DATE=5/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-U-S-TRADE (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262274
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=SHANGHAI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A senior U-S diplomat in China says Sino-US
relations will suffer a severe downturn if the U-S
House of Representatives fails to grant Beijing
permanent normal trading status in a vote scheduled
later this month. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison
reports the diplomat says China would see a negative
vote in the House as a conscious U-S effort to isolate
it.
TEXT: Eugene Martin, the number two official at the
U-S embassy in Beijing, says he is moderately
optimistic that the House will vote to grant China
permanent normal trading relations -- a status nearly
every other nation in the world enjoys.
A landmark Sino-U-S trade agreement, which paves the
way for Beijing to join the World Trade Organization,
specifies that Washington must grant Beijing permanent
low-tariff trading status in return for market-opening
concessions by China. But many legislators concerned
about human rights in China and the loss of American
jobs are against the pact.
After addressing the closing session of the Asia
Society's annual corporate conference in Shanghai
Friday, Mr. Martin was asked what impact rejection of
permanent trading status for China would have on Sino-
U-S relations.
/// MARTIN ACTUALITY ///
We would continue to have relations, but I think
it would start a process or a slippery slope in
which China would see it as a conscious
political act by the United States to isolate
China, to contain China, and to make China a
second-rate power. And I think it would be
very, very difficult for us to have a normal
relationship, a normal dialogue on a whole host
of issues, from Korea to Taiwan, to
proliferation, to human rights and so forth.
And I think it would seriously affect our
economic relationships.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
The Clinton Administration has lobbied hard for
approval of the pact, enlisting the support of former
U-S presidents and secretaries of state as well as
farm and business groups that want to sell their goods
and services to the Chinese market. The measure is
virtually assured of passage in the Senate, but
approval in the House is still a close call.
U-S officials say failure to grant China permanent
normal trading status will negatively affect U-S
businesses, because they will not be able to reap the
benefits of the trade deal while their European and
Japanese competitors will.
China's leaders see their country's entry into the
World Trade Organization as a way of making Chinese
companies more competitive as they face challenges
from the foreign firms that would enter the Chinese
market.
President Clinton says failure to grant China
permanent trading status will also have a negative
effect on U-S national security and could heighten
tension between China and Taiwan. (Signed)
NEB/HK/RW/JO/KL
12-May-2000 08:33 AM EDT (12-May-2000 1233 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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