Since last July, more than 35,000 people associated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement have been detained. No one is safe. Even Christians are imprisoned and thrown in forced labor camps strictly on the basis of their religious beliefs. China, despite its communist roots and totalitarian regime, realizes that in the modern world it not only takes military strength to become a superpower, it also takes economic strength. By borrowing pages from the success stories of Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, China turned towards and embraced a managed market economy driven by export growth as one of the primary engines for economic growth.
Chinese leaders say one thing and do another.
China has historically agreed to many things and has implemented relatively few of them. For example, after threatened with major trade sanctions by the U.S., China agreed to a sweeping 1992 market access agreement to remove major market barriers to U.S. products. The agreement was supposed to have been fully implemented by the end of 1997. We're still waiting. Mr. Speaker, growing up in post-World War II Chicago was a learning experience for me.