Reality and MFN-tasy
HELMS, JESSE
Reality and MFNtasy by Jesse Helms Areport persists in Washington that the Clinton administration will soon seek permanent most-favored-nation status for the People's Republic of China—possibly in...
...The trade surplus figures show that China relies on our consumers to buy its products...
...The Chinese government, of course...
...China's MFN status was restored in 1980, yet there is no evidence that this has led to an improvement in human rights in China...
...Reality and MFNtasy by Jesse Helms Areport persists in Washington that the Clinton administration will soon seek permanent most-favored-nation status for the People's Republic of China—possibly in exchange for some concessions on human rights or for shaping up on standards for admission to the World Trade Organization...
...Belgium buys more U.S...
...Lobbyists for business interests chortle over the "annual exercise" and smugly shake their heads at misguided anti-MFN diehards...
...Minorities, including Tibetans, who are Buddhists, and Uighurs, who are Muslims, also experienced serious repression...
...The inevitability theory does have one thing going for it: predictability...
...The U.S.-China Business Council and other MFN proponents rarely acknowledge that the United States has a $35-39 billion trade deficit with China...
...China says the deficit is $10 billion...
...Jesse Helms, a Republican from North Carolina, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee...
...Receiving MFN treatment for its products has not led to a more democratic, humane, or internationally responsible China, as demonstrated by its failure to respect either its citizens or agreements on issues from intellectual property to nuclear non-proliferation to Hong Kong...
...You can be pretty specific about exactly what moment that will occur: Put it down for 6 p.m...
...They decry the "sterility" of the debate...
...Even if freedom and democracy are inevitable in China, do not expect that I will greet the first elected president of post-Communist China by saying: "I thought about depriving the old regime of economic and political benefits, but since your success was inevitable, I had Jiang Zemin and Gen...
...the Friday before Memorial Day when the administration traditionally delivers the notice just in time to make the saturday papers but after members of Congress have left for home...
...The withdrawal of MFN for China is an effective tool precisely because China needs our markets...
...Their attitude is that America should put a stop to the annual debate over MFN because the Chinese know we are not serious...
...Rushing to conclude an agreement before Madeleine Albright makes her first visit to China as secretary of state, U.S...
...China's human rights performance is dictated by the nature of the regime—an arbitrary, one-party state struggling to maintain as many aspects of totalitarianism as it can while reaping economic benefits for party leaders and the military...
...Needless to say, supporters of permanent MFN look forward to the time when the annual debate over renewal can be avoided...
...American businessmen have been targets of what amounts to official extortion for attempting to enforce a contract...
...It restrains the government and protects the citizens...
...Persecution of independent Protestant and Catholic churches intensified...
...Entrepreneurs who run afoul of a Chinese business with official connections often find themselves not in court but in jail...
...goods than China does...
...In the last week of May, jot down "Renewal of MFN...
...companies will have under the agreement...
...and Chinese negotiators last week cracked open China's markets for drapes and home furnishings...
...trade with China is putting sophisticated technology—including machine tools useful in making not just commercial aircraft but bombers and missiles—in the hands of military-owned and controlled companies...
...So China is not buying American...
...Law does...
...cave-in at Geneva U.N...
...In mid-March, pencil in "U.S...
...The idea that it would be valuable for China to enjoy permanent MFN status rests on the myth that all trade is a moderating force on repressive regimes and encourages reform...
...But in China, the rule of law does not exist...
...Renewing MFN will continue to help China's economy and military expand and modernize, while its citizens look for crumbs...
...When China does buy from the United States, it predominantly buys aircraft, power-generating equipment, computers, and telecommunications equipment...
...Supporters of "engagement" claim that China will be transformed into a responsible law-abiding state by its membership in the World Trade Organization and other multilateral organizations...
...This is a variation of the inevitability theory: "Best not to have a debate over principle among elected representatives because when the majority favoring MFN wins, it just confuses the Chinese...
...The office of the U.S...
...Typically, negotiators declined to specify how much greater access U.S...
...Revpower, an American company, has been trying since 1993 to enforce a $6 million arbitral award that China is obligated to honor as a party to international agreements...
...China's behavior disproves this theory...
...trade representative has denied the report, but it is becoming more and more credible considering Clinton's references to his new "inevitability" policy, according to which the United states need not confront China over its human rights abuses or violation of agreements because China's peaceful transformation to democracy is inevitable...
...According to the report, human rights abuses were widespread...
...China's growth is raising living standards, but wealth and property do not in and of themselves enable individuals to resist arbitrary government...
...Chi over for coffee at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee...
...In China, the government controls international trade and the economy...
...Who benefits from this state of affairs...
...Human Rights Commission...
...Even companies with an ironclad legal claim against a state-owned enterprise are left holding the bag...
...The 1996 state Department human rights report, just released, acknowledges that repression in China increased last year...
...While the United States grants China the same trading terms we give to nations where our businessmen compete on a level playing field, China limits our access to its markets...
...We can all fill in our 1997 calendars now...
...the government used intimidation, exile, prison terms, and other measures to silence dissent...
Vol. 2 • February 1997 • No. 23
