Jan 12, 2008 8:30 am US/Central
Congress Uses Olympics To Focus On China
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
The world will be watching China closely as it gears up to host the
Olympics this year. So will U.S. lawmakers, who hope to use the
attention generated by the summer games to highlight their complaints
about China's government.
Lawmakers, in hearings and in legislation, will scrutinize what some
see as unfair Chinese economic policies, its secretive military buildup
and its human rights abuses. China already has been targeted by
presidential candidates.
"The Chinese want this `Show' — with a capital `S' — to showcase
their government to the world," Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in an
interview. Congress, he said, should use that as leverage to "bring
maximum scrutiny and light to their egregious human rights abuses."
Smith champions legislation that would stop U.S. technology
companies from aiding countries that restrict Internet access. American
Internet companies have been denounced for turning a blind eye to abuse
in China so they can crack that lucrative market.
The Bush administration's criticism of China is usually muted.
Lawmakers, however, are more vocal in asserting that China has failed
to live up to its responsibilities as an emerging superpower.
With the presidential campaign heating up, "2008 promises to be a
trying year" for U.S.-China ties, wrote Brad Glosserman and Bonnie
Glaser, analysts with the Center for Strategic and International
Studies think tank. "There will be a temptation to make China a foreign
policy issue or a scapegoat for problems in economic and security
policy."
U.S. manufacturers say Beijing's low valuation of the yuan, its
currency, makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and American
products more expensive in China. Lawmakers are considering bills that
would punish China for what they contend are predatory trade practices.
Lawmakers also worry about China's rapid military spending and the
country's apparent secretiveness about its military aims. The House
Armed Services Committee will hold hearings this year with top U.S.
commanders in the Pacific, where China will be a major topic.
Last year, Washington criticized China's test of an anti-satellite
weapon as a provocative militarization of space. The two countries also
sparred after China barred the USS Kitty Hawk from entering Hong Kong
for a port call.
But it is Taiwan that could cause the most friction. Taiwan split
from China in 1949, although Beijing continues to see the island as
part of its territory. China has pledged to keep the island from
independence by force if necessary.
Reps. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., and Tom Tancredo, R-Col., are among
sponsors of a resolution that would voice Congress' support for
Taiwan's membership in the United Nations, which both China and the
Bush administration oppose as a provocation. A referendum, scheduled to
be held with Taiwan's presidential election in March, asks voters if
they would support the island's application to join the United Nations
under the name Taiwan, rather than under its long-standing official
title, Republic of China.
The Olympics, said Mac Zimmerman, Tancredo's chief of staff, provide
"a good opportunity for Taiwan and its friends in Congress to raise the
profile of the Taiwan issue."
Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank, noted
worry that congressional support for Taiwan's U.N. membership could
encourage Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to do something that China
would see as a push for independence. Chen is trying to carve out a
non-Chinese identity for the island.
"Hopefully, they won't do too much," Cossa said of Congress,
"because nothing makes things worse than congressional efforts to make
them better."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
