IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 43 

Urging the European Council to continue to maintain its embargo on the 

sales of arms to the People’s Republic of China. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2005 

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia (for herself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

BURTON of Indiana, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the European Council to continue to maintain its 

embargo on the sales of arms to the People’s Republic 

of China. 

Whereas on June 4, 1989, the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China ordered an unprovoked, brutal, and indiscriminate assault on thousands of peaceful and unarmed demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square 

by units of the People’s Liberation Army, which resulted 

in at least 1,000 deaths and several thousand injuries; 

Whereas in response to the military assault in Tiananmen 

Square on June 4, 1989, the President of the United 

States condemned the actions of the Government of the 

People’s Republic of China against participants in the 

pro-democracy movement in China and took several con-
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•HRES 43 IH 

crete steps to respond to the repression of the movement, 

including suspending all exports of items on the United 

States Munitions List, including arms and defense-related equipment, to the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas on June 26, 1989, in Madrid, the European Council, which represents the member-states of the European 

Union (EU), strongly condemned ‘‘the brutal repression 

taking place in China’’ and introduced an embargo on 

trade in arms with the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas the Department of State’s Country Report on 

Human Rights Practices for 2003 stated ‘‘the Chinese 

government’s human rights record remained poor; the 

Government continued to commit numerous and serious 

abuses; there was backsliding on key human rights issues 

during the year, including arrests of individuals discussing sensitive subjects on the Internet, health activists, labor protesters, defense lawyers, journalists, house 

church members, and others seeking to take advantage of 

the space created by reforms’’; 

Whereas on September 15, 2004, the People’s Republic of 

China was designated by the Secretary of State as a 

‘‘country of particular concern’’ for the sixth consecutive 

year for engaging in severe violations of religious freedom, including continued suppression of religious groups 

perceived to be threatening to government authority or 

national stability; 

Whereas the citizens of the People’s Republic of China still 

do not have the right to peacefully change their government and many who openly express dissenting political 

views are harassed, detained, or imprisoned; 
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•HRES 43 IH 

Whereas the European Parliament has noted that the human 

rights situation in the People’s Republic of China remains unsatisfactory and that there has been little tangible progress made with regard to the human rights dialogue between the EU and China; 

Whereas in a resolution adopted in December 2003 the European Parliament expressed its strong belief that the People’s Republic of China must take actions to improve 

human rights and the rule of law and needs to prove it 

has made significant progress on human rights; 

Whereas in its resolution of October 2003 on the annual report from the European Council to the European Parliament relating to the issue of the European Union’s 

Common Foreign and Security Policy, the European Parliament insisted on a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan 

issue through dialogue across the Taiwan Straits; 

Whereas several Member states of the European Union have 

now proposed to lift the ban on the sale of arms to the 

People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas lifting the current ban on the sale of arms to the 

People’s Republic of China by the European Union could 

result in serious and dangerous long-term consequences 

for regional stability; and 

Whereas the European Parliament, in a resolution adopted 

on December 18, 2003, and again on November 17, 

2004, expressed its ‘‘grave concerns for lifting the arms 

embargo and called on the European Council and the 

Member states to maintain the European Union’s embargo on trade in arms with the People’s Republic of China 

and not to weaken the existing national limitations on 

such arms sales’’: Now, therefore, be it 
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•HRES 43 IH 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) joins with the European Parliament in call3 ing on the European Council and the Member states 

4 of the European Union not to lift the embargo on 

5 the sale of arms to the People’s Republic of China 

6 and not to weaken existing national limitations on 

7 such arms sales; 

8 (2) expresses its concerns over the continuing 

9 unacceptable human rights conditions inside the 

10 People’s Republic of China; 

11 (3) encourages the United States Government 

12 and the European Union to join together in a coop13 erative effort to develop a common strategy to seek 

14 improved human rights conditions in the People’s 

15 Republic of China, to promote regional stability, and 

16 to help improve political relations between the Peo17 ple’s Republic of China and Taiwan; and 

18 (4) urges the United States Government and 

19 the European Union to initiate discussions on how 

20 the European code-of-conduct can be strengthened 

21 in order to ensure that sufficient safeguards are in 

22 place to make it difficult to sell or transfer arms or 

23 technology to the People’s Republic of China and to 

24 consider entering into negotiations to develop a new 

25 transatlantic agreement on the future sale or trans-
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•HRES 43 IH 

1 fer of arms or military technology to ‘‘countries of 

2 concern’’. 

Æ