*EPF103 09/18/00
Final Debate on China PNTR Bill Begins
(Opponents decry Beijing's recent human rights abuses) (1130)
By Steve La Rocque
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Senate began final debate September 15 on H.R. 4444, the legislation that would grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, with opponents to the bill criticizing China's human rights abuses and supporters citing benefits to the U.S. economy and economic and political liberalization in China.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill September 19, and the legislation is expected to pass by a large majority. If the Senate passes the bill, it will be sent to the President for his signature and will become law after signing.

Senator Tim Hutchinson (Republican of Arkansas) said Beijing's human rights record has deteriorated over the past year, particularly with respect to religious freedom.

"At the very time the House of Representatives was voting for PNTR, and during the process by which that debate has gone on in the Senate, the conclusion of our own Government is that 'religious freedom has deteriorated markedly,'" he said.

Hutchinson cited the case of Pastor Wang Li Gong as an example of religious persecution.

"On May 24, 2000, as the House of Representatives approved permanent normal trade relations status for China, Pastor Wang Li Gong celebrated his 34th birthday by sewing footballs in a forced labor camp in Tianjing," he said.

The pastor, Hutchinson noted, "is allowed only a few hours of sleep and many more hours of torture. He has been under administrative detention since last November for the crime of organizing a Christian gathering in his home."

The Arkansas lawmaker said China engages in religious persecution, stifles political dissent, and uses torture and forced labor.

"I hope and pray the arguments that have been made by the PNTR proponents are all realized, that they are right on every point," Hutchinson said.

"I hope when they express their conviction that the best way to improve human rights in China is to see increased contact with the outside world, to see increased trade, to be exposed to new ideas," Hutchinson continued, "that all of those arguments are realized and realized soon, not in the long term but in the short term."

Political liberalization may take place in China "in the long term," he said.

Hutchinson cautioned that the United States "should not assume PNTR or the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be the main driver of this [political] change. While we hope for change in the long run, I do not believe we can remain silent about Chinese abuses in the short run."

The Arkansas legislator said he would vote "no" on H.R. 4444, but expected it to pass with opposition from only 20 to 25 senators.

On the other side of the issue, Senator Peter Fitzgerald (Republican of Illinois) said he supports PNTR for China "not only because of the tremendous economic benefits that will flow to the U.S. economy -- and to my home state of Illinois -- as a result of Chinese WTO membership; I also support PNTR because I believe that a China that is engaged with the international community -- and which is reforming and privatizing its economy at home -- will be a more stable and a more democratic China, with improved human rights at home and a better relationship with its neighbor, Taiwan."

PNTR, Fitzgerald said, "will be an unqualified gain for both the United States and China; we must not allow this bill to fail."

The Illinois Republican cited "the many and impressive market openings that the Chinese agreed to as a condition for their entry into the World Trade Organization."

WTO membership and PNTR, Fitzgerald said, "will not only keep China open to the West, but will improve conditions within that country. The market reforms that will come to China as a result of PNTR -- both a requirements of WTO, and as necessary changes in the face of increased competition -- will help to directly liberalize Chinese society."

Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas) said H.R. 4444 "presents tremendous new export opportunities for our manufacturers, farmers, and service providers."

While China has had "excellent" access to the American market for 20 years, Brownback said, access to China's market has been limited.

"With the enactment of this legislation, and China's accession to the WTO, that situation is about to change," he said.

The United States, Brownback said, "is finally going to enjoy virtually unfettered access" to China's market.

"I ardently believe that PNTR and human rights must go hand in hand. It is important to note that my positive position on PNTR gives me a door to walk through to raise a number of human rights issues with the Chinese Government, including religious liberty and the development of the rule of law," Brownback said.

Senator Max Baucus (Democrat of Montana) said H.R. 4444 "will authorize the President to grant permanent Normal Trade Relations status to China after he certifies to Congress that the terms of China's accession to the WTO are at least equivalent to those agreed in the U.S.-PRC bilateral agreement reached last November."

Baucus noted that before the President can make that certification, "the ongoing multilateral negotiations in Geneva must be completed, specifically, the Protocol of Accession and the Working Party Report to the WTO General Council."

The negotiations in Geneva over China's WTO accession might be as contentious as the PNTR debates in Washington, he suggested.

China, Baucus said, "is a nation where a free market and the rule of law are in the earliest stage of development."

In contrast, he said, the success of the WTO "is premised on its members having relatively free markets operating against a backdrop of the rule-of-law. For China's transition to membership in the world trading community to be smooth, China will have to undertake major reforms in many areas, from intellectual property law, to customs procedure, to judicial process."

China has objected to having "its implementation of trade obligations reviewed every other year, which is the current demand on the table in the protocol negotiations," Baucus said.

The Chinese "want to be treated as a developing country, which means a review every four years," he said. "China has also proposed that the focus of such reviews be shifted away from China and instead look at 'abuse by any Member of any specific provisions imposed especially on China in this Protocol.'"

That "is absolutely unacceptable," Baucus stressed. "The issue is China's implementation."

The United States "cannot allow attention to be deflected from China's record," he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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