Asa Hutchinson: “Mr. President, for the last 4 years this Congress has been engaged in an intense debate on this country's trade…”

“Mr. President, for the last 4 years this Congress has been engaged in an intense debate on this country's trade relationship with the People's Republic of China. On the one side of this debate are those who view the abhorrent and declining human rights conditions in China as a cause for revoking the special trade treatment currently given to Chinese-produced goods. On the other side of this debate are those who view free trade as a paramount virtue and believe linking trade with human rights is an inappropriate foundation on which to build our national trade policy. Last month, the two sides of this debate came colliding together in one chilling event, the indictment and arrest of two Chinese 'businessmen' for trade in human body parts harvested from executed prisoners in the People's Republic of China. Trade and human rights, delinked by our Government, were unalterably linked together by this tragic event last month. This arrest, more than any other event, brings the human rights crisis in China to the feet of those kneeling at the altar of free trade. No longer can free traders, the Chinese Government, or this administration turn a blind eye to the gruesome conditions now prevalent in the People's Republic of China. In matters related to trade with China, we must now move beyond the issue of trade deficits and move on to the issue of moral deficits.”