H. Res. 57

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

February 2, 2005.

Whereas the United States and the European Union (EU)

have maintained arms embargoes on the People’s Republic of China since 1989, following the decision of the Chinese Government on June 4, 1989, to order an

unprovoked, brutal, and indiscriminate assault on thousands of peaceful and unarmed demonstrators and onlookers in and around Tiananmen Square by units of the

People’s Liberation Army, which resulted in an untold

number of deaths and several thousand injuries;

Whereas the People’s Republic of China has yet to acknowledge and make amends for the 1989 massacre at

Tiananmen Square and an estimated 2,000 Chinese citizens remain in prison as a result of their participation

in those peaceful demonstrations according to the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights

Practices for 2004;

Whereas the National Security Strategy of the United States

approved by President George W. Bush on September 17,

2002, concludes that the People’s Republic of China remains strongly committed to national one-party rule by

the Communist Party and is not truly accountable to the

needs and aspirations of its citizens, while preventing the

Chinese people to think, assemble, and worship freely;
2

•HRES 57 EH

Whereas for several years the People’s Republic of China has

also been engaged in an extensive military buildup in its

air, naval, land, and outer space systems, including the

deployment of approximately 500 short range ballistic

missiles near the Taiwan Strait according to the Department of Defense’s Report on the Military Power of the

People’s Republic of China for Fiscal Year 2004;

Whereas the military buildup by the People’s Republic of

China and the strategic doctrines and policies that underpin such a buildup remain shrouded in secrecy and imply

challenges for strategic deterrence between the United

States and China, United States Armed Forces deployed

in the Asia and Pacific region, United States commitments and interests related to the defense of numerous

friends and allies in the region, particularly Taiwan and

Japan, and regional stability more broadly;

Whereas the European Union and the People’s Republic of

China released a joint statement on December 8, 2004,

following their seventh summit meeting at The Hague in

which the two sides recognized each other as ‘‘major strategic partners in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation’’ and the EU confirmed its ‘‘political will to

continue to work towards lifting the EU arms embargo

against China’’;

Whereas the European Union and the People’s Republic of

China also released a joint declaration on non-proliferation and arms control on December 8, 2004, at The

Hague in which the EU stated its support for China’s

entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime

(MTCR);

Whereas on December 20, 2004, the Government of the

United States determined that seven entities of the Peo-
3

•HRES 57 EH

ple’s Republic of China, including several entities that

play major roles in China’s military-industrial complex,

should be subject to sanctions under section 3 of the Iran

Nonproliferation Act of 2000, which provides for penalties on entities for the transfer to Iran of certain controlled equipment and technology, reflecting a time span

of more than a decade in which the United States Government has made repeated determinations regarding

Chinese firms engaged in illicit transactions involving

strategic technology;

Whereas on December 17, 2004, the Council of the European

Union ‘‘reaffirmed the political will to continue to work

towards lifting the arms embargo’’ on the People’s Republic of China and invited the next Presidency of the

EU ‘‘to finalize the well-advanced work in order to allow

for a decision’’;

Whereas the largest member states of the European Union—

France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom—have

steadily increased their arms sales to the People’s Republic of China, such that from 2002 to 2003 the value of

reported arms sales to China doubled to approximately

$540,000,000, according to the most recent annual report, dated November 11, 2004, of the EU on its Code

of Conduct on Arms Exports;

Whereas in order to assist member states of the European

Union to close the gap in defense capabilities with the

United States and to enhance the interoperability of the

armed forces of such member states and United States

Armed Forces, the United States has provided a framework in its laws, particularly under the Arms Export

Control Act and chapters 138 and 139 of title 10, United

States Code, in which the United States has pursued a
4

•HRES 57 EH

policy of expanded transatlantic armament and defense

industry cooperation involving increasingly sophisticated

levels of sensitive United States military technology,

which becomes subject to increased risks of diversion to

the People’s Republic of China due to armaments cooperation between the EU and China;

Whereas despite the chronically low defense spending of

member states of the European Union, EU member

states have decided to develop, with the participation of

the People’s Republic of China, a new global radio navigational satellite system, known as Galileo, at a cost of

more than $3,000,000,000, which will have military applications, even though such system purports to serve

civil applications already served by the United States

Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) System; and

Whereas the United States has numerous national interests

in the Asia and Pacific region, including the security of

Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and other key areas, and

United States Armed Forces which are deployed throughout the region could be jeopardized by the People’s Republic of China because it is increasingly well-armed and

may seek to settle long-standing territorial and political

disputes in the region by the threat or use of military

force: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) reaffirms the United States arms embargo on

the People’s Republic of China and related findings and

statements of policy set forth in title IX of the Foreign

Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and

1991 (Public Law 101–246);
5

•HRES 57 EH

(2) finds that policies by the United States and

other countries which promote the development of democracy in the People’s Republic of China, and not the

development of Chinese military capabilities, will help assure a stable, peaceful, and prosperous Asia and Pacific

region;

(3) deplores the recent increase in arms sales by

member states of the European Union (EU) to the People’s Republic of China and the European Council’s decision to finalize work toward lifting its arms embargo on

China, actions that place European security policy in direct conflict with United States security interests and

with the security interests of United States friends and

allies in the Asia and Pacific region;

(4) declares that such a development in European

security policy is inherently inconsistent with the concept

of mutual security interests that lies at the heart of

United States laws for transatlantic defense cooperation

at both the governmental and industrial levels and would

necessitate limitations and constraints in these relationships that would be unwelcome on both sides of the Atlantic;

(5) requests the President in his forthcoming meetings with European leaders to urge that they reconsider

this unwise course of action and, instead, work expedi-
6

•HRES 57 EH

tiously to close any gaps in the European Union’s arms

embargo on the People’s Republic of China, in the national export control systems of EU member states, and

in the EU’s Code of Conduct on Arms Exports in order

to prevent any future sale of arms or related technology

to China; and

(6) requests the President to inform Congress of

the outcome of his discussions with European leaders on

this subject and to keep Congress fully and currently informed of all developments in this regard.

Attest:

Clerk.