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“TO AUTHORIZE EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA--Continued” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S8369-S8370 on Sept. 12, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TO AUTHORIZE EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT TO THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under a previous order, the Senator from North Carolina, Mr. Helms, is recognized to offer an amendment.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask that it be in order to deliver my remarks seated at my desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Amendment No. 4125
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 4125.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Helms] proposes an amendment numbered 4125.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(To require the President certify to Congress that the People's
Republic of China has taken certain actions with respect to ensuring human rights protection)
On page 2, line 4, before the end period, insert the following: ``; FINDINGS''.
On page 4, before line 1, insert the following:
(c) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The People's Republic of China has not yet ratified the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed in October of 1998.
(2) The 1999 State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices found that--
(A) the Government of the People's Republic of China continues to commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses in violation of internationally accepted norms;
(B) the Government of the People's Republic of China's poor human rights record deteriorated markedly throughout the year, as the Government intensified efforts to suppress dissent;
(C) abuses by Chinese authorities exist, including instances of extrajudicial killings, torture and mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, lengthy incommunicado detentions, and denial of due process;
(D) violence against women exists in the People's Republic of China, including coercive family planning practices such as forced abortion and forced sterilization, prostitution, discrimination against women, trafficking in women and children, abuse of children, and discrimination against the disabled and minorities; and
(E) tens of thousands of members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement were detained after the movement was banned in July 1999, several leaders of the movement were sentenced to long prison terms in late December, hundreds were sentenced administratively to reeducation through labor, and according to some reports, the Government of the People's Republic of China started confining some Falun Gong adherents to psychiatric hospitals.
(3) The Department of State's 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom states that during 1999 and 2000--
(A) ``the Chinese government's respect for religious freedom deteriorated markedly'';
(B) the Chinese police closed many ``underground'' mosques, temples, seminaries, Catholic churches, and Protestant
``house churches'';
(C) leaders of unauthorized groups are often the targets of harassment, interrogations, detention, and physical abuse in the People's Republic of China;
(D) in some areas, Chinese security authorities used threats, demolition of unregistered property, extortion of
``fines'', interrogation, detention, and at times physical abuse to harass religious figures and followers; and
(E) the Government of the People's Republic of China continued its ``patriotic education'' campaign aimed at enforcing compliance with government regulations and either cowing or weeding out monks and nuns who refuse to adopt the Party line and remain sympathetic to the Dalai Lama.
(4) The report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom--
(A) found that the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China discriminates, harasses, incarcerates, and tortures people on the basis of their religion and beliefs, and that Chinese law criminalizes collective religious activity by members of religious groups that are not registered with the State;
(B) noted that the Chinese authorities exercise tight control over Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, select and train important religious figures, and wage an invasive ideological campaign both in religious institutions and among the Tibetan people generally;
(C) documented the tight control exercised over the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in northwest China, and cited credible reports of thousands of arbitrary arrests, the widespread use of torture, and extrajudicial executions; and
(D) stated that the Commission believes that Congress should not approve permanent normal trade relations treatment for China until China makes substantial improvements with respect to religious freedom, as measured by certain objective standards.
(5) On March 4, 2000, four days before the President forwarded to Congress legislation to grant permanent normal trade relations treatment to the People's Republic of China, the Government of the People's Republic of China arrested four American citizens for practicing Falun Gong in Beijing.
On page 4, line 22, beginning with ``Prior'', strike all through page 5, line 6, and insert the following:
Prior to making the determination provided for in subsection
(a)(1), the President shall transmit a report to Congress certifying that--
(1) pursuant to the provisions of section 122 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3532), the terms and conditions for the accession of the People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization are at least equivalent to those agreed between the United States and the People's Republic of China on November 15, 1999;
(2) the People's Republic of China has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and that the Covenant has entered into force and effect with respect to the People's Republic of China;
(3) the People's Republic of China has begun to dismantle its system of reeducation through labor, which allows officials of the People's Republic of China to sentence thousands of citizens to labor camps each year without judicial review;
(4) the People's Republic of China has opened up Tibet and Xinjiang to regular, unhindered access by United Nations human rights and humanitarian agencies;
(5) the People's Republic of China has reviewed the sentences of those people it has incarcerated as counterrevolutionaries under the provisions of a law that was repealed in March 1997 and the People's Republic of China intends to release those people;
(6) the People's Republic of China has agreed to establish a high-level and on-going dialogue with the United States on religious freedom;
(7) the People's Republic of China has agreed to permit unhindered access to religious leaders by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and recognized international human rights organizations, including access to religious leaders who are imprisoned, detained, or under house arrest;
(8) the People's Republic of China has provided a detailed response to inquiries regarding the number of persons who are imprisoned, detained, or under house arrest because of religious beliefs or whose whereabouts are not known but who were seen in the custody of officials of the People's Republic of China;
(9) the People's Republic of China intends to release from prison all persons incarcerated because of their religious beliefs;
(10) the People's Republic of China has provided a detailed response to inquiries regarding the number of persons who are imprisoned, detained, or under house arrest for reasons of union organizing; and
(11) the People's Republic of China intends to release from prison all persons incarcerated for organizing independent trade unions.
On page 5, line 10, strike ``section 101(a)'' and insert
``section 101''.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I ask it be in order that I yield several minutes to the distinguished Senator from Iowa, Mr. Grassley. Following that period, I will take the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
____________________
