China bill ignores human rights

Once again, profits have won out over principle in Washington, D.C. The Senate voted 83-15 Sept. 19 to permanently normalize trade with China. The bill is now its way to President Bill Clinton's desk for a signature.\nThe Associated Press called the vote "the biggest step in U.S.-China relations since President Nixon's 1972 visit to the Great Wall." It also ends the annual Congressional debates regarding China's trade status. The argument used to justify normalized trade is that American products will show the Chinese people how wonderful democracy and capitalism can be. \n New York Sen. Patrick Moynihan said the move would help advance the rule of law and human rights in China, The Associated Press reported. It is hoped the introduction of the values of democracy and capitalism will cause the Chinese people to demand more freedoms from their government; that could be the swan song of communism in the world's most populous country.\n The people who argue this seem to forget the last time the Chinese people tried to pressure the government to become more democratic -- the Tiananmen Square massacre that killed hundreds of Chinese dissidents in 1989. It could happen again just as easily.\nIt's true America's tactics to pressure China thus far have been ineffective. Human rights violations continue, and animosity between the two nations is evident in news of stolen nuclear secrets and illegal campaign donations. Normalizing trade with the nation could be seen as a new tactic, when the old one doesn't seem to be working.\nBut the United States has only three ways to affect change in China -- through trade, good will and the military. Good will does not work with totalitarian states, and military might isn't very threatening to a country armed with nuclear weapons of its own. \nThe only viable means we have to influence China is through trade. It's our most valuable bargaining chip when it comes to pressuring China about its human rights violations and other issues. Yet our representatives in Congress have given away what China wants most -- most favored nation status -- without any real concessions to the protection of basic human rights. We can't use the stick, and we just threw away the carrot.\nEven if free trade now is the only way to placate China, it comes at too high a price. China's human rights violations continue, and it remains communist despite the collapse of that form of government in so many other locales. It's a difficult issue. But our government needs to maintain the position that this is wrong; we should not condone China's behavior through normalized trade or Most Favored Nation status.