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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

USIS Washington File

11 April 2000

Text: President Clinton on Normal Trade Relations with China

(Administration to press Congress to approve agreement) (720)
President Clinton announced April 11 that his administration "will
spare no effort" to inform the U.S. Congress and the American people
about the necessity of implementing the Permanent Normal Trade
Relations (PNTR) agreement with China.
The agreement requires Congressional approval to be put into force.
The President said the pact would open China's markets to American
business. "That means more jobs, growth, and exports for Americans,"
he said.
Clinton warned that a failure to approve the pact could result in
"extremely harmful consequences" to U.S. national security.
"Because the economic case for PNTR is so strong," the President said,
"the Chinese will see a rejection as a strategic decision by the
United States to turn from cooperation to confrontation, to deal with
China as an adversary. That would undercut the reform-minded leaders
who signed this agreement with us, and strengthen the hand of hard
liners who believe cooperating with the United States is a mistake."
Following is the official White House text of the President's
statement:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
April 11, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today I met with my national security team about the critical stakes
in China's WTO accession and our decision regarding Permanent Normal
Trade Relations.
The economic reasons for PNTR are clear cut. Our markets already are
open to China; the agreement we reached to bring China into the WTO
doesn't require that we open them further in any way. What it does is
to open China's markets to our workers, our farmers, our businesses.
That means more jobs, growth, and exports for Americans. China will
join the WTO regardless of what we decide to do. The decision before
Congress is whether the United States will receive the same trade
benefits from China as will our trade competitors.
The national security implications are even more far-reaching.
Bringing China into the WTO will entwine China in the global economy,
increasing its interdependence with the rest of the world. It will
bring the information revolution -- with the knowledge and freedom of
thought that entails -- to millions of people in China in ways its
government cannot possibly control. It will accelerate the dismantling
of China's state-owned enterprises -- a process that is getting
government out of people's lives and sparking social and political
change all over China. It will strengthen China's reforms and the
reformers behind them.
That is reason enough to vote for PNTR. But I am also concerned about
what a vote against PNTR would do. It would have extremely harmful
consequences for our national security. Because the economic case for
PNTR is so strong, the Chinese will see a rejection as a strategic
decision by the United States to turn from cooperation to
confrontation, to deal with China as an adversary. That would undercut
the reform-minded leaders who signed this agreement with us, and
strengthen the hand of hard liners who believe cooperating with the
United States is a mistake. Those are the same forces most threatened
by our alliances with Japan and Korea, the same forces that want the
Chinese military to sell dangerous technologies, and the same forces
that would pursue confrontation with Taiwan rather than dialogue.
It's no surprise that Taiwan's President-elect Chen strongly supports
China's membership in the WTO, and wants us to grant PNTR. He
understands the importance of the stability that will come from good
US-China relations and China's membership in the WTO. If both Beijing
and Taiwan are in the WTO, it will increase their interdependence and
therefore the cost to Beijing of confrontation. If China is shut out,
tensions in the Taiwan Strait will likely rise. Our ability to ease
them will diminish.
We will spare no effort in the coming days and weeks to make sure that
the Congress and the American people understand what the stakes are.
And I am confident that when the debate is over and the votes are
cast, the Congress will do what is right -- both for our prosperity
and our security.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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