*EPF205 07/23/2002
Text: Senator Byrd Says China Report "Disturbing in Many Respects"
(U.S.-China Security Review Commission Report in Congressional Record) (1400)

Senator Robert Byrd (Democrat of West Virginia) praised the first annual report by the U.S.-China Security Review Commission in a July 17 speech to the Senate and placed the report's executive summary in the Congressional Record.

The report, he said, was "disturbing in many respects."

"It is worthwhile to note that China pays for much of its progress through a highly imbalanced trade relationship" with the United States, said Byrd, who led the unsuccessful fight in the Senate to deny China normal trade relations status with the United States.

The commission's report, he added, said U.S. policy toward the Beijing regime was "fragmented," and lacked "consistency and depth."

According to Byrd, the report also said U.S. policy toward China "has often been driven solely by commercial interests, specific human rights issues, or by a particular military crisis, rather than by a comprehensive examination of all the issues which impact upon this relationship."

He noted that the report described China's communist leaders as having the perception that the United States is "a declining power with important military vulnerabilities that can be exploited."

Byrd also cited the report's finding that the Beijing regime "provides technology and components for weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems to terrorist sponsoring states, presenting an increasing threat to U.S. security interests, in the Middle East and Asia in particular."

Following is the text of Senator Robert Byrd's remarks from the July 17 Congressional Record:

(begin text)

U.S.-CHINA SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT
Senate
July 17, 2002

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the U.S.-China Security Review Commission on Monday released its first annual report, as directed by the Congress in its authorizing statute, P.L. 106-398, October 30, 2000. It is a broad-ranging analysis, with major recommendations for consideration. I will ask unanimous consent that the Executive Summary be printed in the RECORD at the conclusion of my remarks.

The report is extensive, thorough, and disturbing in many respects. It paints a detailed portrait of a China determined to: acquire a vast array of high technology; broaden and deepen its industrial base; expand its research and development capabilities; and attract substantial amounts of American and other foreign investment. China is on the move. But, it is worthwhile to note that China pays for much of its progress through a highly imbalanced trade relationship with the U.S. Last year the U.S. trade deficit with China exceeded $80 billion U.S. dollars.

One could simply say that the Chinese are intent on entering the modern era, and on building a strong nation state, financed by aggressively exporting goods to the U.S. But, Mr. President, there are some very troubling aspects of the U.S./Chinese relationship.

The Commission found that U.S. policy toward China has been and is alarmingly fragmented. It lacks consistency and depth. U.S. policy toward China has often been driven solely by commercial interests, specific human rights issues, or by a particular military crisis, rather than by a comprehensive examination of all the issues which impact upon this relationship. Furthermore, over the last 30 years U.S. policy toward China has been dominated by strong Executive branch personalities and compulsive secrecy. There seems to be little sustainable consensus on the long-term national interests of the U.S. vis a vis China.

The Report makes numerous recommendations designed to elicit a more comprehensive understanding of China by U.S. policy makers and by the general public. These include rebuilding the Library of Congress' China collection, new language and area studies programs, new efforts at open source collection by the intelligence community, and an upgrading of the Federal Broadcast Information Service. The fact is that we as a nation know far too little about China, and we need a better level of effort in this regard.

There is new information and analysis in the Commission's report regarding Chinese access to U.S. capital markets, and a renewed call for more effective consultations and consensus-building between the President and Congress on Taiwan policy. The report also recommends new tools which should be employed to encourage the Chinese to comply with their commitments--in proliferation practices, prison labor agreements, intellectual property agreements enforcement, and most importantly, with their far-reaching obligations under the WTO.

The report calls for increased scrutiny of corporate activities in China, and a new corporate reporting system to reveal what investment, R&D and technology is being sent to China. Transparency, disclosure and corporate accountability should be required of U.S. firms' operations in China, and are certainly of much interest to American shareholders and investors.

I am pleased that the Report is a strong bipartisan effort, a broad consensus of nearly all the Commissioners, who approved it by a vote of 11-1. It is both an educational report and an action document. Each chapter highlights findings and makes recommendations for action which flow from those findings. The executive summery gives the key 21 recommendations, but additional valuable proposals are found at the end of each chapter.

Some of the Report's key findings about the U.S.-China relationship include:

The U.S.-China bilateral relationship is poorly coordinated and lacks a sustainable consensus among elected officials in Congress and the Executive branch;

China's leaders see the United States as a declining power with important military vulnerabilities that can be exploited;

There are serious differences in perceptions each country holds of the other and a potential for misunderstandings that are compounded by the lack of bilateral institutions for confidence-building and crisis-management;

There is plausible evidence that the burgeoning trade deficit with China will worsen despite China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO);

The U.S. may be developing a reliance on Chinese imports that could in time undermine the U.S. defense industrial base;

The U.S. lacks adequate institutional mechanisms to monitor national security concerns involving Chinese and other foreign entities seeking to raise capital in the U.S. debt and equity markets;

China provides technology and components for weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems to terrorist sponsoring states, presenting an increasing threat to U.S. security interests, in the Middle East and Asia in particular.

Radical changes in China's economic fortunes have been fueled by U.S. investors and multinational firms, and have come with severe sacrifices in the form of lost American manufacturing jobs.

Mr. President, there is much to recommend in this Report, and many recommendations which may be of interest to my colleagues.

I congratulate the Chairman and all of the commissioners who authored this fine report, as well as the staff members of the Commission who worked tirelessly on this important endeavor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the executive summary be printed in the RECORD.


(end text)

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

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