Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, November 8, 1997

by James Robinson

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (AFP) - Measures punishing China for human rights violations appeared headed for passage by the US House of Representatives Thursday despite appeals that they would damage relations with Beijing.

Only a week after Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Congress, lawmakers began 10 hours of debate on nine bills, taking turns to denounce his regime as dictatorial, repressive and bent on military expansionism.

"The day has finally arrived to consider a comprehensive approach" to address "criminal behavior by the communist dictatorship in Beijing," Republican Representative Gerald Solomon said.

Democrat Lee Hamilton led the opposition to the bills, saying the House of Representatives "will be perceived as demonizing China -- and China may very well respond in kind." But many Democrats supported at least some of the bills. Two of the measures were adopted overwhelmingly late Wednesday with the remaining scheduled for votes Thursday.

Republicans originally hoped to embarrass Jiang by considering the measures while he was here but agreed to a delay under pressure from the administration of President Bill Clinton. The most controversial of the measures would deny US visas to Chinese government officials involved in implementing policies persecuting religious minorities; officials of Chinese government-sanctioned religious groups; and officials involved in forced abortions and sterilizations.

Jiang and cabinet-level Chinese officials would be exempted from the ban. Beijing was likely to retaliate against the visa restrictions by revoking the Chinese visas of US missionaries, Hamilton warned. He said last week's summit meeting between Clinton and Jiang "put the US-China dialogue back on track." However, he said, "it simply does not help US foreign policy for Congress to charge off in one direction and for the president to go off in another."

Republican Douglas Bereuter responded that the measures "recognize that the people in China are not the same as the regime in China." To address ongoing reports of religious persecution, especially in Tibet, the House Wednesday passed a measure to increase sixfold the number of US diplomats monitoring Chinese human rights violations, posting them in Beijing as well as in consular offices.

Another bill approved strengthens the enforcement of a 1935 law banning imports of products made with forced labor by hiring more US customs officials and diplomats. The US State Department has estimated that between six and eight million Chinese citizens are held as prisoners in such labor camps, producing such commodities as graphite, rubber and asbestos.

Still under consideration is legislation that raises the thorny issue of Taiwan by requiring the US defense secretary to study a plan for a ballistic missile defense system to protect the territory. Democrats opposed the measure, saying it was meant to deliberately provoke Beijing and that in any case Taiwan did not need the technology.

Less controversial was a measure authorizing 82 million dollars for Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America to counter the official Chinese news media. The bill is aimed at expanding to 24 hours a day broadcasts in Mandarin, Cantonese and Tibetan dialects. The Senate was not expected to act on the measures until early next year.