China Gets InSaturday, December 29, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Editorial
China gets in
After years of argument, the granting to China
of permanent rights to sell its goods in the
United States has come by executive order,
with barely a burble of dissent. The fight ended
when China agreed to U.S. conditions for admitting it into the World Trade
Organization, and the deal was approved by Congress. China is now in, and we
are obliged to treat it with the respect due a WTO member.
That is a relief. The nation was having the same fight every year. On one side
was Boeing, Microsoft, chambers of commerce, economists, China academics,
Chinese intellectuals and the president of the United States. On the other side
were the AFL-CIO, environmental groups, Wei Jingsheng, religious conservatives
and the U.S. textile industry. Each year, as the battle commenced, the paid
warriors for each side shook down their supporters for contributions. The fight
ensued, and the first side won.
It always won. For a while, the fear that it might lose induced China to make
concessions. But in 1994, pressed hard by President Clinton to change, China
refused and Clinton backed down. The American bluff had been called. Trade
was in this nation's economic and political interest, and it was going to win
every time.
There remain other battles to fight about trade: whether trade agreements should
enforce labor and environmental standards, whether they should protect rights of
property, and how far they should intrude upon domestic political decisions.
There will be other, bigger issues with China. But there will not be a set-piece
battle scheduled once a year. China is in the WTO and a normal trading partner
of the United States — the better side won.
Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company