Refusal by the administration to link MFN with human rights ignores the progress achieved in the past through such linkage. Similarly. there is a widespread bipartisan consensus that the economic pressure brought to bear by the JacksonVanik trade amendment has played a key role in advancing the cause of human rights in the Soviet Union. Pursuant to JacksonVanik. prior to renewing a Communist countrys MFN status. the President must make a determination that its emigration practices are becoming less restrictive. During the past 2 years China has increased emigration restrictions to punish those who have expressed their political beliefs. Yet President Bush refuses to apply JacksonVanik to China. He insists that China is likely to behave in a fundamentally different manner from the Soviet Union if economic conditions are applieddespite the fact that the Beijing regime is considerably weaker than Moscow was in the 1970s.
Keywords matched
emigration