[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1360-E1361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

COMMUNIST CHINA DOES NOT BELONG IN THE CIVILIZED CLUB OF NATIONS

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HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

of new york

in the house of representatives

Wednesday, July 24, 1996

Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert in the Record an
article by Jessica Mathews from the Washington Post of July 22 entitled
``Beijing Pulls a Fast One.'' The article describes an act of duplicity
that is remarkable even against the low standards of behavior for which
the Communist dictatorship in Beijing is notorious.
According to the article, the Communist Chinese Government pressured
the IMF to include a Chinese national working at the Fund, Hong Yang,
on a delegation to Beijing. Just after arriving, Hong Yang was whisked
off by Communist Chinese authorities and tried and convicted on
possibly trumped up bribery charges.
Whether or not Hong Yang was guilty, Beijing, as Ms. Matthews puts it
``abused the mutual trust among members and institution that an
international organization needs in order to operate.''
Which leads me to ask, Mr. Speaker, why is this totalitarian regime
in the IMF at all? And why are we seriously considering letting them
into the WTO and the G-7? And why is the rest of the world, led by the
United States, loaning this tyrannical government over $4 billion a
year? Are there any standards whatsoever for inclusion in these groups
other than economic ones?
I say there must be. When considering Communist China's admission to
the WTO and G-7, when considering the next Export-Import Bank
guarantee, and when considering the next international loan to this
regime, we must remember who we are really dealing with. We must
remember the intimidation of Taiwan. We must remember the drive for
regional military hegemony. We must remember the countless examples of
irresponsible and dangerous weapons proliferation. We must remember the
piracy of American intellectual property.
And we must remember, as this article displays yet again, the
fundamentally duplicitous, dictatorial and abusive nature of this
regime.

Beijing Pulls a Fast One

(By Jessica Mathews)

The case of Hong Yang and the International Monetary Fund
casts a harsh light on China's attitude toward the community
of nations and the leading role therein that it believes it
deserves. The incident should influence international
strategy to engage the Asian giant.
Hong worked at China's central bank when he was recommended
for a one-year training stint at the IMF. Late last year the
Chinese government ``pressured'' (the IMF's word) the fund to
include him on a delegation for an annual discussion of
China's economic policies in Beijing.
Normally, the IMF does not include citizens of the country
being visited on such a delegation. Moreover, Hong was far
too junior for such a role. However, the fund acquiesced.
Shortly after the group arrived in Beijing Hong disappeared,
arrested on a charge of having taken a bribe while at the
central bank. In March he was tried and after a highly
unusual six-week delay, he was sentenced to 11 years in
prison late last month.
The next day, several hundred staff members held a silent
vigil at the IMF's Washington headquarters demanding a
stiffer response from the fund. The staff association issued
a press release decrying China for having ``violated the
standard of conduct'' expected of IMF members and calling on
it to ``void the decision'' against Hong.
The IMF had, in fact, been practicing active, though
extremely quiet, diplomacy. It had retained a lawyer for Hong
and had extended his contract so that he remained its
employee. The long delay before sentencing and the prison
term instead of execution--a frequent outcome in such cases--
may have been the result of its protests.
Sources at the fund and its sister institution, the World
Bank, and at the State Department now suggest--though not
explicitly and never for attribution--that Hong was guilty.
If so, it is hard to explain why he would have willingly
returned to Beijing when he and his family were safely in
Washington.
His guilt or innocence may never be known and are, in any
case, beside the point. What is clear is that China framed
the IMF. It is not merely individual nations--even the likes
of the United States and Germany--that Beijing feels it can
deal with on its own terms. China has shown itself ready to
violate commitments under international agreements from the
missile control regime and the nonproliferation treaty to
promises to halt the piracy of intellectual property. At the
World Bank China is borrowing so much that leverage has
shifted from lender to borrower. Until now, though, no
country--including the confirmed outlaws--had dared mess with
the IMF.
Whether the fund should have smelled something fishy and
refused to include Hong on the delegation, or whether it
could have done more after the arrest, are matters for Monday
morning quarterbacks. What nothing can disguise is the red
mark on the institution's face from the stinging--and
seemingly gratuitous--slap Beijing has dealt it. Why not,
after all, wait until Hong returned from his IMF service to
arrest him?
Beijing may have done nothing illegal in duping the fund,
but it certainly abused the mutual trust among members and
institution that an international organization needs in order
to operate. Evidently, China believes that its size and
economic clout entitle it to its own rules of behavior.
The next steps up the ladder of international status for
China are membership in the World Trade Organization and
initiation into the G-7, the club of world economic powers.
China still has a long way to go to meet even the clearly
defined economic criteria for WTO membership. The Hong case
adds to already substantial doubts that China will abide by
what it agrees to.
The episode also suggests that recent proposals to include
Beijing in an expanded G-7 are premature. The G-7 concept
linking economic power and democratic principles may be
elastic enough to include uncertain and lightly imperfect
democracies, but it cannot stretch far enough to encompass a
country openly disdainful of international comity without
breaking.
Businesses, too, have to consider the implications. If an
international employee--carrying a United Nations laissez-
passer, though not diplomatic immunity--can be snatched, the
same could certainly happen to a foreign investor's employee.
One of the most curious aspects of the Hong story is the
lack of attention it has received. China experts and human
rights activists are puzzled by how little they have been
able to discover. The IMF is known to be a tight-lipped
institution, but in today's world few secrets can be kept
this well. As the case unfolds, one of the questions to be
explored is whether this one should have been kept under such
close wraps.
Did the IMF ask national governments, which share an
interest in the integrity of international institutions, to
press Beijing? Did it ask other international organizations?
Would the pressure of public opinion have helped or hurt
Hong? How should a similar incident be handled in the future?
There is, finally, a message here for those who principally
blame the United States for the many recent difficulties in
the U.S.-Chinese relationship. There is a pattern of behavior
emerging for which responsibility rests in Beijing.
Demonizing China will gain the United States nothing. Neither
will blinking at facts.

