06 September 2000 Fact Sheet on PNTR: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Warns of Proliferation by China The Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a fact sheet September 6 that warns against granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status. The fact sheet, titled "PNTR FactFax," is described as "a daily publication of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee providing information on issues related to the Senate debate on PNTR for China." The Senate has so far scheduled September 5-7 for a debate on H.R. 4444, a bill that would grant China PNTR status. Due to a successful cloture motion before the Senate went into recess at the end of July, opponents of H.R. 4444 will not be able to use a filibuster to delay or block the legislation. Following is the text of the fact sheet: NATI0NAL SECURITY Rewarding Beijing with PNTR will Encourage Continued Belligerence Granting PNTR to the People's Republic of China will diminish, not enhance U.S. national security interests in Asia. Over the past year, the PRC has stepped up its threats against Taiwan, continued to proliferate weapons technologies to rogue states, consolidated its military presence on islets that lie within the pacific maritime boundary and broached the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the U.S. Granting PNTR to China encourages this belligerence and sends the signal that the U.S. is not serious about protecting its national security interests in Asia. This signal will only embolden the hard line leadership in Beijing and encourage aggressive behavior. Here are the facts: A new "white paper" issued by the PRC February 21, 2000 lowered the bar for the conditions under which Beijing would use military force against Taiwan. In this new document, the PRC threatened that if Taiwan delayed talks aimed at reunification indefinitely, "then the Chinese Government will only be forced to adopt all drastic measures possible, including the use of force." Previously the PRC threatened the use force only if Taiwan declared independence or was invaded by a foreign country (white paper available on the web at http://taiwansecurity.org [ISWhite-Paper-022100.htm). Last year, it was reveled that Communist China has constructed an exact replica of Taiwan's largest military air base and is conducting mock paratroop attacks on the base. On February 28, 2000, a commentary in the official newspaper of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Liberation Army Daily, stated that the PRC was prepared to use long-range missiles against the United States in the event that the U.S. intervened in a conflict between the PRC and Taiwan (reported in the Washington Times February 29, 2000). A special edition of the Haowangjiao Weekly, another PLA sponsored publication, was more explicit in it threats. The 16 page special issue outlined possible strategies in the event of a military confrontation over Taiwan. The strategies included a neutron bomb attack against Taiwan and nuclear blackmail against the U.S. (reported by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service March 21, 2000) According to the CIA's August 9, 2000 report to Congress on proliferation, the PRC stepped up its proliferation of weapons technology in the last half of 1999. "Chinese missile-related technical assistance to Pakistan increased during this reporting period," the report stated. "In addition, firms in China provided missile-related items, raw materials, and/or assistance to several countries of proliferation concern -- such as Iran, North Korea, and Libya" (report available on the web at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/bian/bian aug2000.htm). China has increased its military budget by double digit percentages for more than a decade; this surge in military spending, subsidized by our trade deficit with China, has been used to purchase a raft of advanced Russian and other weaponry including fighter aircraft, submarines and the deadly sunburn ship-to-ship missile, which was specifically designed to attack U.S. aircraft carrier groups. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File