Political Quotes

“Years ago when the United States began its trading relationship with China, we were told that this would be a way to help democratize China, to bring China into a tradition for human rights and worker rights and environmental consciousness. We have found that there is a time lag in China, a slow understanding of the principles which we have tried to communicate to them through our trading relationship. The incident at Fanglin Elementary School is a graphic example and a very sad example of how we have really failed to follow through on the spirit of our trade relationship with China because the spirit of our trade relationship with China says that as a precondition of trade, we want to transmit democratic values that show that China appreciates the democracy that we have; not that we appreciate their type of government. We have been trying to bring China over towards a more democratic expression, and what do we see. We see an example where 37 children die in a fireworks factory that was otherwise known as a school. They called it a school, but it was actually a fireworks factory. The very type of child labor that is being discussed here is abhorrent to the American people.”