10 May 2000
Text: House International Relations Chairman May 10 on China PNTR
(Cites China's poor track record of abiding by agreements) (980) Granting China permanent Normal Trade Relations (NTR) status may not be such a good idea if it removes from Congress the opportunity to annually hold up to review China's human rights abuses, according to House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman (Republican of New York). "I am concerned about China's poor track record of abiding by its existing agreements with us in a number of trade, prison labor and proliferation areas," Gilman said in a prepared statement for a May 10 hearing of the House International Relations Committee on the issue of granting China permanent NTR status. "I believe that supporting PNTR will give China something it desperately wants: relief from the spotlight on its human rights record," Gilman said. As part of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974, also known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment, China's trade status is reviewed each year by Congress. "We in Congress are able to open a door into the human rights situation in China every year," Gilman said. Beijing's communist rulers, Gilman said, "have manipulated prisoner releases, effectively black mailed dozens of countries and nearly corrupted some of our very own American corporations with their efforts. We cannot shrink from this battle of values." Following is the text of a press release from Gilman's office: (begin text) HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE PRESS RELEASE May 10, 2000 GILMAN CRITICAL OF PNTR FOR CHINA: "WE CANNOT SHRINK FROM THIS BATTLE OF VALUES" WASHINGTON (May 10) -- U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, made the following statement today at a Full Committee hearing on "Granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations to China: Is It in the U.S. National Interest?": I am concerned about China's poor track record of abiding by its existing agreements with us in a number of trade, prison labor and proliferation areas. We need enhanced monitoring of existing agreements; yet our agencies are currently underfunded and unequipped to meet the challenges of enforcing our current agreements with China. In the area of proliferation, a recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations, National Defense University and the Institute for Defense Analyses cautioned that China's continuing support to Pakistan's weapons programs has fueled continuing concern and its involvement in the effort to reverse North Korea's nuclear weapons program has been weak. Yet we are told by the Administration not to worry that their proliferation record will improve in time, but we are still waiting. We are also told that by giving Permanent Normal Trade Relations to the People's Republic of China, we will be granting benefits to American businesses without giving away anything to China. I must strongly disagree with this viewpoint. I believe that supporting PNTR will give China something it desperately wants: relief from the spotlight on its human rights record. Under the current arrangement, we in Congress are able to open a door into the human rights situation in China every year. Along with our attention comes the attention of the world. Our hearings and debates focus the cameras and tape recorders and word processors of the news media. We have the bully pulpit on this issue, and I am very concerned that once we give it away, we will never get it back. Are Chinese human rights and labor practices important? I believe that they are the most important in the world today. China has the world's largest population, and one of the fasted growing economies. If China is allowed to trample on individual freedoms, then how can we tell Indonesia or Malaysia or Nigeria or Sudan any other nation that they cannot? The Beijing regime has fought a vigorous public relations battle to win this philosophical argument. They have manipulated prisoner releases, effectively black mailed dozens of countries and nearly corrupted some of our very own American corporations with their efforts. We cannot shrink from this battle of values. Public opinion polls show that many Americans have deep reservations about our policies toward China and the proposal to extend normal trade relations to that country. By granting PNTR to China, we will sacrifice much of our ability to affect public opinion on Chinese human rights practices. I would also note that the recent report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom included a recommendation by all nine commissioners that the Congress not grant PNTR to China until substantial improvements are made in respect for religious freedom in that country. While the nine voting members include strong free trade proponents and represent a wide diversity of opinion and religions, they are unanimous that China needs to take concrete steps to release all persons imprisoned for their religious beliefs, to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to take other measures to improve respect for religious freedom. Metternich, the late Austrian Foreign Minister, said that "Public opinion is one of the most powerful weapons, which like religion penetrates the most hidden corners where administrative measures lose their influence; to despise public opinion is like despising moral principles." Let us think long and hard before we dispose of this weapon. Testifying at the hearing were: U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox (CA); U.S. Rep. Sander M. Levin (MI); Sandra Kristoff, Senior Vice President, New York Life International, Inc.; Mike Jendrzejczyk, Executive Director, D.C. Office, Human Rights Watch Asia; Nick Giordano, International Trade Counsel, National Pork Producers Council; Wei Jingsheng, Former Prisoner of Conscience in China, Chinese Democracy Activist; Steven T. McFarland, Executive Director, Commission for International Religious Freedom; and the Rev. Daniel Su, Assistant to the President, China Outreach Ministries. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
