WTO deal with EU done, China eyes key U.S. vote By Paul Eckert
BEIJING, May 21 (Reuters) - China turned on Sunday from
celebrating its agreement with the European Union on Beijing's
World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession to warily watching a
critical U.S. vote on its trade status.
With the U.S. Congress poised to vote this week on
permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for China, Chinese
state media reminded American lawmakers that they cannot keep
Beijing out of the body which governs world trade.
"Once it settles agreements with all members, China will
enter the WTO whether the U.S. Congress agrees to give it PNTR
status or not," said the China Daily Business Weekly.
Failure to pass PNTR, which would do away with annual
reviews of China's trade status and permanently guarantee
Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as
products from nearly every other nation, would hurt U.S.
businesses, it said.
"Denying China PNTR status will leave U.S. firms vulnerable
to possible Chinese discrimination," said the state newspaper
in a view echoed by some U.S. businesses in China.
"This (EU) agreement will definitely serve as an example,
or a cruel fact to U.S. politicians that if we don't have PNTR,
we won't enjoy the agreement that the EU would," said Tony
Chen, public affairs director for Greater China at Tricon,
which owns Pizza Hut and KFC outlets in China.
The U.S. House of Representatives has been bitterly divided
over next week's vote, but support grew on Thursday after
lawmakers reached an agreement to monitor China's human rights
record. Passage in the U.S. Senate is virtually guaranteed.
PNTR supporters said Friday's announcement of a trade
agreement between China and the European Union should also ease
U.S. lawmakers' concerns. Beijing's deal with the EU removes
the last major hurdle to China's membership in the Geneva-based
WTO.
CHINA UNHAPPY, BUT HOLDS TONGUE
China has expressed resentment at the side deal -- critical
to winning support for the trade pact from Democrats, who
criticise Beijing's record on human rights and labour standards
-- but has moderated its rhetoric ahead of the vote.
After U.S. lawmakers reached agreement on the human rights
monitor, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue repeated
Beijing's demand that Congress pass PNTR without conditions.
Sandra Kristoff, a former Clinton administration official
who visited China last week as part of the Business Coalition
for U.S.-China Trade, warned China against complacence.
She said she used meetings with Chinese officials to
"communicate to people that if the vote were taken today we do
not have the votes. We would lose."
Kristoff, former director for Asian affairs at the National
Security Council, urged China to avoid provocative actions or
statements that would give anti-PNTR lawmakers an "easy out."
"Be careful is the message to the Chinese," she said.
China appeared to have heeded the advice in its response to
the inauguration of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on
Saturday. Beijing questioned Chen's sincerity on reunification,
but held open the door for negotiations and did not make
military threats.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
China has published few details of its agreement with the
EU, which will slash tariffs on over 150 leading European
exports and open the key insurance and distribution sectors of
China's potentially vast market of nearly 1.3 billion people.
Beijing has made little mention of the difficulties the
troubled state sector will face from the wave of foreign
competition the WTO entry will set off.
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy addressed those concerns
in unveiling the deal on Friday, saying: "We have not sought to
expose China's firms and service providers overnight to the
rigours of foreign competition."
China still must reach bilateral WTO agreements with five
nations -- Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and
Switzerland.
But the EU said on Friday the WTO working party could
resume drafting China's protocol of accession in June, allowing
the WTO general council to consider China's entry this summer. |
