After rather lengthy negotiations between the United States and China, there has been a trade agreement reached between the two countries. China has agreed to enter into the World Trade Organization (WTO). This along with U. S. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Kurt Campbells visit to China in an attempt to mend relations damaged by the U. S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, marked a good series of events for U. S. and Chinese relations. The article also shows that the relationship between these two countries still needs work which cannot be done with ease.
A century ago, the U. S. fought off rival countries in a battle for economic influence in China. The 20th century began with U. S. Secretary of State Jon Hay arguing that whoever understood China “has the key to world politics for the next five centuries. ” Yet, according to the article, foreign policy experts agree that most Americans see what they want to see. Harvey Sicherman, President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute put it nicely in the article, “The pattern of our policy toward China is a series of illusions punctuated by unpleasantries. Professor Michael Hunt, an historian of U. S. China relations points out, “We really invest a lot of hopes in China, we do this repeatedly, and theyve really been crushed. They are so much an expression of our own needs and our own expectations. ”
Take the idea of the China market. One Far-Eastern expert proclaimed at the end of the last century, “No other market in the world offers such vast and varied opportunities for the further increase of American exports. ” Take that comment with this one by the U. S. hamber of Commerce about the recent progress made, “This is really a landmark opportunity to open up Chinas vast market to American companies. These expectations could be dangerous, points out the author. The market might not even materialize into what many are predicting it to be. To achieve the”dream” of a billion-plus consumers of American products, China will have to raise the average income of its citizens which is no easy or short-term task. Such changes cannot happen overnight, Chinas move toward a market economy will require “systematic improvement” at all levels of society according to the author.
One of the grandest illusions of Western Policy has been the reasoning that it can single-handedly change China. For more than a century Western missionaries, businessmen, and advisers have come to China believing in their “superiority” over the nation. This arrogance was present because they possessed advanced technical skills and a sense of moral rightness. These Westerners thought they should be welcomed and listened to immediately. When the Chinese went their own way, these same Westerners felt betrayed by the entire nation of China.
The author points out a specific example of this occurring in 1949. When the Chinese Communist forces finally took over the mainland and established the Peoples Republic, many Americans engaged in a witch-hunt over ho had “lost China”, as if China was a thing that could be lost and also as if the United States had any control over the destiny of such an ancient and populous nation. A key to this historical arrogance is the American idea that market forces can rapidly transform an authoritarian government into a model democracy. U. S. rade negotiators still argue the current trade pact between China and the United States will help the Chinese achieve, in their words, “greater freedom and greater global prosperity. ” Robert Dallek, a foreign policy expert and presidential historian, says “Americans often think the end f such development is something that looks like the United States. ”
This is an idea that goes way back to the 19th Century. According to Dallek, “Chinese movement toward democracy may never come about or even come near to what we think it should be. ” And if it does, “It will be their kind of capitalism, their kind of democracy. The authors points seem clear in that although much progress has been made in recent weeks, there is still a lot of work to be done. Yadong Liu, a former official in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, agrees with the author and does not see Chinas recent development as leading to the end f conflict with the United States. He emphasizes Chinas nationalism by claiming that , “Both the leadership and population in general are still driven by desire to restore China to what it was hundreds of years ago,” before it was dominated by a series of foreign powers, including the United States.
The author thinks of this nationalism as more of a “self defensive” form of nationalism. It seems as if anything happens, whether it is large or small, it can easily irritate the Chinese if they believe it is insulting or humiliating towards them. This helps to explain why the U. S. bombing of the Belgrade embassy touched off a number of protests against the United States. For Americans, says the author, “The danger is that we become too mesmerized by our own success. ” And by doing so, “We miss the realities that actually shape the future.
He makes it clear that if we expect too much out of this current trade agreement, it will only put off implementing it fully. The authors points can be used when looking at trade dealing with China in a business and market situation. Although much progress has been made, it is still up in the air as to who got the better deal. If eventually U. S. firms are able o export or sell their products to the entire Chinese population, there are unlimited possibilities. With a massive population, and a better economy on the way, China would be and ideal location to sell your product.
