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“SECURITY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE IS TOO IMPORTANT TO RISK CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT WITH CHINA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6882-H6883 on Aug. 3, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SECURITY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE IS TOO IMPORTANT TO RISK CONTINUED
ENGAGEMENT WITH CHINA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 21, 1997, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, the Pentagon is considering a plan for our elite Special Forces to train Chinese PLA troops. Recently the House debated a resolution to express the dissent of this Congress to extend normal trading, or formally known as Most Favored Nation status to the People's Republic of China.
Myself and many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that extending this economic advantage to a Communist Nation is more than just an issue of trade. As Americans, we live free. Free from oppressive government and free to enjoy the rights and liberties awarded by our Constitution. Chinese citizens are not so fortunate. They suffer horrible violations of their basic human rights on a daily basis, and those who seek their fundamental rights or seek democracy are jailed, tortured and too often killed.
The State Department's Human Rights Report for China states that in 1996, all public dissent against the party and the government was effectively silenced by intimidation, exile, incarceration, administration detention, or house arrest. By year's end, all dissidents have effectively been silenced by the government, and those released from prison were often prevented from seeking employment or resuming any semblance of a normal life.
Freedom of religion is a freedom Americans take for granted every day. In China, the harassment and incarceration of religious leaders and the forcible closure and destruction of places of worship is all too common when the faith and church are not government-sanctioned. The government of the People's Republic of China has arrested, tortured and detained hundreds, if not thousands, of Protestants, Roman Catholics and Buddhists for practicing their religious beliefs. As a man of strong religious convictions, I find this appalling. However, the Chinese government does not even stop there. It maintains a policy of forced abortion and sterilization. Not only does it silence its citizens, it silences innocent life.
In the last 50 years alone, 10 times the number of people killed during the Holocaust have been killed in China. Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. Ten times the number of people killed during the Holocaust have been killed in China since 1949.
Mr. Speaker, does Congress need any more evidence to realize that we cannot trust the Chinese government?
The United States has tried to build a relationship with China, but to no avail. We give China an inch, and China takes a mile. In 1995 we extended Most Favored Nation status to China if it would agree to stop its abusive human rights practices and stop exporting nuclear weapons. China failed on the first account, Mr. Speaker, and it failed on the second account as well.
In January of this year, President Clinton told this Congress that China had assured him it was not participating in the sale of nuclear technology. Less than a month later, China was found planning to sell chemical weaponry to Iran. In fact, just last year, the CIA reported that in 1996, China was the greatest supplier of weapons-of-mass-
destruction related goods and technology to foreign countries. Not only has China failed to comply with our terms of agreement, but it poses a significant threat to our Nation's security.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reported that it is China's proliferation of ballistic missiles, weapons of mass destruction, and enabling technologies that has threatened the security of the United States. The CIA reported this year that 13 of 18 Chinese CSS-4 missiles are targeted at United States cities.
The Air Force's National Air Intelligence Center reports that the Chinese government is developing a new ICBM with the capability of hitting targets throughout the western United States running southwest from Wisconsin through California. And China took advantage of having President Clinton in Beijing to test a component of its new missile.
Mr. Speaker, what a blatant indication of China's lack of respect for our country. And yet, because our administration wants access to China's military secrets and training practices, it is willing to engage in cooperative military training with the hope of establishing a mutual relationship of trust and confidence. That is right. Despite the threat China poses to the security of the United States of America, we are allowing our elite Special Forces, the best in the world, to train and share military technology and training with a Communist Nation.
If the past is any indication, we have no reason to trust China. This proposal is far too great of a risk for our men and women in uniform to assume when the security of the American people is at stake.
Mr. Speaker, may God bless America.
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