104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2058

AN ACT

Establishing United States policy toward China.
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2058

AN ACT

Establishing United States policy toward China.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘China Policy Act of

5 1995’’.
2

•HR 2058 EH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) The People’s Republic of China comprises

4 one-fifth of the world’s population, or 1,200,000,000

5 people, and its policies have a profound effect on the

6 world economy and global security.

7 (2) The People’s Republic of China is a perma8 nent member of the United Nations Security Council

9 and plays an important role in regional organiza10 tions such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

11 Forum and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

12 (3) The People’s Republic of China is a nuclear

13 power with the largest standing army in the world,

14 and has been rapidly modernizing and expanding its

15 military capabilities.

16 (4) The People’s Republic of China is currently

17 undergoing a change of leadership which will have

18 dramatic implications for the political and economic

19 future of the Chinese people and for China’s rela20 tions with the United States.

21 (5) China’s estimated $600,000,000,000 econ22 omy has enjoyed unparalleled growth in recent

23 years.

24 (6) Despite increased economic linkages be25 tween the United States and China, bilateral rela26 tions have deteriorated significantly because of fun-
3

•HR 2058 EH

1 damental policy differences over a variety of impor2 tant issues.

3 (7) The People’s Republic of China has violated

4 international standards regarding the nonprolifera5 tion of weapons of mass destruction.

6 (8) The Government of the People’s Republic of

7 China, a member of the United Nations Security

8 Council, is obligated to respect and uphold the

9 United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration

10 of Human Rights.

11 (9) According to the State Department Country

12 Report on Human Rights Practices for 1994, there

13 continue to be ‘‘widespread and well-documented

14 human rights abuses in China, in violation of inter15 nationally accepted norms...(including) arbitrary and

16 lengthy incommunicado detention, torture, and mis17 treatment of prisoners.... The regime continued se18 vere restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assem19 bly and association, and tightened control on the ex20 ercise of these rights during 1994. Serious human

21 rights abuses persisted in Tibet and other areas pop22 ulated by ethnic minorities.’’.

23 (10) The Government of the People’s Republic

24 of China continues to detain political prisoners and

25 continues to violate internationally recognized stand-
4

•HR 2058 EH

1 ards of human rights by arbitrary arrests and deten2 tion of persons for the nonviolent expression of their

3 political and religious beliefs.

4 (11) The Government of the People’s Republic

5 of China does not ensure the humane treatment of

6 prisoners and does not allow humanitarian and

7 human rights organizations access to prisons.

8 (12) The Government of the People’s Republic

9 of China continues to harass and restrict the activi10 ties of accredited journalists and to restrict broad11 casts by the Voice of America.

12 (13) In the weeks leading to the 6th anniver13 sary of the June 1989 massacre, a series of petitions

14 were sent to the Chinese Government calling for

15 greater tolerance, democracy, rule of law, and an ac16 counting for the 1989 victims and the Chinese Gov17 ernment responded by detaining dozens of prominent

18 intellectuals and activists.

19 (14) The unjustified and arbitrary arrest, im20 prisonment, and initiation of criminal proceedings

21 against Harry Wu, a citizen of the United States,

22 has greatly exacerbated the deterioration in relations

23 between the United States and the People’s Republic

24 of China, and all charges against him should be dis25 missed.
5

•HR 2058 EH

1 (15) China has failed to release political pris2 oners with serious medical problems, such as Bao

3 Tong, and on June 25, 1995, revoked ‘‘medical pa4 role’’ for Chen-Ziming reimprisoning him at Beijing

5 No. 2 Prison, and Chinese authorities continue to

6 hold Wei Jingsheng incommunicado at an unknown

7 location since his arrest on April 1, 1994.

8 (16) The Government of the People’s Republic

9 of China continues to engage in discriminatory and

10 unfair trade practices, including the exportation of

11 products produced by prison labor, the use of import

12 quotas and other quantitative restrictions on selected

13 products, the unilateral increasing of tariff rates and

14 the imposition of taxes as surcharges on tariffs, the

15 barring of the importation of certain items, the use

16 of licensing and testing requirements to limit im17 ports, and the transshipment of textiles and other

18 items through the falsification of country of origin

19 documentation.

20 (17) The Government of the People’s Republic

21 of China continues to employ the policy and practice

22 of controlling all trade unions and continues to sup23 press and harass members of the independent labor

24 union movement.
6

•HR 2058 EH

1 (18) The United States-Hong Kong Policy Act

2 of 1992 states that Congress wishes to see the provi3 sions of the joint declaration implemented, and de4 clares that ‘‘the human rights of the people of Hong

5 Kong are of great importance to the U.S. Human

6 Rights also serve as a basis for Hong Kong’s contin7 ued prosperity,’’. This together with the rule of law

8 and a free press are essential for a successful transi9 tion in 1997.

10 (19) The United States currently has numerous

11 sanctions on the People’s Republic of China with re12 spect to government-to-government assistance, arms

13 sales, and other commercial transactions.

