Ehrlich on Washington column, June 11, 2001

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of June 1 1 , 200 1 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Twelve Years After Tiananmen, Still No Progress in China This past week marked a sad anniversary for democracies around the world. Specifically, the first week in June marks the 12lh Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which China’s communist leadership ordered the violent suppression of a student-led, pro-democracy demonstration. I will never forget the images broadcast across the globe that week; thousands of Chinese citizens crowding the streets of Tiananmen Square, demanding from their government the fundamental human rights that millions enjoy around the world; Chinese soldiers streaming into the crowd, violently suppressing protesters; and repeated government denials of the events surrounding that week. An official death toll was never released by the Chinese government, but most estimates are in the hundreds, some in the thousands. Remarkably, just three years later, the Clinton Administration referred to this government as a “partner” in whom Americans could put trust and do business. China now receives our assistance in joining the world’s democracies in international trade organizations. We must not forget that China’s current leaders constitute the same regime that approved the bloody crackdown in 1989, in which the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) massacred the very citizens it is supposed to defend. China has done little to grant basic freedoms to its people since then. The government still persecutes religious practitioners, uses prisoners for forced labor, and performs forced abortions on Chinese women. Further, China threatens our national security by selling missile technology to Pakistan and Iran, who are known sponsors of terrorist organizations. Rather than hold China accountable for these brutal policies, the previous administration and congress rewarded this regime with increased access to America’s markets, known as permanent normal trading relations (PNTR). You and I enjoy unprecedented freedoms in America. In fact, I first ran for Congress to ensure that America’s children, like my son, Drew, will have those same freedoms years from now. America’s leaders have a duty to call on China to embrace America’s ideals, so that future generations of Americans inherit a more secure, democratic world. In fact, I voted against PNTR because, in my view, China must first be a steward of human rights before it can be treated as an equal trading partner. I am also cosponsoring a bill in Congress which condemns China’s human rights record, and calls on the Chinese leadership to grant religious and political freedom to its citizens.