DATE=5/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA - TRADE REACT (L)
NUMBER=2-262790
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China has expressed its satisfaction that the
U-S House of Representatives has approved a bill
granting it permanent low-tariff access to the U-S
market. But, as VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison
reports, Beijing is also criticizing provisions in the
bill that would set up a commission to monitor its
human rights record.
TEXT: Officials at China's foreign and trade
ministries are quoted by the official Xinhua news
agency as saying the decision by the House of
Representatives was wise. The legislation, which is
expected to also pass in the U-S Senate, eliminates
two decades of annual congressional reviews of China's
trading status and gives Beijing the same rights of
access to the U-S market that nearly every other
country enjoys. The United States is China's biggest
export market.
But Xinhua also quotes Trade Ministry spokesman Hu
Chusheng as saying the bill's provisions on human
rights monitoring are unacceptable to China because
they constitute interference in the country's internal
affairs. Xinhua quotes Mr. Hu as saying Washington
should correct what he calls its "wrongdoing" in this
regard.
Still, Chinese officials are breathing a sigh of
relief that last November's landmark trade accord
between Beijing and Washington has overcome its most
difficult hurdle. The agreement paves the way for
China to join the World Trade Organization, a step
seen by the top leadership as a spur to further
economic reforms.
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji are
determined to open the Chinese economy up to foreign
competition. They hope such competition will give an
impetus to Chinese companies to shape up, become more
market-oriented and less dependent on state handouts.
W-T-O membership is also expected to attract the
foreign investment China needs to fund its reforms.
In the short run, Chinese officials acknowledge that
millions of state enterprise workers will lose their
jobs and millions of peasants will be forced to leave
the land. But they are betting on long-term gain as
China moves more speedily toward a market economy and
the prosperity that is expected to generate. (signed)
NEB/HK/RW/JO/PLM
25-May-2000 03:36 AM EDT (25-May-2000 0736 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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