This still remains to be in the future according to the article. It will take some mending of issues for the Chinese to even consider the U. S. for major importing and exporting. Time will also determine if China will ever reach their goal to have an equal trading relationship that the U. S. has with other countries around the world through the World Trade Organization. Article #2 The article starts out ith an image of Chan Yinmiao, a carpenter sitting by the side of the road on a Beijing overpass, waiting in the wind for work.
When the author mentioned the breakthrough trade deal his government struck with the United States recently, Chan brightens up. Chans family lives hundreds of miles away in eastern China where they cultivate rice. He hopes the trade deal will open up lucrative export markets especially for their crop. “The more the market opens, the more opportunities well have to make money. ” Chan claimed. Obviously this excitement regarding the new trade deal extends beyond those who hope to measure ts benefits in dollars, cents, and improved trade figures.
The deal did mark a major milestone in Chinas campaign to join the World Trade Organization(WTO). Some have hoped that entry in the trade group that makes the rules for world trade will also spur improvements in human rights, legal reforms, and eventually, progress towards a democratic government. The author reasons that an economic opening will hopefully bring about a political opening in a country desperately in need of both. Also, a free and private economy forms the base for a democratic system, so it will make Chinas government and legal system volve toward democracy.
President Clinton and his supporters have argued that growing trade, foreign contacts, and the World Trade Organizations rules on fair competition will open markets and legal processes will help bring China closer to other international countries. A major part in the deal between China and the U. S. involved the investment of Chinas telephones and Internet networks, not allowed under the initial deal, but will make both networks cheaper and available to more Chinese, thus increasing the amount and flow of information throughout the world.
Other, more social changes could occur because of the new deal are, more Western movies will bring more new ideas, more foreign lawyers and businessmen who will expect Chinese courts to enforce contracts could advance rule by law, rather than by bureaucrats. Also, foreign investments will create more new jobs, offering a wider range of employment opportunities. Wang Shan, a political commentator and author believes that the Chinese leaders have not clearly considered the social changes that entrance into the WTO could bring, “They are not sufficiently prepared for the pressures on Chinese society,” he said.
Chinese leaders feel that entering the WTO will promote Chinese exports, open up world markets, and attract investments. But Americans feel that once China enters this system great changes will occur in Chinese society, including political and social changes. ” The author goes on to express other concerns that the Chinese have about this new entrance into the WTO. Specifically that trickle-down civil rights improvements through increased trade will come too slowly and that foreign governments will have to pressure China over its human rights record to bring about deeper change.
Lin Mu, a ne-time aide to former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang, elaborates on the subject of social change, “Its an idle dream for the American government to think it can improve the human rights situation with economic cooperation. ” The article again shifts to other possible drawbacks that Chinas new membership to the WTO could hold within it. Initially jobs could become scarcer as ailing state firms and inefficient family farms give in to the new foreign competition.
Chinas state-run media has been selling the WTO deal to the public all along, but does officially admit that millions of people could be hrown out of work, including more than nine million people associated with agriculture. And even though China has negotiated for WTO entry for 13 years, its social security system remains very unsophisticated. With these factors combined, surely there will be a rise in the already common workers protests that have prompted a police crack down on such incidents. A major point the author displays in the article is the issue regarding the exploitation of workers in China.
Long-term labor activists fear that because the communist government bans independent trade unions, jobs generated by increased foreign nvestment could lead to this greater exploitation of the workers. Already tough and unsafe factories prevail in provinces all over China. In the province of Guangdong which is the southern economic powerhouse that handles forty percent of Chinas foreign trade, the rights of the worker has extra significance because the province stands to benefit quite nicely through the WTO entry.
Han Dongfang a veteran Chinese labor campaigner who lives in forced exile in Hong Kong because China wont let him return to the mainland sums up the issue on worker exploitation, “You can say they provide job opportunities. But the eople who work there are not people, theyre labor. They have no rights to speak out about their conditions, wages, or benefits. ” Its clear that the author wants to emphasize that working conditions in China will not get better, but possibly even get worse. He clarifies that without the right for workers to set up unions, job opportunities brought by the WTO could turn workers into slaves.
