U.S. Rep. David Wu kept a campaign promise last month--and
got slammed.
During the House of Representatives' annual debate
on doing business with China, the freshman Democrat
led the charge to downgrade China's "most favored nation"
trading status. On July 27, in a passionate speech on
the floor of the House, Wu deplored what he called the
"cash-register engagement" promoted by the Clinton administration.
Local reaction was swift. "Wu stands up, lets district
down" was the headline of The Oregonian editorial
that took Wu to task for his vote, which went against
the major local business interests of Intel and Nike.
The House ultimately decided by a wide margin, 260-170,
to extend China's trading privileges, and there is no
evidence that Wu's participation shifted a significant
number of votes. But the real significance of Wu's stand
may be seen less in Oregon or Washington, D.C., than
on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
As the first Chinese-American ever to serve in the
House of Representatives, Wu enjoys a unique perspective
on China, and human rights groups say his views are
likely to carry added weight overseas.
Western human-rights advocates are often dismissed
in the East as ignorant gadflies with a weak grasp of
Asian society. But these criticisms can scarcely be
leveled at Wu, who was born in Taiwan, speaks Mandarin
and has traveled extensively in China--where he has
relatives.
"Being a Chinese-American, that makes a big difference,"
says T. Kumar, Amnesty International's advocacy director
for Asia (Amnesty takes no position on MFN). "His stand
is going to attract a lot of attention in East Asia.
It's a major development."
"Mr. Wu's stance is quite significant," says astrophysicist
Fang Li-Zhi, a Chinese dissident who now teaches at
the University of Arizona. "Freedom of religion, freedom
of assembly, freedom of speech--these are still not
realized for the people of China."
Free-trade advocates invoke the mantra of "constructive
engagement" as a way to persuade China to improve its
record. But progress has been slow, to say the least.
According to Amnesty, 2,000 Chinese citizens remain
in prison on "counter-revolutionary" charges; at least
200 Tiananmen Square protesters are serving time for
peacefully expressing support for democratic reform;
thousands of Tibetan monks, nuns and civilians have
been detained and tortured; and nearly 250,000 people
are currently undergoing what is politely known as "re-education
through labor," often without the benefit of a trial.
While Wu's stance draws praise from human-rights advocates,
it may cost him in his own district. Prominent China
supporters include Intel, the state's largest employer,
with 11,000 workers and a payroll of $710 million, and
Nike, which employs almost 5,000 Oregonians and has
a statewide payroll of $420 million.
Both companies lobbied to extend China's MFN status,
which keeps American tariffs on imports from China hovering
at about 6 percent. If MFN status were revoked, American
tariffs would jump to 44 percent, making Chinese-made
Nike and Intel products much more expensive for American
consumers.
"Trade with China is an important issue for Intel,"
says company spokesman John Ullyot, who said the company
did not, as a matter of policy, disclose its discussions
with particular congressmen.
Wu is hardly in a position to alienate major stakeholders
in his 1st Congressional District. He squeaked through
the 1998 general election with just 50.1 percent of
the vote, and as one of 50 Democrats designated as "vulnerable"
by the National Republican Congressional Committee,
he is certain to come under fire in 2000. At the same
time, the district contains relatively few Asian-Americans--fewer
than 4 percent, according to the 1990 census. So what's
the political calculus here?
"It's certainly not a means to get either votes or
business support," Wu concedes. "It's about keeping
a campaign pledge and staying true to a value system."
A former high-tech lawyer, the buttoned-down Wu would
never be mistaken for a screaming radical, but his pulse
quickens when he speaks about how the MFN debate can
improve human rights in China. In the early part of
the decade, for example, when the issue was typically
closely contended, the Chinese government would release
political prisoners just before the vote. "A close vote
can literally set a dozen, 30, 50 people free," he says.
Wu also rejects criticism that he is simply serving
the interests of his birthplace, Taiwan, which maintains
a bitter rivalry with the mainland People's Republic
of China.
"The people who are accusing me of having a Taiwan
leaning are mistaking a commitment to Jeffersonian ideals
for something which is based on geography," he says.
"I have a bias toward democracy. Period. I've taken
a political risk with this stand, and I'm proud to do
it."
In fact, although he was born in Taiwan, both Wu's
parents and his extended family come from mainland China.
While many mainlanders fled to Taiwan in order to avoid
the Communist regime of Mao Tse-tung, Wu's parents were
essentially visitors to the island who were trapped
by the civil war. As a result, he says, he harbors no
special sympathy for Taiwan.
What of the criticism that the MFN vote is little more
than an excuse for cheap posturing? "The pounding that
I've taken from The Oregonian and from others
hurts just as much either way," Wu says. "But this is
a matter of principle."
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Willamette Week | originally
published August 11,
1999
