Chris Smith: “In the 1992 presidential campaign, Mr. Clinton accused his opponent of coddling the dictator of China and promised that…”

“In the 1992 presidential campaign, Mr. Clinton accused his opponent of coddling the dictator of China and promised that, if he was elected, he would deny MFN to China "as long as they keep locking people up." Today China is locking people up and torturing them big time. Faced, in the spring of 1993, with a vote that was likely to strip China of MFN, President Clinton preempted congressional action with the issuance of an Executive Order that gave the PRC one more year to reform. For MFN to continue, significant progress in human rights was established. The President said in May 28, 1993, "Starting today, the U.S. will speak with one voice on China policy." We are here today because the American people continue to harbor profound concerns about a range of practices by China's Communist leaders. The President went on. He said that "the core of the policy will be a resolute insistence upon significant progress on human rights in China." "Whether I extend MFN next year", the President went on, "will depend on whether China makes significant progress in improving its human rights record." I had nothing but praise for the President, Mr. Speaker. I did not realize at the time that we had been had.”