Chairman Markey and Select Committee join Speaker Pelosi in China to advocate for clean energy future
From The Gavel, the Speaker's blog:
This week, Speaker Pelosi and a bipartisan congressional delegation have continued their travels in China–meeting with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and Wu Bangguo, the Chairman of the National People’s Congress on Wednesday.
In separate meetings with each leader, the delegation had candid discussions on issues of concern including human rights, North Korea’s nuclear testing and missile launch, climate change and clean energy, intellectual property rights, and the global financial crisis.
Speaker Pelosi:
We had productive discussions about how the United States and China can cooperate on improving international security, growing our economies and protecting the environment. We urged the Chinese leaders to use their influence to help bring North Korea to the table for Six-Party Talks. On clean energy and climate change, both sides agreed to work together to confront the urgent challenge we face. Our delegation also emphasized the bipartisan concern in Congress on China’s poor record on human rights in China and Tibet.
The congressional delegation also participated in a two-hour working session with the Chinese National People’s Congress’ Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee. Rep. Ed Markey, who co-chaired the meeting with Chinese officials, said, “Our meetings this week reinforced the urgent need for the United States and China to take concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help preserve our planet. Today’s session furthered our commitment to work together.”
The delegation at the Great Hall of the People, National People’s Congress, Beijing:
The delegation also had the opportunity to visit an electric car factory in Tianjin, China and a high speed train–the Beijing to Tianjin line opened in August of 2008 and can go more than 200mph:
Today, the delegation traveled from Beijing to Hong Kong. Speaker Pelosi and the delegation met with labor activists Han Dongfang and Robin Munro of the China Labour Bulletin, a non-governmental organization that seeks to defend and promote workers’ rights in China. Speaker Pelosi described Han Dongfang and Robin Munro as “heroes for the Chinese people. They are fighting for a better future to establish the rule of law and rights for Chinese workers at the grassroots level.”
Meeting with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, the delegation discussed how the United States and Hong Kong can work together to address the global financial crisis and climate change and the relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China along with the prospects for universal suffrage in Hong Kong in the near future.
The delegation then traveled to the Hong Kong Legislative Council, known as LegCo, for a vibrant exchange with members on many issues, including elections in Hong Kong, climate change, local pollution, H1N1 influenza, and the 20th Anniversary next week of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Speaker Pelosi said:
The relationship between the United States and Hong Kong is based on our common values: freedom, entrepreneurship, and respect for the rule of law and human rights. The people of Hong Kong have bravely demonstrated their support for universal suffrage, consistent with the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ framework.
Read more from Speaker Pelosi on the delegation to China from earlier this week>>
View more photos from the trip on the Speaker’s Flickr page>>
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
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