Speech #1010232474

We should be working with the Soviets and our European and Asian allies to bring China into the nuclear noproliferation regime. as the gentleman from New York said. and we should demonstrate the same kind of leadership that we are showing in the Persian Gulf by taking the initiative to put pressure on China to reform. and in pressing the rest of the world to join Members in doing likewise. Right now. we have a totally inconsistent policy on MFN despite the fact that nearly 16.000 Soviet Jews are leaving the Soviet Union every month. every month 16.000. The U.S. still has not granted the Soviets MFN status because they have not formalized the legal structure which guarantees the right of freedom immigration which is required by JacksonVanik. In contrast. we waive JacksonVanik for the Peoples Republic of China. a country which does not permit its citizens to freely immigrate. which invalidated all passports and exit visas after Tiananmen Square. and which currently requires any Chinese citizen seeking to travel abroad to account for their performance during the events at Tiananmen Square. That is the standard. I say it is time that we eliminated the inconsistency in United States application of JacksonVanik principles. let Members not hold to the Soviets for one standard and then waive that standard for the Chinese. Let Members be consistent and principled in our defense of free immigration and freedom of speech. By denying the extension of MFN status to the Peoples Republic of China. we demonstrate that America will no longer tolerate business as usual while the legitimate democratic aspirations of the Chinese people continue to be brutally and systematically suppressed. By dramatically raising tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. reducing the Peoples Republic of Chinas access to hard currency and isolating China internationally. a denial of MFN status would put maximum pressure on the Chinese Government to institute a program of political reform and democraticization.