[[Page E1361]]

EXTENDING MOST-FAVORED-NATION STATUS TO ROMANIA

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speech of

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

of new jersey

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, July 16, 1996

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the
House voting to extend permanently MFN for Romania, H.R. 3161. Romania
has just completed, after three rounds, its election of local officials
throughout the country, and national elections are now set for early
November. I strongly believe that the House should consider the
legislation before us only after Romania's national elections.
There are a number of issues, from freedom of the media and rights of
the minorities to democratic reform, which remain unresolved. Romania
enjoys all the benefits of MFN under the current semiannual review
process, and granting permanent MFN now will remove this important
review of these remaining issues of concern and the conduct of the
upcoming elections. Mr. Speaker, we all know that within a democratic
system, the political will to address outstanding problems is always
greater during an election season. Let the 105th Congress consider this
issue after Romania's national elections.
The current MFN review process has served as a helpful opportunity to
gauge Romania's democratic reform and their respect for human rights.
Freedom of the media, for example, continues to be a concern. Under
Romanian law, individuals who are convicted of insulting or defaming
public officials can be subjected to prison terms. The Romanian Senate
recently passed legislation which would increase these criminal
penalties if the insults are committed in the written or audiovisual
press. This type of potential liability, in my opinion, has a chilling
effect on the media.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Romania should ensure absolutely the
freedom of the media--at all times--but particularly during the heat of
election campaigns. Unfavorable commentary by the media regarding
government officials should not be viewed as a threat to national
security and result in calls for restrictions on those who dare to
criticize. I was dismayed by the reaction of the chairman of the ruling
party in Romania to critical news reports filed by the local BBC
correspondent during the recent local election campaign. Chairman
Adrian Nastase, who is also President of the Romanian Chamber of
Deputies, attacked the BBC for its critical reporting and called on the
national licensing agency to review that respected international news
organization's right to rebroadcast on local Romanian radio stations.
Minority rights continue to be of concern. Ethnic minorities face
certain restrictions to their receiving, at the higher levels in
particular, instruction in their native language, and a law was passed
which now limits the taking of college entrance exams solely in
Romanian. This law was not implemented this year but the law remains on
the books. And official obstacles remain which prevent the restoration
of the Hungarian university in Cluj.
Human rights are best protected by governments which must answer to
their electorate. As with any fledgling democracy, the campaign season
for the just completed local elections and the conduct of the national
elections in the fall are particularly important tests for Romania's
commitment to freedom of the press, their conduct of orderly, free, and
fair elections, and their provision for domestic observers for the
national elections. Reports from objective election observers clearly
indicate that the conduct of the local elections did not allay the
potential problems which had been raised by NGO's. The most serious
concerns included widespread, gross inaccuracy of the voter lists;
significant logistical problems which arise when campaign periods are
truncated; and uneven interpretation of the election law by local
officials with no central election bureau to serve as arbiter, which
contributed to inconsistencies around the country and even a lack of
trust in the system.
In my view, Mr. Speaker, projecting a vote in the U.S. Congress on
the political landscape of Romania would certainly be seen as a
congressional judgment on Romania's current political leaders. The vote
tallies of the recently held local elections indicate strong,
grassroots support for the opposition parties. In fact, the ruling
Party of Social Democracy in Romania and the opposition Democratic
Convention of Romania [CDR] received about equal percentages of the
vote in the mayors' races. The CDR and other opposition parties,
including representatives of the Hungarian minority, significantly out-
polled the ruling party in country, city, and mayoral races in many
regions. Mr. Speaker, this is a political environment in which every
issue, especially closely watched foreign policy issues such as
Romania's MFN status with the United States, affects the voters'
perception of the effectiveness of the ruling party.
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of areas in which the Romanian
Government could take timely and constructive steps to ensure that the
national elections are conducted in a way which garners confidence in
the electoral process. I hope and expect that the Government of Romania
will make every effort to ensure that the national elections in
November are conducted on the basis of up-to-date, accurate voting
lists in each locality, backed up by consistent and uniform
interpretation of the election law by local officials. In my view, the
establishment of a permanent, professional election bureau would ensure
such consistency and accuracy, and go a long way toward enhancing voter
confidence in the system.
Finally, it is unclear at this time whether domestic election
observers will be permitted at the polling stations in November. A one-
time provision for local observers was made during the 1992 national
elections, however this authorization has not been renewed. Mr.
Speaker, in my view domestic as well as international observers are
crucial to ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections. Domestic
observers play a positive role in enhancing public confidence in the
electoral process and the experience of election monitoring gives
ordinary Romanian citizens an opportunity to develop skills and
experience applicable to other aspects of democratic citizenship.
I am hopeful and expectant that Romania's next leaders will be chosen
through elections which will be free, fair and representative, and that
the protection of human rights will continue to improve under the newly
elected government. I urge my colleagues to vote against H.R. 3161
today. The people of Romania have had the benefits of MFN since 1992.
Making the judgement about the transition to permanent status should be
undertaken only after these critical elections are completed in
November.

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