[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5326-5327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         CHINA: FRIEND OR FOE?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, in the last Congress and many before, many 
of us have heard predictions that have been made regarding China. 
Advocates last year stated that granting permanent normal trade 
relations to China would help bring reform to this Communist 
government, and establish a real friendship between our nations.
  Reading the papers last year and this year, this week particularly, I 
see nothing to support that statement. I think relationships are pretty 
shaky as they are.
  On February 11 of this year, Chinese officials detained an American 
family. In doing so, they separated the couple's 5-year-old son from 
his parents for 26 days. After 26 days, little Andrew was reunited with 
his father and expelled; but his mother is still being held.
  President Bush is demanding the release of this Washington-based 
sociologist. Her family claims that the alleged spying charges are 
trumped up. The State Department has announced this woman was not even 
an agent of the American intelligence service.

[[Page 5327]]

  Now China has detained a second American scholar. This hardly seems 
like a nation that is becoming cooperative after receiving permanent 
normal trade relations with the United States. China's already poor 
human rights record sadly worsened last year. I am pleased that the new 
administration has recognized that fact and has urged the United 
Nations to address the widespread oppression in China. The United 
States U.N. Ambassador stated that the U.S. ``should not be silent when 
those who call for democratic government or more cultural preservation 
and religious freedom in Tibet and elsewhere in China are suppressed or 
when advocates of labor rights are thrown in jail.'' But sadly, this 
may never take place.
  Mr. Speaker, every year since the 1989 killing of student protestors 
in and around Tiananmen Square, China's delegation has introduced a 
``no-action motion,'' therefore successfully stopping all attempts to 
examine its human rights record. It would seem naive to ask why.
  All of this would seem troublesome enough, but now we face even 
larger concerns. On Sunday of this week, a U.S. Navy plane and a 
Chinese fighter jet collided over the South China Sea causing the 
American craft to make an emergency landing in China and the Chinese 
plane to crash. Officials from China are claiming that the bulkier, 
clumsier American plane that is roughly the size of a Boeing 737 rammed 
the light, agile Chinese fighter jet. This would again seem to 
contradict our view of common sense. Many U.S. experts agree that the 
incident was most likely caused by an accident on the part of the 
Chinese.
  Sensitivity to the situation will ultimately result from the Chinese 
handling of the American EP-3 and its crew of 24. It is a 
reconnaissance aircraft, so it would seem likely that the Chinese 
military experts would want to board the aircraft to assess what is 
there, and I understand this morning that diplomats are meeting with 
the crew.
  U.S. officials state that the Chinese generally intercept one out of 
every three U.S. patrol flights. Recently, concern has been raised with 
the Chinese Government regarding the fact that Chinese pilots have 
``become more aggressive.'' Now, according to Admiral Dennis Blair, 
Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, the U.S. has protested the ``pattern 
of increasingly unsafe behavior,'' but ``did not get a satisfactory 
response.'' It is presumed that all 24 crew members are safe, but there 
is yet to be a direct contact between the crew and American officials. 
American officials are there and are hoping to get in to talk to the 
crew.
  Navy officials also claim that last week a confrontation occurred 
between a Chinese warship and a Navy surveillance ship in international 
waters. The officials describe the incident as threatening.
  Other examples showing cracks within our forged relationship with 
China also bear noting, such as China's involvement with Pakistan's 
nuclear bomb program and their recent questionable involvement in Iraq, 
to name just a few.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that our relationship with China needs to be 
carefully reevaluated. Since PNTR, we have seen aggressive behavior on 
their part. Our prayers are with the 24 crew members, and I am hopeful 
that a speedy resolution will occur. I look to the Bush administration 
to move forward appropriately with China.

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