The House wants to put some teeth in the Clinton administration's new smile diplomacy toward China, moving a nine-bill package that would increase sanctions against China's human rights abuses.
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to give Congress greater leeway to review and reject an agreement to allow for the sale of U.S. nuclear energy equipment to China - the cornerstone of President Clinton's summit last week with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.The bills would provide more money to monitor China's human rights and prison labor offenses, sanction China for selling missiles to Iran, bar some Chinese religious and family planning officials from the United States, bolster Taiwan's defenses and obstruct low-interest international loans to China.
They would give the president authority to bar activities of companies in the United States controlled by China's military and authorize money for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America broadcasts into China.
The legislation may have little consequence beyond giving lawmakers a chance to vent their anger against China. The Senate has no plans to consider it this year, and the Clinton administration strongly objects to almost every piece of the package.