Without a forceful and consistent message from America now for the Chinese government to enter a dialogue with the opposition, the Chinese government will be lulled into a false sense of security. That it can delay the inevitable, just as it did in 1989.   That just as in 1989 it can intimidate and crush the opposition into submission. This could and probably will set in motion cataclysmic confrontations of unpredictable proportions.  At the very least, America will have lost another opportunity to tip the scales toward democracy in China.  America will lose a vital opportunity to eliminate the biggest challenge to its own security and for freedom for fully one quarter of the world¡¯s population.
 
I must add at this time that America has little to lose and much to gain by assertively and consistent engaging China on the subject of democratic reform.  Many argue that China will react by pulling the plug on their considerable holdings of U.S. debt.  This is self imposed fear.  The Chinese government knows this would be suicide for them.
 
China indeed will raise the volume and issue all sorts of threats privately and even publicly.  But I urge everyone to consider what happened earlier this year when the European Parliament was about to award the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the Chinese Activist, Hu Jia.  The Chinese government made forceful and even belligerent threats to the EP.  Much to their credit, the European Parliament went ahead and awarded the prize to Hu Jia.  China did nothing more than issue a pro forma protest. 
 
At this critical moment America cannot be driven by self imposed fears. The conditions for a peaceful transition to democracy are coming into play.  The signers of Charter 08 are giving America and the world a wake-up call.  We cannot afford to miss that call.
 
But a detailed list of effective policies can emerge only after we rid ourselves of the delusions and false assumptions upon which our China policy has long been based.  Above all, we must understand democracy in China is homegrown and not imposed by outside world as many have suggested and many others would worry it would be.  But this does not mean that we must sit back and wait for democracy to bloom.  Instead, it means engaging with and nurturing democratic forces already at work in China.  I believe today more than ever that a visionary part of the U.S. engagement policy with China is to openly and systematically engage with the Chinese democratic forces and to nurture their growth.  
We must send a clear and consistent message to the Chinese government that the time for constitutional reform has come.  We must engage our democratic partners around the world to give China the same message.
 
Specifically, I strongly urge all of you involved in legislation to exercise this great tool of freedom to introduce resolutions that give voice to our commitment to freedom.  I applaud the Senate resolution, introduced by Senators Casey and Brownback, supporting charter 08, calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo and urging democratic reforms in China.  I congratulate Congressman McCotter for drafting a similar resolution for the House. 
 
Furthermore we must become proactive in our support of democracy.  By proaction I mean we should take actions that put the Chinese government on the defensive in a way that forces them to confront the fact that they are on the wrong side of history. AND, and the same time gives hope to the democratic forces inside of China.  I will give you this example of proactive policy: I call it the DOCTRINE of RECIPROCITY. When U.S. government officials travel to China their movements, their contacts, and their communications are tightly controlled.  If officials give a speech it is not typically broadcast to the Chinese people.  Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey reported that on his last trip to China, he could not access his own website on the Internet.  Even President Obama¡¯s inauguration speech was edited before it was published in China.
 
Virtually all American media are blocked in China.  Here in the United States China can freely broadcast.  In fact it is estimated that over 90% of the Chinese language broadcasts in the U.S. are Chinese government controlled.  The Chinese government uses such freedom to extend its influence with Chinese communities in the United States. In the United States today, the Chinese government and its surrogates have wide access to our universities, think tanks, and broadcast studios through which they can advance their opinions and rationalize their actions.  When a Chinese government official speaks at a University such as Harvard or Yale, the government controlled media in China uses the association with these prestigious institutions to enhance its credibility and validity to its own people at home.  Chinese people can protest here. Chinese people cannot protest in China.  U.S. citizens cannot protest in China.  Under the Doctrine of Reciprocity the United States would demand the same rights and freedoms be extended to American citizens and officials, an American media in China that we extend to Chinese citizens and officials, and Chinese media here in the United States.  In the exchange of ideas with China we must demand a level playing field.
 
I firmly believe that it is not too late to summon our better angels, and to stand on the right side of history.  We must apply a much more strategic yardstick to determine the right policies toward the Chinese government.   We must realize that at the most fundamental level, we are engaging in a struggle between two completely different views of humanity.  One says man is just serf of the state with no right.  The other states that human beings have rights and it is the purpose of the state to protect them. In this regard we must strive to restore Human Rights to its rightful place as the very fabric that binds our foreign policy together. This will not earn the retribution of the Chinese government but respect and the realization that it is dealing with people of strength and character.  This is what the Chinese government fears the most. This more than anything else will put America on equal footing in its negotiations on other bilateral issues and restore America's standing in the world.
 
To do so will not only make an historic leap toward world peace but it will also reaffirm America¡¯s moral standing in the world.  It will reaffirm that the lifeblood of America is not in what it consumes but in what it believes.  It will tell the world once again that America¡¯s commitment to freedom and democracy is not a costume that it wears only on special occasions but the very foundation of its existence.  Through this we will ensure that the American model of the freedom, justice, of a government of the people, by the people and for the people will be model we pass on to our children.
 
Thank you very much.

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