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A 1995 report from the State Department on Human Rights Abuses in China read in part as follows:
During the year the Government continued to commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in violation of internationally accepted norms, stemming both from the authorities' intolerance of dissent and the inadequacy of legal safeguards for basic freedoms. Abuses included arbitrary and lengthy incommunicado detention, forced confessions, torture, and mistreatment of prisoners. Prison conditions remained harsh. The Government continued severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, movement, and worker rights.
Although the Government denies that it holds political prisoners, the number of persons detained or serving sentences for "counterrevolutionary crimes" or for criminal convictions for peaceful political or religious activities are believed to number in the hundreds--perhaps thousands. The Government still has not provided a comprehensive, credible public accounting of all those missing or detained in connection with the suppression of the 1989 demonstrations. Persons detained during 1995 included activists arrested after the issuance of pro-democracy petitions in March and May. Throughout the year, Chinese leaders moved swiftly to cut off organized expressions of protest or criticism and detained government critics, including those advocating worker rights. Discrimination against women, minorities, and the disabled, and violence against women and the abuse of children remain problems.
During the 1996 election, a controversy arose concerning an allegation that the People's Republic of China tried to influence American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration. There was also concern raised about the fund-raising practices of the administration itself. Questions regarding the U.S. Democratic Party's fund-raising activities first arose over a Los Angeles Times article published on September 21, 1996. China's alleged role in the affair first gained public notice when Bob Woodward and Brian Duffy of The Washington Post published a story claiming that a United States Department of Justice investigation into the fund-raising activities had uncovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) before the 1996 presidential campaign. Their article alleged that intelligence information had shown that the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC in violation of United States law forbidding non-American citizens or non-permanent residents from giving monetary donations to United States politicians and political parties. Republican investigations stated the Chinese plan targeted both presidential and congressional United States elections, while Democratic Senators said the evidence showed the Chinese targeted only congressional elections. The government of the People's Republic of China denied all accusations.
According to the Senate report, Chinese officials developed proposals to promote their interests with the United States government and to improve China's image with the American people. The proposals, dubbed the "China Plan", came about as the result of lobbying of the president by some in Congress to grant a visa to Taiwanese President Lee Teng-Hui. United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher had previously assured his Chinese counterpart Qian Qichen that granting a visa would be "inconsistent with our unofficial relationship with Taiwan". When the visa was issued, political strategists for the Chinese government concluded that the influence of Congress over foreign policy was more significant than it had previously believed. Chinese officials decided to step up their lobbying game in Congress. According to the Senate report, the Chinese government instructed Chinese officials in the U.S. to improve their knowledge about members of Congress and increase contacts with its members, the public, and the media. The plan also suggested ways to lobby United States officials.
An individual known as Yah-Lin "Charlie" Trie attempted to donate $450,000 to Clinton's legal defense fund, allegedly delivered in two envelopes each containing several checks and money orders. The fund rejected $70,000 and deposited the remainder, but ordered an investigation of the source. After the investigation, the fund then rejected the donation entirely, and returned the deposited funds two months after the initial contribution. Trie was born in Taiwan, but emigrated to the U.S. in 1974. He eventually became an American citizen and co-owner of a restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas. In Little Rock, Trie befriended Clinton, then governor of Arkansas. In addition to the attempted donation to Clinton's defense fund, Trie and his immediate family donated $220,000 to the DNC which was also later returned. Immediately after the donation to Clinton's defense fund, Trie sent a letter to President Clinton that expressed concern about America's intervention in tensions arising from China's military exercises being conducted near Taiwan. After Congressional investigations turned to Trie in late 1996, he left the country for China. Trie returned to the U.S. in 1998 and was convicted and sentenced to three years probation and four months home detention for violating federal campaign finance laws by making political contributions in someone else's name and for causing a false statement to be made to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Five others were convicted of similar offenses.
The Justice Department opened a task force in late 1996 to begin investigating allegations of campaign fund-raising abuses by the Clinton/Gore re-election campaign. It expanded its internal investigation to include activities related to President Bill Clinton's legal defense fund in December 1996. President Clinton announced in February 1997 that he thought there should be a "vigorous" and "thorough" investigation into reports that the People's Republic of China tried to direct financial contributions from overseas sources to the Democratic National Committee. By July 1997, the Justice Department concluded that no evidence of wrongdoing had been found on the part of the Clinton fund. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said: "We believe there's no basis for any change in our policy toward China, which is one of engagement."
Members of Congress of both parties reached opposite conclusions. Senator Fred Thompson, a Republican from Tennessee and chairman of the committee investigating the fund-raising controversy, said he believed the Chinese plan targeted presidential and congressional elections while Democratic Senators Joe Lieberman and John Glenn said they believed the evidence showed the Chinese targeted only congressional elections."
From June 25 to July 3, 1998, President Bill Clinton visited the People's Republic of China with Hillary Clinton and their daughter Chelsea. The visit lasted for 9 days. Clinton met with President Jiang Zemin and he and his family visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. He also delivered a speech at Peking University.
The following year, in 1999 Clinton signed a landmark trade agreement with the People's Republic of China. The agreement was the result of more than a decade of negotiations. It lowered many trade barriers between the two countries, making it easier to export U.S. products such as automobiles, banking services, and motion pictures. The agreement could only take effect if China was accepted into the WTO and was granted permanent "normal trade relations" status by the U.S. Congress. Under the pact, the United States would support China's membership in the WTO. Many Democrats as well as Republicans were reluctant to grant permanent status to China because they were concerned about human rights in the country and the impact of Chinese imports on U.S. industries and jobs. Congress, however, voted in 2000 to grant permanent normal trade relations with China.