WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives condemned China's human rights record on Tuesday, with lawmakers charging that Beijing's refusal to quickly return a U.S. spy plane and its crew showed its intransigence.
The confrontation over China's failure to hand back the plane's 24-member crew "only underscores anew how harsh the policies are by this Beijing dictatorship," said Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican.
On a 406-6 vote, the House approved a nonbinding resolution supporting U.S. efforts to sponsor a U.N. resolution faulting Beijing's human rights record at the annual six-week meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, which began in mid-March.
The House resolution condemns China's human rights record, taking aim specifically at the alleged repression of its Tibetan minority and of members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement. It urges the United States to take the lead in gaining support for the U.N. resolution in Geneva.
The United States usually sponsors or supports a resolution in Geneva criticizing China over human rights, but the measure typically draws little backing from other countries, and China has escaped even a direct vote on the issue.
Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said it was a coincidence that the measure was being considered by the House during the standoff over a U.S. spy plane that made an emergency landing on Hainan Island.
But he rejected arguments that the resolution should be put off until the confrontation eases.
"It is singularly unacceptable to be intimidated by the current situation on that island," Lantos said, calling for the immediate release of the 24 crew members, who he said China was holding illegally.
"It is extremely timely," Smith said of the resolution. "We need to send this message right now."
21:02 04-03-01
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