"....From the jus' so's ya know Department....":
As part of the ongoing debate over granting permanent normal trade relations to China, the Center for Trade Policy Studies is pleased to present the following selected readings and presentations from Cato scholars.
Research & Commentary
China?s Long March to a Market Economy:
The Case for Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the People's Republic of China
Congress is in the historic position of being able to help pro-reform leaders in China move their country in a market-oriented direction. PNTR status for China will bolster the position of those leaders in Beijing who are attempting to deepen and broaden China?s economic reforms. China?s subsequent accession to the World Trade Organization will benefit, not only the United States and the world trading community, but most directly the citizens of China, millions of whom are still mired in abject poverty.
Trade with China:
Business Profits or Human Rights?
Business profits vs. human rights. So do critics of trade with China frame the debate. But freer trade is likely to advance human rights, as well as boost business profits.
Gephardt?s comments ignore basic facts about Chinese trade relations
Recently, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt announced that he could not support congressional extension of permanent normal trade relations for China. Unfortunately, his stated reasons contradict the historical, political and economic facts about U.S.-Sino trade relations.
PNTR rejection only harms U.S. businesses, Chinese democracy, Sino-Taiwan relations
As the battle rages over Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, three recent events have further bolstered support for congressional approval of PNTR.
AFL-CIO?s arguments against PNTR fall flat under scrutiny
China: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat?
Trade and the Transformation of China:
The Case for Normal Trade Relations
Congress will soon consider whether to make normal trade relations permanent as part of China?s anticipated entry into the World Trade Organization. The consequences of congressional action are huge.
Two Sides to China's WTO Membership
As we learn the details of a deal struck between the United States and China on the terms of accession for Chinese membership into the World Trade Organization, there is cause for rejoicing and cause for worry.
Advancing Human Rights in China
Trade should not be used as a weapon of war against China. Denying China normal trading status, in order to penalize its leaders for human rights violations, would be counter-productive to the values this country stands for.
Economic Policy toward China (from the Cato Handbook for Congress - PDF format)
The United States should help move China in the direction of greater economic and personal freedom by adopting a consistent, long-run policy that normalizes trade relations, integrates China into the global trading order, and promotes exchange on a broad front.
Risky... or Worthy WTO Bid?
Denying the world's 10th-largest trading nation WTO membership will only serve to slow the growth of China's dynamic nonstate sector, which now accounts for 70 percent of industrial output value, and strengthen the power of hardliners.
Free Trade and Human Rights: The Moral Case for Engagement
The freedom of Americans to trade and invest abroad is being challenged in the name of promoting human rights. Conservative Christian activists and others seek to impose trade sanctions against nations that do not protect human rights. Proposed sanctions include the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act and the revoking of China?s Most Favored Nation status.
Improving human rights in China
The use or threat of trade sanctions to advance human rights in China has done relatively little to change policy in Beijing. Congress should consider alternative measures to improve human rights in China.
The Key to China's Future
Commercial diplomacy, not gunboat diplomacy, is the key to
China's future as a constructive partner rather than an emerging threat. Trade is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for global stability and peace.
China's Dilemma
China's dilemma is that continued reform will threaten the Party's hold on power as an emerging middle class demands political representation while stalling reform will harm the growing nonstate sector and further deteriorate public support for the Party. In either case, the Party's future looks bleak.
China's Spontaneous Order
The truth is that China's economic reforms have succeeded because of brave individuals who sought to escape from the iron grip of government planners and from a life with no future.
Grant China MFN
America's role as a great nation should be to push for lower barriers to trade and commerce all around the world, including in China. A good place to start is permanent normal trade relations with China.
New financial architecture for China
The Asian financial crisis has provided a wake-up call for China. The lesson of that crisis has been that pegged exchange rates and crony capitalism are a recipe for disaster.
Books, Conferences & Speeches
Tiger by the Tail: China and the World Trade Organization
By Mark A. Groombridge and Claude E. Barfield. Tiger by the Tail explores the issues surrounding China?s accession to the World Trade Organization. Although the book acknowledges that the specific market-access commitments that China makes are important, the focus is on how the WTO can best resolve conflicts with China after the PRC?s inevitable admission to the organization. The authors argue that the only way to avoid years of corrosive conflict within the WTO is to persuade the Chinese to accept, as conditions of WTO membership, at least minimal provisions for administrative and legal due process, as well as the creation of specialized courts capable of dealing with complex issues of commercial and trade law.
Conference: September 29, 1999
Whither China? The PRC at 50
Is China a rising colossus that intends to bully its neighbors and dominate Asia? Does China regard the United States as the principal obstacle to its imperial ambitions? Does Washington need to adopt a more hard-line policy toward the PRC on trade, human rights, and national security issues? Or are some members of the U.S. political elite and foreign policy community exaggerating the Chinese threat because they are searching for a new enemy to justify bloated military budgets and other dubious measures?
China in the New Millennium: Market Reforms and Social Development
Edited by James A. Dorn. China is expected to become the world's largest economy in less than two decades. Whether or not it does so will depend on continued growth of the private sector and how well China adapts to global market forces.
US-China trade relations and its impact on religious activity in the PRC
Have Western religious organizations working in the PRC benefited from the expanding commercial ties between the U.S. and China? Remarks by Ned Graham, President, East Gates International.
Trouble in the Taiwan Strait? (in RealVideo)
A Cato polcy forum featuring Adm. Eugene Carroll (Ret.), Ross Munro, and Doug
Bandow. Is a major conflict brewing in the Taiwan Strait? Could it pull the United States into a military confrontation with China? A recent Beijing white paper warned that China would be forced to take "drastic measures," including use of military force, if Taiwan continued to delay talks on eventual reunification. And President Jiang Zemin has emphasized that he intends to make the reunification of China the centerpiece of his legacy. |
