U.S. Organizations for North Korean Human Rights Pursue Retaliatory Tariff Law against China

U.S. Organizations for North Korean Human Rights Pursue Retaliatory Tariff Law against China. July. 08, 2005 18:04. by Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com.

The organizations for North Korean human rights in the U.S., which led the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Bill last year, is pursuing the passage of another law which will impose a retaliatory tariff of 27.5 percent on Chinese imports, considering China’s coercive repatriation of North Korean defectors back to their communist country.

According to Seoul and Washington diplomatic sources on Wednesday, human rights organizations in the United States, organized by the “union of freedom of religion and human rights,” are pursuing the passage of the “Scoop Jackson bill,” arguing that China should pay a price for helping the North Korean regime apply oppressive measure on its people.

The Scoop Jackson bill demands for a 27.5 percent retaliatory tariff if China does not show any signs of change within 180 days after the enactment of such law. One of the demands includes the prohibition of hindrance during the United Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR) investigation process on China’s human rights status.

On the same day, Pastor Shin Dong-cheol (also known as Douglas), head of the North Korean defector help organization “Exodus 21,” said, “Michael Horowitz, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a participant in the North Korean Human Rights Bill, is currently in charge of carrying out with the passage of such law. Few senators and representatives are working together for the passage of the law.”