I do not propose that we turn our back on China. I am neither an isolationist nor a protectionist. But our relations with China must be guided by some larger moral purpose beyond profits. I ask you to consider what normalizing our trade relations with China will mean not only for our future national security, but also for the cause of human rights inside China itself. By making MFN permanent, you are being asked to throw away the little leverage we currently have over China's communist oligarchs.
China is among the world's worst abusers of human rights.
Thousands of followers of a peaceful Buddhist meditation sect have been jailed or sent to slave labor camps. Scores of Protestant and Catholic ministers, priests and bishops have been imprisoned. Another woman was arrested for telling an American newspaper about the beating death of her mother at the hands of the state secret police. Such abuses are common in China. The communists have embarked on a massive missile program and are rapidly acquiring the weaponry to put at risk our naval forces in the western Pacific.