Text: Proposed Resolution Calls for Review of U.S.-China Relations
(House Concurrent Resolution 121)The United States should conduct a policy review "of the nature of its relations with the Government of the People's Republic of China" in light of recent events, according to a proposed resolution introduced May 1 in the House of Representatives.
The proposed resolution's authors cite China's human rights record, the actions of the Beijing regime following the collision between a U.S. Navy EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft and a Chinese fighter plane April 1, and the threats China has made against Taiwan.
Representative Joseph Hoeffel (Democrat of Pennsylvania), a member of the House Committee on International Relations, and six co-sponsors introduced House Concurrent Resolution 121 H. Con. Res. 121) on U.S.-China relations May 1.
The proposed resolution notes that Beijing "has continued to hold the United States Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft that made an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan on April 1, 2001."
H. Con Res. 121 also cited Beijing's 11-day detention of the 24 crewmembers of the U.S. aircraft after they landed safely on Hainan Island.
The resolution was referred to the House Committee on International Relations.
Following is the text of House Concurrent Resolution 121 from the May 1 Congressional Record:
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HCON 121 IH
107th CONGRESS
1st SessionH. CON. RES. 121
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Government should conduct a policy review of its relations with the People's Republic of China.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2001
Mr. HOEFFEL (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. TANCREDO, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Government should conduct a policy review of its relations with the People's Republic of China.
Whereas the Department of State released, on February 26, 2001, its annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices and named the Government of the People's Republic of China a perpetrator of human rights abuses, stating that `the [Chinese] government continue[s] to commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in violation of internationally accepted norms';
Whereas the Country Report on Human Rights Practices observes that the Government of the People's Republic of China has intensified its controls on religious practice and freedom of expression in Tibet and other areas of China;
Whereas the Country Report on Human Rights Practices notes that thousands of leaders from the religious group Falun Gong have been imprisoned and that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have remained in detention, have been sentenced to reeducation-through-labor camps, or have been incarcerated in mental institutions, and that approximately 100 or more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of torture and mistreatment in custody;
Whereas the Government of the Peoples Republic of China has continued to hold the United States Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft that made an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan on April 1, 2001;
Whereas for eleven days the Government of the People's Republic of China held against their will 24 members of the United States military who, in accordance with international law, made an emergency landing in the EP-E3 military aircraft on the island of Hainan on April 1, 2001;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has instigated increasingly provocative military actions towards Taiwan by steadily expanding its arsenal of missiles, aircraft, submarines and destroyers intended to threaten Taiwan, including hundreds of new short-range ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan; and
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is seeking to play an increased role in international affairs through enhanced trade relations with the United States and other nations through its application for full membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other cultural interactions such as its bid to host the 2008 Olympics: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President of the United States and his advisors should be commended for their success and the diplomatic skill with which they negotiated the safe return of the 24 American crew members; and
(2) the United States Government should conduct a policy review of the nature of its relations with the Government of the People's Republic of China in light of these recent events.
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