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23 March 2000

Text: Rep. Nancy Pelosi Says China Mustn't Escape Rights Scrutiny

(Mar. 23 Press Conference on China Human Rights and Geneva) (670)
A long-time Congressional critic of China's human rights abuses says
the United States needs to "organize and win" a vote on Beijing's
human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC) in Geneva.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California joined fellow Democrat
Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Senator Tim Hutchinson
(Republican of Arkansas) in a March 23 press conference in Washington,
D.C. where they issued a bipartisan call for the Clinton
Administration to press hard to get the UNHRC to put China's human
rights record on the agenda.
"We need to push the Clinton Administration to lobby the European
Union and others to co-sponsor this resolution condemning China's
human rights record," the Democratic lawmaker said.
Beyond censuring the Beijing regime, Pelosi said the United States
must pressure China into ratifying two human rights treaties of the
United Nations: the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.
The California Democrat urged the U.S. government to "use its leverage
to begin the process of dismantling China's massive system of forced
labor camps and restrictions on freedom to assemble."
China, she emphasized, "must not escape scrutiny by the U.N. body
charged with monitoring compliance with international human rights
standards."
Following is the text of Pelosi's statement:
(begin text)
Representative Nancy Pelosi
Statement on the U.N. Resolution to Condemn
China's Human Rights Record
Congressional consideration of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR)
provides an important opportunity to discuss a renewed and sustained
effort to press China to improve its human rights practices.
I commend the Clinton Administration for supporting a resolution to
condemn the human rights situation in China at the annual meetings of
the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. Now that the meeting
has convened, it is more important than ever for the U.S. to organize
and win the vote in Geneva. We need to push the Clinton Administration
to lobby the European Union and others to cosponsor this resolution
condemning China's human rights record. Secretary Albrights address to
the U.N. Commission today is a good start.
But, the Administration must prove their commitment to human rights in
China. In 1995, a resolution critical of China came within one vote of
adoption. In the past, the Chinese government has used trade issues to
lobby other nations to support their position. They have been very
successful at manipulating events to escape censure. We need to
counter their strategy and convince our trading partners to take a
stand on the brutal and well-documented crackdown on human rights in
China.
The human rights situation in China continues to deteriorate. The new
State Department Human Rights Report states that "The Chinese
government's human rights record deteriorated markedly throughout the
year, as the government intensified efforts to suppress dissent ...
commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in
violation of internationally accepted norms.
The State Department Report contains tough criticism of Beijing's
increased repression of democracy activists and religious groups such
as Tibetan Buddhists, Chinese Christians and even Falun Gong
practitioners. Religious services were broken up while church leaders
were harassed, detained, beaten and tortured.
In addition to seeking censure of China, we must go further. China
must be pressured to ratify two U.N. human rights treaties it has
signed: the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The U.S. government should use its leverage to begin the process of
dismantling China's massive system of forced labor camps and
restrictions on the freedom to assemble.
China must not escape scrutiny by the U.N. body charged with
monitoring compliance with international human rights standards. I
look forward to seeing the Administration build a consensus in Geneva.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State - www.usinfo.state.gov)