冷戦後の米中関係と中国の人権問題 : 米国連邦議会の視点から  [in Japanese] U.S.-China Relations in the Post-Cold War Era and China's Human Rights Issues : A Perspective from U.S. Congress  [in Japanese]

This paper reviews U.S.-China relations in the post-Cold War Era, and analyzesthe significance of China's human rights issues from the perspective ofU.S. Congress during the three administrations of George Bush (1989-1993),William J. Clinton (1993-2001), and George W. Bush (2001-present).During the Vietnam War, the Executive branch of the U.S. government lost legitimacyin its foreign policy and thus drew criticism from the American publicand Congress. Since the 1970s, therefore, Congress has tried to increase itsinfluence on U.S. foreign policy through a variety of means such as legislatingnew laws and adopting resolutions.China's human rights issues, however, did not draw attention of Congress becausethere was little information concerning China and because the so-called"China card" a counterbalance against the Soviet Union was so importantfor the U.S. However, following the Tiananmen Square Incident and theend of Cold War in 1989, Congress began to pay keen attention to China's humanrights issues. Some congressional members launched a strategy whichused the most-favored-nation (MFN) status toward China. Under the Jackson-Vanick Amendment, China's MFN status had to be renewed every year withthe deadline coming every June, thus sparking heated debates in Congress.The issue of MFN status ended in 2001 when China joined the World TradeOrganization. The 9.11 attack and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and IraqU.S. -China Relations in the Post-Cold War Era and China'sHuman Rights Issues : A Perspective from U.S. CongressKARUBE Keiko(桃山法学第6号'05) 56have enormously increased the importance of China, a country which is a permanentmember of the U.N. Security Council and a major power in Asia. Inthe U.S. Congress, however, a newly-established committee, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), has begun its activities byaddressing a variety of China's human rights issues pertaining to China. As aresult, this paper concludes that the U.S. Congress has maintained its concernabout such issues regardless of China's admission to the WTO.