TEXT: HIRC CHAIRMAN 1/8 ON HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CHINA
(Gilman criticizes Administration's China policy)Washington -- Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations Committee (HIRC), criticized the Clinton Administration's China policy at a January 8 hearing on the recent arrests and imprisonments of democracy and human rights activists in China.
"What we have is a pattern of failure in our China policy that has stretched for many years through many Administrations and has permitted our Nation's security to be weakened and our moral stand to be questioned," he said. "Hopefully, the Administration and the Congress will begin to confront this problem and nip in the bud this failed policy and those who benefit from it. Our economy and security are at stake. We need no stronger motivation."
Gilman noted that the House International Relations Committee and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus have sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor Harold Koh to urge the postponement of plans to hold a human rights dialogue between the United States and China.
"Although we recognize that the Administration has put a great deal of preparation into this effort, we feel that these preparations would be wasted on a futile dialogue that may serve only to validate the current repressive attitude and empower further abuses," Gilman quoted from the letter. "We urge you to postpone this dialogue until we can be certain that the Chinese are genuinely interested in a serious and substantive discussion of human rights."
"Such a discussion is clearly not possible at this time in the current climate. Moreover we urge you to immediately undertake an aggressive and coordinated effort to secure passage of a resolution condemning these abuses when the United Nations Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva, and make the Chinese aware of the seriousness of this effort," he continued.
Following is the text of Gilman's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
(begin text)
Opening Statement of Chairman Benjamin A. Gilman
Committee Hearing on "Nipping Democracy in the Bud: The New
Crackdown on Dissidents in China"January 8, 1999
The hearing will come to order. Our witnesses today are experts on the intense crackdown against democracy advocates in the People's Republic of China.
Before I begin, I want to commend Congressman Smith, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights for his leadership on the issue of human rights in China and his concern and passion for the people there who put their lives on the line everyday for these universal values. It is a great privilege to serve with him on this Committee.
In a December 22, 1998 speech commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Communist Party Central Committee, China's President and Party Secretary Jiang Zemin stated that China needed to "nip those factors that undermine social stability in the bud, no matter where they come from." In the same speech, Jiang emphasized that "the Western mode of political systems must never be copied." Soon after his remarks more arrests were made of key dissidents.
We should not be surprised by the arrests and lengthy prison terms that have been imposed. The West abandoned the tactic of any serious condemnation of China at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, or elsewhere. It has replaced criticism of or substantive action against Beijing's ruthless repression of human rights with so-called bilateral dialogues on human rights. Accordingly, China's rulers have the impression that they can act with impunity.
Early last year, the word was out that the Administration would not sponsor or pursue a resolution in Geneva if China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Last summer, President Clinton traveled to China and in October its government signed the Covenant.
The Democracy Wall movement in the late 1970s and the Hundred Flowers Campaign in the late 1950s were also periods when citizens were first encouraged to express their beliefs and then subsequently they were severely persecuted for their criticism of the Communist Party and their desire for democracy.
Similarly, the period before President Clinton visited China in June also saw an easing of political repression by the authorities, though some of us were concerned that this was only a temporary change and that the government would -- as it has indeed -- revert to form.
When viewed as a cyclical historical process or as a method to preserve power, the outcome is always the same -- a brutal suppression of the people's thirst for freedom and democracy in China. Regrettably, the policy of our Administration remains unchanged despite this latest wave of repression.
Last month, the Select Committee on US National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China released a report stating that China has been stealing weapons designs from American nuclear laboratories and obtaining sensitive computer missile and satellite technologies. That Select Committee confirmed Pentagon and State Department findings that two American companies not only helped the Chinese space industry, but may also have helped improve the reliability of China's missiles.
And yet every year billions of dollars of more goods from Chinese labor camps made by imprisoned democracy advocates come into our country and adds to our growing trade deficit with China.
In a few months, China, flush with foreign currency reserves, will receive SS-N-22 (Sunburn) missiles that it has bought from Russia. These missiles are designed to destroy our most sophisticated naval ships. If, in the future, China were to blockade democratic Taiwan for refusing to reunify, how effective will our Seventh Fleet be?
We question why our assistance to Russia has not been tied to the sale of these missiles and what has the Administration done to prevent the Chinese from purchasing them?
When President Clinton was in China last year he urged President Jiang to negotiate the future of Tibet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness once again publicly met Beijing's preliminary demands to the beginning of negotiations, stating that he only wants some genuine autonomy for his nation and not independence. His efforts were rebuffed.
Next Monday, Administration officials will meet with representatives of the People's Republic of China for a dialogue on human rights. Last week Amnesty International and other important human rights organizations wrote to Harold Koh, our new Assistant Secretary for Human Rights, to urge him not to meet with the Chinese at this time because it would send the wrong message.
Members of our Committee and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus also wrote this week to Secretary Koh, expressing our strong feelings that a human rights dialogue at this time would be both inappropriate and fruitless, given the current Chinese attitude towards human rights and the ongoing crackdown.
Permit me to provide you with some key excerpts of our letter. "Although we recognize that the Administration has put a great deal of preparation into this effort, we feel that these preparations would be wasted on a futile dialogue that may serve only to validate the current repressive attitude and empower further abuses. We urge you to postpone this dialogue until we can be certain that the Chinese are genuinely interested in a serious and substantive discussion of human rights."
In our letter to the Administration we also stated that: "Such a discussion is clearly not possible at this time in the current climate. Moreover we urge you to immediately undertake an aggressive and coordinated effort to secure passage of a resolution condemning these abuses when the United Nations Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva, and make the Chinese aware of the seriousness of this effort."
We invited the Administration to participate by sending witnesses here today but they have failed to appear.
What we have is a pattern of failure in our China policy that has stretched for many years through many Administrations and has permitted our Nation's security to be weakened and our moral stand to be questioned. Hopefully, the Administration and the Congress will begin to confront this problem and nip in the bud this failed policy and those who benefit from it. Our economy and security are at stake. We need no stronger motivation.
Last evening we received the findings of an Amnesty International Report that was designed to determine whether President Clinton's bestowing of a formal state visit upon the Chinese leadership had resulted in any significant improvement in the human right situation. In its report, Amnesty International said, "The President gave the Chinese leaders a propaganda coup, and, so far, has virtually nothing to show for it. The fact is that, while there has been minor, and mostly symbolic, progress in a few areas, in most areas the situation has actually gotten worse in the last three months."
Before introducing our witnesses, I ask if any of our other Members have an opening statement.
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