Keep in mind that the key agents of change in China are 
     Chinese citizens whose opinions will have growing impact on 
     government action. We must ensure that our actions support 
     rather than damage their efforts. In recent years, our annual 
     debate over trade and human rights, while drawing attention 
     to the religious liberty violations that should concern all 
     Americans, has fueled hostility between Chinese and Americans 
     rather than bringing about positive change in China. 
     Additionally, it has served to strengthen the hand of 
     Communist hardliners who oppose economic and political 
     reform, as well as an improvement in US-Sino relations.
       Listen carefully to the views of Chinese citizens, 
     Americans living and working in China, and citizens of Hong 
     Kong and Taiwan, all whom will be the most affected by the 
     outcome. Many Chinese Christians, including those in the 
     unregistered house churches and those in the US, call for 
     expanded trade through the World Trade Organization because 
     it helps create acceptance of international norms and keeps 
     the door open to religious exchanges and cooperation. Trade 
     sanctions increase social discrimination and government 
     pressure against these believers.
       Pay more attention to the real impact of our actions inside 
     China. Using trade restrictions to send a signal of 
     disapproval to the PRC government is likely to fuel 
     widespread public resentment of the United States. 
     Restrictions on trade will be interpreted as an effort to 
     block China's membership in the World Trade Organization and 
     thus to stymie progress or even destabilize China. This will 
     inevitably arouse anti-American sentiment, especially among 
     younger generations.
       Recognize that the United States government is only one 
     actor and that many American institutions exert great 
     influence in China, especially on moral and social issues. 
     Religious groups, businesses, nonprofit institutions, 
     academic, and medical organizations, as they interact with 
     their Chinese counterparts, need to raise our concerns about 
     human rights abuses. They also need to find constructive ways 
     to assist efforts to speed up the restructuring of social and 
     political institutions necessary to underpin the rule of law.
       Let me make some specific suggestions on what should be 
     done next.
       (1) This administration and the next should make greater 
     efforts to work multilaterally, especially with Asian 
     nations, both to enforce China's compliance with WTO 
     standards over the next decade and to create regional support 
     for human rights. This will help create internal pressures 
     for government conformity with international standards.
       (2) Congress should work to establish good working 
     relations with the National People's Congress of China in 
     order to encourage good legislative practices. Congress 
     should fully fund all the functions it has mandated to the 
     Department of State and other government agencies.
       (3) The Commission on International Religious Freedom 
     (CIRF) should organize and fund a cooperative government-
     nongovernmental effort to improve the accuracy of reporting 
     on the religious situation in China. It should encourage 
     reporting by province and major city to highlight the 
     responsibilities of local officials.
       (4) The formation of a new bipartisan commission to 
     coordinate all the goals (including religious freedom) of a 
     consistent long-term policy toward China would be most 
     effective if it focuses not on a single set of issues or 
     short-term aims, but on effective strategy and tactics, and 
     fosters dialogue with representatives of all the diverse 
     sectors in our society that are involved with China.
       (5) Congress should demonstrate the strength of its resolve 
     on matters of human rights and religious freedom by 
     enacting--not broad and blanket sanctions--but targeted and 
     measured sanctions designed to accomplish their intended 
     objective. For example, firm action against China National 
     Petroleum Company's role in financing genocide in Sudan would 
     send an indirect signal to China about our commitment to deal 
     with religious persecution.
       It is especially disturbing to me that during the past year 
     there has been an escalation of harassment, intimidation, and 
     persecution of people of faith. However, in my opinion (and 
     that of organizations such as China Source, which represents 
     dozens of Christian organizations working in China), granting 
     permanent normal trade relations with China will ultimately 
     result in greater religious freedom for the Chinese people, 
     not less.
           Sincerely Yours,
                                               Rev. Richard Cizik,
                          Vice President for Governmental Affairs.

     

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