U.S. Dept. of State - IIP: The United States and China

Text: Wellstone To Offer Religious Freedom Amendment to PNTR Bill
(Would deny China PNTR until religious freedoms protected)

Senator Paul Wellstone (Democrat of Minnesota) announced July 27 that he would introduce an amendment to the bill granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status that would deny that status to China until the Beijing regime "makes substantial improvement in respect of religious freedoms, as measured by six concrete, achievable steps."

The amendment to be offered by Wellstone, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "adopts the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's recommendations on China, which rejects extending unconditional PNTR trading privileges to China," Wellstone's office said in a July 27 press release.

Among the steps the Beijing regime would have to undertake are establishing "an ongoing dialogue with the U.S. government on religious freedom issues," ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and "releasing from prison persons incarcerated for religious reasons," the press release says.

Wellstone was one of 12 senators who voted July 27 against a motion to invoke cloture regarding H.R. 4444, the bill that would grant China PNTR. The successful bid to invoke cloture means the bill will receive expedited treatment once the Senate reconvenes September 5 and that debate on the issue will be limited to 30 hours, with limits on motions and amendments regarding the bill.

July 27, 2000
Wellstone To Push for Religious Freedom In China During PNTR Debate
Will Introduce Amendment to Deny PNTR Until Recommendations of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Are Met

(Washington, D.C.) -- U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced today that he will press for an amendment to HR 4444, a bill to grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China, which directs the Congress to deny PNTR for China until the country makes substantial improvement in respect of religious freedoms, as measured by six concrete, achievable steps. The Wellstone amendment adopts the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's recommendations on China, which rejects extending unconditional PNTR trading privileges to China.

"Two years ago, Senate Democrats and Republicans alike, liberals and conservatives, all went on the record saying wisely that we want an American foreign policy that promotes, not discourages, religious freedom around the world. We created the Commission on International Religious Freedom to make recommendations to us on how the Congress by its policy-making could best meet that important foreign policy goal. Well, the Commission has spoken, and it has told us unequivocally that we should not grant China permanent normal trade relations until the Chinese government meets a few easily achieved standards to allow its citizens the simple right to worship. We should listen closely to the Commission we created. To do so will send an unambiguous signal to the persecutors and persecuted in China that they will not be forgotten, and will show that the Senate meant what it said when it established religious freedom as a cornerstone of our foreign policy considerations," Wellstone said.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998, which passed the Senate 98-0. In that Act, Congress instructed the Commission to make findings and recommendations to ensure that American foreign policy promotes international religious freedom.

While Commission members have diverse religious affiliations and political viewpoints, including those who strongly favor free trade, they were unanimous in recommending that Congress not approve PNTR for China until China makes substantial improvement in respect for religious freedom, as measured by six concrete, achievable steps. These include China establishing an ongoing dialogue with the U.S. government on religious freedom issues, ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and releasing from prison persons incarcerated for religious reasons.

"Given the sharp deterioration in freedom of religion in China during the last year, the Commission believes that an unconditional grant of PNTR at this moment may be taken as a signal of American indifference to religious freedom," the Commission has stated.

In the Commission's first annual report, China, it said, had made a sweeping turn for the worse as the Beijing government cracked down on Roman Catholics loyal to the Vatican; underground, unregistered Protestant "house churches"; Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and others. Ordinary citizens face harassment, imprisonment, torture, and even death for practicing their religions. Further, the right to freedom of religious belief is explicitly barred to the 63 million members of the Chinese Communist Party and military, and to the hundreds of millions of minors under the age of 18. The Commission noted that the crackdown on believers this past year occurred simultaneously while Beijing successfully negotiated with the U.S. over China's potential membership in the World Trade Organization.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)