Statement of Representative Nancy Pelosi
On President Clinton's Speech on China
President Clinton's China speech was masterful in its craftiness in whitewashing China's record. With this speech, President Clinton has tried to justify the failure of his trade policy and the failure of his human rights policy with a fiction of China's cooperation on proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In the weeks before President Jiang Zemin's visit, the U.S. trade deficit with China has soared to record highs, $5.2 billion in August alone and the Chinese regime has detained Catholic Bishop Su Zhimin. The proliferation of dangerous technology to dangerous countries continues.
The President's first major China speech outlined six "profound interests" which the United States has in the U.S.-China relationship. It is truly a sad day that promoting a free China based on universal principles of human rights was not one of the Clinton Administration's six "profound interests." It is ironic that the President chose to give his China speech at Voice of America, since China continues to jam their broadcasts and the broadcasts of Radio Free Asia to China and Tibet.
