TRADE-US: Congress Approves Ties with China

By Jim Lobe Reprint | | Print |

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul 28 1999 (IPS) - Sino-American ties, severely strained by charges of espionage against Beijing and the US bombing of China’s embassy in Yugoslavia, have received a sudden boost with the House of Representatives voting to retain “normal trade relations” for one year.

The 260-170 vote, which came after several hours of debate late Tuesday, was about the same margin as a similar vote in 1998.

The fact that there were virtually no defections to the anti- China side of the debate suggests that, the events which brought bilateral ties to a 10-year low, may have had a more limited political impact than was generally believed.

“We never doubted that we’d win the vote, but we also thought we’d lose some support because of all of the problems of the last few months,” said one White House official.

He and other analysts stressed that the outcome did not mean that a majority in Congress would support normal trade relations with China on a permanent basis – which would facilitate Chinese entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Still, both governments hoped to approve a agreement that would make that possible before the next round of global trade negotiations begin in Seattle in November.

“For most members, the vote that really counts is whether to grant permanent normal trade relations status to China,” said Mike Jendrzejczyk, a China specialist at Human Rights Watch. “That’s the vote they’re waiting for.”

He said 12 House Democrats who voted in favour of trade with China had warned President Bill Clinton, however, they would not approve permanent relations unless China showed “concrete improvements” in a range of areas, including human rights, and agrees to set up bilateral mechanisms to ensure compliance.

Normal Trade Relations (NTR) status replaced the previous “most favoured nation” label and entitles US trading partners to low tariffs and other trade advantages.

Since it first received NTR in 1980, China has been granted it only for a year at a time, and Congress has used NTR renewal as an annual focus for debate on overall US China policy.

This year, the debate was expected to be as contentious as any since the repression of the “pro-democracy” movement in China ten years ago.

Not only has the human rights situation not improved, according to NTR foes, but China’s chronic trade surplus with the United States is expected to hit a record 70 billion dollars this year, adding fuel slowly-burning protectionist fire in the House.

Before Tuesday’s vote, the White House and lobbyists for multinational business were especially worried that Congressional charges about Chinese espionage against the United States would persuade at least some lawmakers to vote against normal trade ties.

The 1,000-page Cox Committee report, released in late May by a special bipartisan panel, detailed what it charged was an ongoing, “systematic” 20-year covert effort by Beijing to steal sensitive US secrets about its most potent nuclear-arms and missile technology.

Beijing, on the other hand, strongly objected to Washington’s sponsorship of a resolution at the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission condemning China’s human-rights performance.

The US decision to provide new arms sales to Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, and to possibly include it in a theatre missile defence system for Asia also drew fire from Beijing.

China vehemently protested the US-led air war by NATO against Yugoslavia, a protest which culminated in unprecedented demonstrations against Washington after US warplanes bombed and destroyed the Beijing’s embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese citizens.

The bombing, which the administration has insisted was caused by an out-of-date maps used by US intelligence agencies, marked a major setback in relations. Beijing suspended all military and human-rights exchanges between the two governments and even held back publication in the domestic press of Clinton’s apology for the attack.

Most important, it put on ice plans to intensify negotiations on a trade agreement that could lead to China’s membership in the WTO this year. Since Clinton spurned a sweeping offer by visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in April, the administration has made reaching an agreement its top priority.

The Congressional vote was “basically a good one” for prospects for renewed WTO negotiations, according to John Ford, vice-president of the US-China Business Council, which is backed by major corporations with interests in China.

Indeed, the vote coincided with signs that Beijing itself was now ready to return to more normal relations. In just the last few days, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan during the annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore.

Emerging from what was described as the highest-level meeting of the two sides since the embassy bombing, both said that tensions between the two capitals were easing.

They also confirmed that Clinton would meet with Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in New Zealand in the second week of September.

Ironically, aiding the rapprochement is the latest crisis over Taiwan, which was provoked by President Lee Teng-hui’s recent renunciation of the “One China” policy, a statement that moved the island closer towards formal independence.

Although powerful Chinese officials initially suspected that Washington was behind the Lee’s move, they changed their tune after Clinton himself spoke against it and then ordered the Pentagon to delay a long-scheduled visit to Taiwan to assess the island’s air-defence and anti-missile needs.

But if Clinton’s hopes for gaining a WTO agreement are to be realised, events must now move quickly, according to political analysts.

Most believe that, if an accord is not ready by the time Clinton meets with Jiang, Congress would unlikely be able to vote on permanent NTR before it adjourned in September or October, making it difficult for the administration to support China’s membership in the Geneva-based body before the Seattle round.