[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8642-8643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              ASIAN POLICY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this past weekend President Obama met with 
President Xi of China in California for a summit meeting between the 
two leaders. It was an opportunity for a personal relationship between 
the leader of China and the leader of the United States in order to 
improve the trust between the two countries.
  China is important to the United States. China, as we know, is a 
permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations--a key 
player in developing international policies that are important to the 
United States and global security. China is very influential in the 
policies concerning North Korea and Iran. China is a key trading 
partner of the United States. We know the amount of products that go 
back and forth between China and the United States.
  President Obama has correctly identified Asia as a region of 
particular interest. He has rebalanced Asian policy because of the 
importance of Asia to the United States. We are a Pacific power, and 
Asia is critically important for regional security as well as for 
global security.
  I have the opportunity of chairing the Subcommittee on East Asian and 
Pacific Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In that 
capacity, 2 weeks ago I visited China, the Republic of Korea, and 
Japan.
  In China, I was able to observe firsthand the progress that is being 
made in that country and to meet with key leaders of the Chinese 
Government. I did see much progress. I saw economic change in China as 
to how they are becoming a more open society from the point of view of 
entrepreneurship. I saw rights that have been advanced. People do have 
more freedom than they had several decades ago.
  I saw an opportunity where the United States and China could build a 
stronger relationship between our two countries. It starts with 
building trust. There is a lot of mistrust out there. That is why I was 
particularly pleased about the summit meeting this past weekend. We 
have common interests. China is critically important to the United 
States on making sure the Korean Peninsula remains a nonnuclear 
peninsula. China has tremendous impact over North Korea and does not 
want to see North Korea continue its ambition to become a nuclear 
weapon power. They can help us in resolving that issue, hopefully in a 
way that will help us in a peaceful manner.
  I could not help but observe when I was in Beijing that China has a 
huge environmental challenge. The entire time I was there, I never saw 
the Sun, and that was not because of clouds, it was because of 
pollution, which is common in Beijing. It is not only a problem that 
China needs to deal with, it is a political necessity. The people of 
China know that their air is dirty. Here is an opportunity for the 
United States, working with China--the two large emitters of greenhouse 
gases--for them to come together and show international leadership by 
what we can do in our own countries to encourage progress but also 
international progress on this issue.
  While I was in China, I had a chance to advance areas of concern. I 
want to talk about that. Our security interests with China go toward 
their military, yes, but also go toward their economic conditions and 
their respect for human rights. I raised throughout my visit to China 
my concern, and I think America's concern--the international concern--
about China recognizing universally accepted human rights. The right to 
dissent is not there in China.
  On June 4 we celebrated another anniversary of Tiananmen Square, 
where the student protest turned very deadly. It is still dangerous to 
dissent in China. Civil rights lawyers can lose their right to practice 
law and can be physically intimidated if they are too aggressive in 
representing those who disagree with government policies.
  China has a policy to this day of detaining people, putting them in 
prison for their ``reeducation.'' That could be for up to 4 years 
without trial and without being questioned as to why they are being 
detained, solely because they disagree with the government's policy.
  If you are born in a community, you are registered in that community. 
There may not be economic opportunity there for you. You might want to 
move to a big city in order to explore additional economic 
opportunities for yourself and your family. In China that is not 
possible for the great majority of the people. They are registered in 
their community, they are expected to live in their community, and they 
are expected to work in that community. So you have the haves and the 
have nots. There are many people in China who are doing very well. The 
vast majority are not.
  Then there is the issue of religious freedom. I think we all know 
about Tibet and the Buddhists in Tibet and how they have been harassed. 
We know about the Uighers and the Muslim community. What really shocked 
me was talking to the Protestants who have their house churches. They 
explained to me that if their churches get too big--maybe over 25 or 30 
members--they lose their right to meet. The government is worried about 
too many

[[Page 8643]]

people getting together to celebrate their religion. Well, that 
certainly is unacceptable. It violates internationally recognized human 
rights standards.
  And then they block access, full access, to the Internet. Sites such 
as the New York Times or Bloomberg are considered to be too difficult 
for the Chinese people to accept, and the government blocks those 
sources.
  Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges China has today is that 
it does not trust its own people to innovate and create. Instead, they 
use cyber to try to steal our rights, our innovation, not just in 
America but throughout the world. We are very concerned about the 
proper use of protecting intellectual property, and I raised that 
during my visit to China.
  We are also concerned about the cyber security issues, and I know 
that was on the agenda of President Obama and President Xi. We would 
urge progress to be made on acceptable standards on the use of cyber.
  Then there is the issue of corruption. Because so much is determined 
by where you live and your local government, corruption is widespread. 
That needs to be changed.
  So these are important subjects that we raised in a country that is 
critically important to the United States, but these issues must be 
debated.
  When President Park was here, the President of the Republic of Korea, 
she mentioned on the House floor to a joint session of Congress that 
she wants a security dialog in Northeast Asia. When I met with her when 
I was in Seoul, we had a chance to talk more about it. The more she 
talked about the security dialog, the more it reminded me of the 
Helsinki Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe, which was established in 1975 as a security dialog between all 
the counties of Europe, now Central Asia, the United States, and 
Canada.
  That security dialog deals with all three baskets of concern. Yes, we 
are concerned about military actions. We have serious military issues 
that we need to take up in the northeast. Maritime security issues are 
very much of concern to all the countries of Northeast Asia. But we 
also need to deal with economic freedom and opportunity, and we need to 
deal with human rights.
  This type of a dialog would allow us in the north to participate with 
the major countries in Northeast Asia to work out and know the concerns 
of each of the countries. It would include not just China and the 
Republic of Korea but Japan, North Korea, the United States, and 
Russia.
  I would urge the region to either adopt a security dialog similar to 
the Helsinki process or look at becoming a part of the Helsinki 
process. We do have regional forums. There is a regional forum for 
Asia. So it is a possibility that they could actually work under the 
Helsinki framework.
  In my visits to Japan and the Republic of Korea, I know we have two 
close allies. Japan, of course, is a treaty ally. We have U.S. troops 
both in Korea and Japan. We are working out ways to make our troop 
presence more effective, consistent with the political realities of 
both of those countries.
  Both Japan and the Republic of Korea strongly support our policies in 
Iran and Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula. The relationship between 
these two countries must improve. There are serious issues. Of course 
the comfort woman issue during World War II is a matter of major 
concern to the Korean population. I certainly support and understand 
that. But it is important for those two allies of the United States to 
become closer allies and to move forward in areas of mutual interest. I 
urge them to do that.
  In Japan, I had meetings on the economic issues, on the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership, TPP, which clearly are areas where we can make 
advancements. I saw an opportunity to advance U.S. interests in the 
rebalance to Asia. It is not a pivot to Asia. We used that term 
originally. It is not. We have been active in Asia for centuries. It is 
a rebalance because we recognize the importance of Asia. I think we can 
do that by enhancing our relationship with all the countries in Asia. 
It is an opportunity to advance U.S. security interests through 
military cooperation.
  I did talk about the military in China. I also talked, particularly 
in Japan, about more of their students coming here to the United States 
to advance good governance and economic relationships, and to have a 
responsible environmental program.
  The subcommittee I chair has already held two hearings on the 
rebalance to Asia, including good governance and military issues. We 
are going to hold future hearings dealing with the environmental issues 
and economic issues.
  Clearly, working with the President, I see a major opportunity to 
advance U.S. interests through our rebalance to Asia policies.

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