IIA
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4590
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
AUGUST 10 (legislative day, AUGUST 8), 1994
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
AN ACT
Concerning United States efforts to promote respect for
internationally recognized human rights in China.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States China
Policy Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The economic, social, political, and cultural
welfare of the people of China, who constitute one-
fifth of the world’s population, is a matter of global
humanitarian concern.
(2) By virtue of its size, its economic vitality,
its status as a nuclear power, and its role as a per-
manent member of the United Nations Security
Council, China plays a significant role in world af-
fairs.
(3) The United States policy toward China in-
volves balancing multiple interests, including pro-
moting human rights and democracy, securing Chi-
na’s strategic cooperation in Asia and the United
Nations, protecting United States national security
interests, controlling the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, promoting a peaceful and demo-
cratic transition in Hong Kong, and expanding
United States economic contact with China.
(4) United States policy toward China must in-
clude as a key objective the promotion of inter-
nationally recognized human rights. Specific prior-
ities and methods should be appropriate to the cir-
cumstances. Engagement with China rather than its
isolation is more likely to foster United States inter-
ests.
(5) The opening of China to the West, the
adoption of free market economic reforms, the emer-
gence of a strong and entrepreneurial economy that
ensures the rise of a Chinese middle class; all have
led to expanded individual freedom, a weakening of
state control over personal expression, access to the
media in the United States, Hong Kong, and the
West, and major improvements in living standards
for the Chinese people.
(6) United States policies that encourage eco-
nomic liberalization and increased contact with the
United States and other democracies foster respect
for internationally recognized human rights and can
contribute to civil and political reform in China.
(7) The President’s policy statement of May 26,
1994, provides a sound framework for expanding
and extending the relationship of the United States
with China while continuing the commitment of the
United States to its historic values. The United
States must develop a comprehensive and coherent
policy toward China that addresses the complex and
fast-changing reality in that country and promotes
simultaneously the human rights, diplomatic, eco-
nomic, and security interests of the United States
toward China.
(8) The United States has an interest in a
strong, stable, prosperous, and open China whose
government contributes to international peace and
security and whose actions are consistent with the
responsibilities of great power status. Whether those
expectations are met will determine the breadth,
depth, and tone of the United States-China bilateral
relationship.
(9) Peace and economic progress in East Asia
is best assured through a web of cooperative rela-
tions among the countries of the region, including
China and the United States. The emergence of a
militarily powerful China that seeks to dominate
East Asia would be regarded as a matter of serious
concern by the United States and by other countries
in the Asia-Pacific region.
(10) Yet China’s performance has been uneven
on a number of issues of concern to the United
States. In particular, the Chinese Government has
failed to observe internationally recognized human
rights. In this regard the Congress makes the follow-
ing declarations:
(A) The Chinese Government itself has
made commitments to observe universal human
rights norms.
(B) Human rights have universal applica-
tion and are not solely defined by culture or
history.
(C) Chinese policies of particular concern
to the United States are the criminalization of
dissent, the inhumane treatment in prisons, and
the serious repression in non-Han-Chinese
areas like Tibet.
(11) Genuine political stability in China and
greater respect for internationally recognized human
rights, as well as continued economic growth and
stability, will only occur in China as a result of a
strengthened legal system (based on the rule of law
and property rights), the emergence of a civil soci-
ety, and the creation of political institutions that are
responsive to public opinion and the interests of so-
cial groups.
(12) China has entered a major transition in its
political history which will determine the nature of
the domestic system, including respect for inter-
nationally recognized human rights, and the Chinese
Government’s foreign policy. The Chinese Govern-
ment should accelerate the process of reform of all
aspects of Chinese society.
(13) Existing official bilateral and multilateral
institutions provide useful venues for engagement
with China concerning the rule of law, civil society,
respect for internationally recognized human rights,