Under those conditions, there is no way that anyone can claim that the WTO will in any way benefit human rights in China. In terms of a business standpoint, this article shows how the deal between the United States nd China could end up producing more bad press for human rights in China. According to this article, the cons certainly outweigh the pros regarding Chinas new membership into the WTO. American companies thinking about trading with China should definitely give notice to the production facility as well as the establishment of employees in order to make sure they are not being exploited.
The exploitation of workers does not sit well with anyone in the United States, and any correlation between your company and a company that offers no rights to its workers could mean withdrawal of investors, workers, and ost importantly consumers. Article #3 This article focuses on Chinas current president, Jiang Zemin, and the role he played in Chinas recent agreement with the United States to join the World Trade Organization. The agreement made with the U. S. will open China to free international trade for the first time in history.
Along the way, the 73 year-old Jiang had to practically “move mountains” of conservative opposition in China where he is trying to change the relationship between Beijing and Washington DC. The deal was unprecedented for China, but had equal importance to Jiang himself. Jiang dealt with the United States in a profound way, waiting for United States President Bill Clinton to call him twice before backing the deal himself. When American negotiators arrived in Beijing, Jiang kept his distance from the discussions, instead he sent Premier Zhu Rongji to work out the details.
Once the deal was signed however, Jiang kept with his emperor mentality and assumed direct contact with the negotiators. An advocate of technology, Jiang seems to be the right man for China going into the 21st century. Yet he doesnt quite have the imperial status in the eyes of the Chinese. In Beijing, the WTO celebration was poorly horeographed and lacked a certain greatness to it, and Jiangs speech didnt hold the peoples attention for long at all. Despite these flaws, Jiang clearly strives to be as imperial as he can possibly be, perhaps join the ranks of suck emperors as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
But in Chinas long history, an Emperor needs to inspire awe, with a little bit of fear mixed into his subjects. Jiang isnt quite there but tackling such a large subject as world trade is a good place to start. Jiang is not one to start breaking up the entire system however which he leaves to Premier Zhu. It was Zhu who traveled to he United States in April in an attempt to strike up talks concerning WTO. He failed only because the White House at the time thought it would be”politically unwise” to sign such an agreement at that point in time.
Jiang simply sat back, gained concessus back in China, and then awaited for President Clinton to approach him. It was through this consensus that Jiang had established that the negotiations were a success. The authors main points concern Jiang and his dilemma. The dilemma that he is a prisoner of the Chinese Communist Party that he is leading fifty years after its revolution. The ommunist party is one that is empty of vision, worried about unrest, out of touch with the younger generation that concerns itself more with money than ideology.
It seems that the harder Jiang tries to impress the citizens of China, the less interested they become. He certainly acknowledges the fact that economic development is need in China, but being open politically is just simply not an option he has. Even immediately after the WTO deal was signed, members of Falun Gong, a banned meditation cult were being arrested. It is clear that Jiang wants to help China prosper, it might just take a little longer than he had oped. The World Trade Organization or WTO has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
It currently has 135 countries with membership. The WTO is the successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade formed in 1947. Once limited to goods, the WTOs aim has been extended to include intellectual property and trade in services. The organizations task is to administer and enforce the trade agreements made by member nations, ensuring the flow of goods and services. Its rulings are law among all of its members. In terms of a business/market situation, here is a breakdown on who got the better deal etween China and the United States.
In Telecommunications, China will let telecom firms, including U. S. giants such as AT&T, have new, though still limited access to its domestic market. The winner in this case are the U. S. telecom firms by a long shot. They will be able to sell their voice and data services to the Chinese which is a huge market. In farming, China said it would cut tariffs on farming goods to less than 15% by the year 2005. That should give many Chinese access to new foods from all over the world. Farmers in the U. S. will be the winners in this respect because they can expect to sell much more to China.
