DATE=10/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-W-T-O (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254898
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China says it still hopes to join the World
Trade Organization this year, despite growing
pessimism among its major western trade partners that
it can get into the group before a W-T-O ministerial
meeting at the end of November. VOA correspondent
Roger Wilkison reports China -- which would remain a
major trading nation even without W-T-O membership --
continues to insist that it join the group as a
developing country, which would allow it more time to
open up its markets.
TEXT: The two major stumbling blocks for China to
join the W-T-O are the United States and the European
Union, both of which have demanded that Beijing commit
to open its markets further than it wants. Officials
in both Brussels and Washington have recently been
pouring cold water on China's chances of joining the
134-member organization before a new round of W-T-O
talks begin November 30th. Top U-S and E-U trade
officials say the pace of their respective
negotiations with China has slowed considerably. They
say China's accession before that informal deadline
looks more and more difficult.
Considerable time was lost after China suspended its
W-T-O-related negotiations with the United States and
the European Union last May, in anger over NATO's
bombing of its embassy in Yugoslavia. Negotiations
with the United States resumed last month, and talks
with the E-U began again last Sunday. European
officials say no date was set for the next meeting.
In the U-S-China talks, Washington continues to insist
that Beijing recommit to a package of concessions it
says premier Zhu Rongji offered when he visited
Washington last April. China has balked at those
demands, saying a list of alleged Chinese concessions
published by Washington contains several errors.
China's foreign ministry says President Jiang Zemin
will take up the issue of China's W-T-O membership
when he visits Britain, France and Portugal starting
next week. But spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue says Mr. Jiang
does not need to conduct negotiations with the leaders
of those countries on the details of the issue.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ms. Zhang says China
still wants to join W-T-O.
/////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////
China has always adopted a positive attitude towards
its accession to W-T-O, and this position remains
unchanged. That is, China hoped to accede to W-T-O,
but China is a universally recognized developing
country, and China must insist on striking a balance
between obligations and rights.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Ms. Zhang says China's accession to W-T-O does not
depend on its own efforts but on those of its
negotiating partners. It is they who have always been
keen to get Beijing to open its markets. But China
knows that, whether or not it joins the organization,
it will still remain a major player in world trade
even though a failure to get in could hurt Beijing's
efforts to attract the foreign investment it needs to
continue reforming its economy. (signed)
NEB/RW/FC/PLM
12-Oct-1999 06:39 AM EDT (12-Oct-1999 1039 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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