14 (20) It is in the interest of the United States

15 to foster China’s continued engagement in the

16 broadest range of international fora and increased

17 respect for human rights, democratic institutions,

18 and the rule of law in China.

19 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVES.

20 (a) UNITED STATES OBJECTIVES.—The Congress

21 calls upon the President to undertake intensified diplo22 matic initiatives to persuade the Government of the Peo23 ple’s Republic of China to—

24 (1) immediately and unconditionally release

25 Harry Wu from detention;
7

•HR 2058 EH

1 (2) adhere to prevailing international standards

2 regarding the nonproliferation of weapons of mass

3 destruction by, among other things, immediately

4 halting the export of ballistic missile technology and

5 the provision of other weapons of mass destruction

6 assistance, in violation of international standards, to

7 Iran, Pakistan, and other countries of concern;

8 (3) respect the internationally-recognized

9 human rights of its citizens by, among other

10 things—

11 (A) permitting freedom of speech, freedom

12 of press, freedom of assembly, freedom of asso13 ciation, and freedom of religion;

14 (B) ending arbitrary detention, torture,

15 forced labor, and other mistreatment of pris16 oners;

17 (C) releasing all political prisoners, and

18 dismantling the Chinese system of jailing politi19 cal prisoners (the gulag) and the Chinese forced

20 labor system (the Laogai);

21 (D) ending coercive birth control practices;

22 and

23 (E) respecting the legitimate rights of the

24 people of Tibet, ethnic minorities, and ending

25 the crackdown on religious practices;
8

•HR 2058 EH

1 (4) curtail excessive modernization and expan2 sion of China’s military capabilities, and adopt de3 fense transparency measures that will reassure Chi4 na’s neighbors;

5 (5) end provocative military actions in the

6 South China Sea and elsewhere that threaten Chi7 na’s neighbors, and work with them to resolve dis8 putes in a peaceful manner;

9 (6) adhere to a rules-based international trade

10 regime in which existing trade agreements are fully

11 implemented and enforced, and equivalent and recip12 rocal market access is provided for United States

13 goods and services in China;

14 (7) comply with the prohibition on all forced

15 labor exports to the United States; and

16 (8) reduce tensions with Taiwan by means of

17 dialogue and other confidence building measures.

18 (b) VENUES FOR DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVES.—The

19 diplomatic initiatives taken in accordance with subsection

20 (a) should include actions by the United States—

21 (1) in the conduct of bilateral relations with

22 China;

23 (2) in the United Nations and other inter24 national organizations;
9

•HR 2058 EH

1 (3) in the World Bank and other international

2 financial institutions;

3 (4) in the World Trade Organization and other

4 international trade fora; and

5 (5) in the conduct of bilateral relations with

6 other countries in order to encourage them to sup7 port and join with the United States in taking the

8 foregoing actions.

9 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

10 The President shall report to the Congress within 30

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and no less

12 frequently than every 6 months thereafter, on—

13 (1) the actions taken by the United States in

14 accordance with section 3 during the preceding 6-

15 month period;

16 (2) the actions taken with respect to China dur17 ing the preceding 6-month period by—

18 (A) the United Nations and other inter19 national organizations;

20 (B) the World Bank and other inter21 national financial institutions; and

22 (C) the World Trade Organization and

23 other international trade fora; and
10

•HR 2058 EH

1 (3) the progress achieved with respect to each

2 of the United States objectives identified in section

3 3(a).

4 Such reports may be submitted in classified and unclassi5 fied form.

6 SEC. 5. COMMENDATION OF DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT.

7 The Congress commends the brave men and women

8 who have expressed their concerns to the Government of

9 the People’s Republic of China in the form of petitions

10 and commends the democracy movement as a whole for

11 its commitment to the promotion of political, economic,

12 and religious freedom.

13 SEC. 6. RADIO FREE ASIA.

14 (a) PLAN FOR RADIO FREE ASIA.—Section 309(c)

15 of the United States International Broadcasting Act of

16 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208(c)) is amended to read as follows:

17 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 30 days

18 after the date of enactment of the China Policy Act of

19 1995, the Director of the United States Information Agen20 cy shall submit to the Congress a detailed plan for the

21 establishment and operation of Radio Free Asia in accord22 ance with this section. Such plan shall include the follow23 ing:
11

•HR 2058 EH

1 ‘‘(1) A description of the manner in which

2 Radio Free Asia would meet the funding limitations

3 provided in subsection (d)(4).

4 ‘‘(2) A description of the numbers and quali5 fications of employees it proposes to hire.

6 ‘‘(3) How it proposes to meet the technical re7 quirements for carrying out its responsibilities under

8 this section.’’.

9 (b) INITIATION OF BROADCASTING TO CHINA.—Not

10 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

11 Radio Free Asia shall commence broadcasting to China.

12 Such broadcasting may be undertaken initially by means

13 of contracts with or grants to existing broadcasting orga14 nizations and facilities.

Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 1995.

Attest:

Clerk.