TFP
Calls for
Reality Check on China
(April
16, 2001)
Responding to the mistreatment of the EP-3 surveillance plane's crew, the American
Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) has issued a public
statement calling for a reality check on American foreign policy with the communist
Chinese. The document especially highlights the continued persecution of Chinese
Catholics. The statement will be published in The Washington Times (April
18) and other newspapers. It will also be distributed in public street campaigns
in cities nationwide.
Titled "Shattering Myths: A Reality Check
on China," the TFP document points out how successive American administrations
have pursued a China policy based on the illusion that the Chinese would abandon
communism through dialogue.
Over the years, the West has opened every
door to the Chinese, extending credits, technology, educational facilities and
other aid. In the year 2000 alone, the United States sustained an $86 billion
trade deficit with China.
Despite massive Western assistance, the TFP
document notes that the brazen attitude of the Chinese government throughout the
EP-3 incident and other events "clearly demonstrate that the ongoing 'dialogue'
with China must come down from the clouds."
The Chinese record is
far from encouraging. The Chinese government maintains its obstinate attachment
to a communist ideology. Human rights violations continue on a massive scale.
Brutal birth-control officials force women to undergo abortions. Torture is widespread
and systemic in China.
The TFP further notes that the Catholic Faith
is outlawed in China. Churches are demolished; bishops and priests are beaten
and detained. Moreover, American technology finds its way into military programs
that are part of its aggressive military buildup.
"The fact of
the matter is that behind the EP-3 incident," the TFP statement concludes,
"looms the larger problem of China's unrepentant communist dictatorship."
The United States can no longer pretend there is freedom in a land where the most
basic civil liberties are routinely or arbitrarily denied. America cannot pretend
to be a strategic partner, competitor, or ally with a regime that treats it like
an enemy.
The TFP statement appeals to our nation's leaders and the
public at large to adopt a fundamental change of attitude toward China. The EP-3
incident poignantly demonstrated that the Chinese communists are not to be trusted.
This fact should above all be remembered when crossing the threshold of a shopping
mall or supercenter.
Finally, the TFP stressed the need to maintain
a military sufficiently strong to defend America and its allies against dictatorial
and expansionist regimes.
To read the complete text of this message,
which is being distributed in the streets in public campaigns, click
here.
