Remarks by President Bush at Yale University Commencement Ceremony, May 27, 1991 (Excerpt)

China easily can affect the stability of the Asian-Pacific region and, therefore, affect the entire world's peace and prosperity. The Chinese play a central role in working to resolve the conflict in Cambodia and relax tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

China has a voice now in the multi-national organizations. And its votes in the United Nations Security Council against Iraq's brutal aggression helped us forge the broad coalition that brought us victory in the Gulf. And so, when we find opportunities to cooperate with China, we will explore them. When problems arise with China's behavior, we will take appropriate action.

After the tragedy of Tiananmen, the United States was the first nation to condemn the use of violence against the peacefully demonstrating people of Beijing. We were the first to guarantee the rights of Chinese students studying on campuses across the country, including here at Yale. The United States was the first nation to impose sanctions, and we are now the last, alone among the Western democracies, to keep those original sanctions in place. At every high-level meeting with the Chinese Government, U.S. officials reiterate our position on human rights violations.

Unfair trade is also high on our agenda. Just last month, we cited China under the trade rules of a special 301 for pirating U.S. copyrights and patents. And for the sake of national security, we will ban technologies and equipment to any Chinese company found to violate rules outlawing transfer of missile technologies.

We will continue to advance our interests and ideals: for free and fair trade, for broader democratization, for respect for human rights throughout China. Let me be clear: As a member of the United Nations, China is bound by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. We will hold China to the obligations that it has freely accepted.

And finally, we continue urging China to exercise restraint in its weapons exports. Our recent experience with Iraq proves how dangerous the deadly trade can be. And very soon, I will announce significant new steps that we can take to control arms exports to the entire Middle East. Every nation must play a part in this effort. That's why we urge the Chinese Government to abide by the letter and spirit of international agreements on missile technology controls, and to do what 141 other nations have already done: sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

MFN Trade Status for China

And this is one way that the United States can be a catalyst for positive change. This week, I will employ another by proposing formally that MFN (most-favored-nation) trade status continue for China. This policy has generated considerable controversy. Some critics have said revoke MFN--or endanger it with sweeping conditions--to censure China, cut our ties and isolate it. We are told this is a principled policy, a moral thing to do. This advice is not new. It's not wise. It is not in the best interests of our country, the United States. And in the end, in spite of noble and best intentions, it is not moral.

First, MFN is [not] special. It is not a favor. It is the ordinary basis of trade worldwide. Second, MFN is a means to bring the influence of the outside world to bear on China. Critics who attack MFN today act as if the point is to punish China, as if hurting China's economy will somehow help the cause of privatization and human rights.

The real point is to pursue a policy that has the best chance of changing Chinese behavior. If we withdrew MFN or imposed conditions that would make trade impossible, we would punish South China, in particular, Guangdong Province, the very region where free market reform and the challenge to central authority are the strongest. Right now, there's an estimated two million Chinese who are working and proving that privatization can work--all in South China. Withdraw MFN and their jobs would be in jeopardy. In addition, endangering MFN would deal a body blow to Hong Kong, the bastion of freedom and free trade in the Far East.

But the most compelling reason to renew MFN and remain engaged in China is not economic, it's not strategic, but moral. It is right to export the ideals of freedom and democracy to China. It is right to encourage Chinese students to come to the United States and for talented American students to go to China. It is wrong to isolate China if we hope to influence China.

The Best Way to Promote Democracy in China

For two decades after the Communists seized power in 1949, the Western world followed a policy of isolation toward China. This period proved to be among the most brutal episodes in Chinese history, a nightmare of anguish and death and suffering that will scar the soul of China for decades to come.

So, it comes down to the strength of our belief in the power of the democratic idea. If we pursue a policy that cultivates contacts with the Chinese people, promotes commerce to our benefit, we can help create a climate for democratic change.

No nation on Earth has discovered a way to import the world's goods and services while stopping foreign ideas at the border. Just as the democratic idea has transformed nations on every continent, so, too, change will inevitably come to China.

(Text from Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents of June 3, 1991.)