| HCON 121 IH 107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 121
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States
Government should conduct a policy review of its relations with the People's Republic of
China.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2001
Mr. HOEFFEL (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. PLATTS, Mr.
TANCREDO, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) submitted the following concurrent
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United
States Government should conduct a policy review of its relations with the People's
Republic of China.
Whereas
the Department of State released, on February 26, 2001, its annual Country Report on Human
Rights Practices and named the Government of the People's Republic of China a perpetrator
of human rights abuses, stating that `the [Chinese] government continue[s] to commit
widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in violation of internationally
accepted norms';
Whereas
the Country Report on Human Rights Practices observes that the Government of the People's
Republic of China has intensified its controls on religious practice and freedom of
expression in Tibet and other areas of China;
Whereas
the Country Report on Human Rights Practices notes that thousands of leaders from the
religious group Falun Gong have been imprisoned and that thousands of Falun Gong
practitioners have remained in detention, have been sentenced to reeducation-through-labor
camps, or have been incarcerated in mental institutions, and that approximately 100 or
more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of torture and mistreatment in custody;
Whereas
the Government of the Peoples Republic of China has continued to hold the United States
Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft that made an emergency landing on the Chinese
island of Hainan on April 1, 2001;
Whereas
for eleven days the Government of the People's Republic of China held against their will
24 members of the United States military who, in accordance with international law, made
an emergency landing in the EP-E3 military aircraft on the island of Hainan on April 1,
2001;
Whereas
the Government of the People's Republic of China has instigated increasingly provocative
military actions towards Taiwan by steadily expanding its arsenal of missiles, aircraft,
submarines and destroyers intended to threaten Taiwan, including hundreds of new
short-range ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan; and
Whereas
the Government of the People's Republic of China is seeking to play an increased role in
international affairs through enhanced trade relations with the United States and other
nations through its application for full membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and other cultural interactions such as its bid to host the 2008 Olympics: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved
by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of
Congress that--
(1)
the President of the United States and his advisors should be commended for their success
and the diplomatic skill with which they negotiated the safe return of the 24 American
crew members; and
(2)
the United States Government should conduct a policy review of the nature of its relations
with the Government of the People's Republic of China in light of these recent events.
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