Jim Inhofe: “national security must take precedence over trade. Granting permanent trade favors to China in the face of its openly…”

“national security must take precedence over trade. Granting permanent trade favors to China in the face of its openly threatening actions of recent years is unconscionable. We cannot allow the pursuit of dollars to blind us to certain realities about the ruling communist regime in China, including: repeated threats against the United States and Taiwan; massive military modernization and buildup; its proliferation of dangerous weapons to rogue states; theft of U.S. nuclear secrets; demonstrated strategy to exploit commercial relationships to acquire advanced military technology; attempts to corrupt the U.S. political system; violation of international agreements; and brutal repression of dissidents. To ignore these actions in the belief they can be separated from what we do in our trading relationship is dangerously misguided. China's trade surpluses are helping to finance the regime's military buildup and aggressive foreign policy, while strengthening its hold on economic and political power. Similarly, to suggest that increased trade is by itself going to reverse China's negative behavior is belied by recent history. Trade with China has been steadily increasing for the past decade while its behavior in these security areas has grown substantially worse. America should require from China some measure of permanent normalized international behavior as a prerequisite to permanent normalized trade relations.”