Word: mfn
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...Chinese are justified in their haughty response to American human-rights posturing. They know that if Congress tries to rescind China's MFN status, it will be besieged by frantic business lobbies which are currently salivating at the prospect of cheap labor and a market over a billion strong. Even the relatively minor sanctions imposed by the U.S. over the supposed Pakistan arms shipments hurt American companies more than it hurts the Chinese government...
Behind the tough talk, however, both sides knew that neither wants a showdown. Jiang needs the MFN trade status. Clinton was working to preserve % U.S. access to one of the most important markets of the 21st century. In what officials described as a humanitarian gesture, the U.S. last week offered to sell China an $8 million Cray supercomputer designed to help prepare against weather-related disasters. In the past, such hardware has been embargoed on national security grounds. In addition, there is talk that Westinghouse and General Electric may be allowed to sell China turbines for nuclear power plants...
Until September, the Administration was still seriously saying the renewal of China's MFN status was at stake. Officials are saying the same today, but it's primarily for show. Even Christopher admitted to TIME before last week's Seattle summit that the MFN discussion is essentially fake. "We have to be realistic about our political system," the Secretary said. "There are certain realities of American politics you have to deal with." Christopher was referring to the congressional majority that wants to punish China for maltreating its people. The political need to mute that anger explains the Administration's seemingly...
Officially, the Administration won't renew MFN next June unless there is "significant overall progress" with respect to human rights in China. In practice, Christopher told TIME, "I'll look at the trend . . . We don't expect them to remedy all the wrongs . . . Little things like prison visits, whether they permit the Red Cross to go in" to inspect jail conditions could help a great deal. Within 48 hours of Christopher's comment, the Chinese did just that. But then in a letter to Clinton last week, 270 members of the U.S. House of Representatives demanded more -- and Christopher, whose...
...sufficiency of those concessions. But the final scenario is clear. "China has the world's fastest growing economy," says a White House aide. "Every country in the world wants in -- as soon as possible and big time. We do too, and we're not going to let something like MFN stand in our way. It's going to take finesse with the Congress -- you'll see a lot more on-the- one-hand, on-the-other-hand stuff from Christopher -- but we've finally got our heads screwed on straight. That was what the President's note to the Chinese...