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)
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Source: Voice of America
.