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To: Ed Forrest who wrote (67897)	2/24/2000 8:16:00 PM
From: Voltaire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Hi Ed, like we said last night, nothing more than ten points and two days, selah, V

To: Ed Forrest who wrote (67897)	2/24/2000 8:32:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 152472

<EU officials said the talks stalled over European efforts to wring more concessions from China in telecommunications and insurance. China promised the U.S. that it would allow foreign telecom companies to own 50% of ventures in China, but Europe, which has several powerful telecommunications companies, had been pushing for majority control. According to people familiar with the negotiations, however, China told the EU that in its deal with the U.S. it already made all the major concessions possible.> NOK???????? February 25, 2000 EU, China Finish Four Days of Talks Without Accord on WTO Membership By IAN JOHNSON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL BEIJING -- China's efforts to join the World Trade Organization were further damaged Thursday when talks with the European Union ended with no agreement and no date set for discussions to resume. The four days of negotiations were supposed to result in an accord similar to the one signed last year between the U.S. and China. In that arrangement, Washington agreed to support China's bid to join the international body in exchange for Beijing promising to open key sectors of its economy to foreign investment and competition. Indeed, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy was set to fly out to Beijing this week to close the deal, but talks went so poorly that he never left Brussels and his negotiating team is set to leave Beijing on Friday. China seemed to leave open the chance for more last-minute bargaining -- much like the brinksmanship that characterized last year's talks with the U.S. -- with China's chief negotiator saying Thursday night on the official Xinhua news agency that the two sides had "come very close." Long Yongtu also invited Mr. Lamy to fly to Beijing. EU officials said privately, however, that they expected to return to Brussels for further consultations with the EU's member countries before restarting talks. "The gap has narrowed," Hans-Friedrich Beseler, the leader of the EU team, said in a statement. "But we are not there yet." EU officials said the talks stalled over European efforts to wring more concessions from China in telecommunications and insurance. China promised the U.S. that it would allow foreign telecom companies to own 50% of ventures in China, but Europe, which has several powerful telecommunications companies, had been pushing for majority control. According to people familiar with the negotiations, however, China told the EU that in its deal with the U.S. it already made all the major concessions possible. "We thought the talks could have been concluded this week, but the EU didn't get much response from China on any issues," a Western diplomat in Beijing said. "China's position seemed to be that they'd given all they could give and that was that." The most recent troubles for China's bid to join the WTO come on top of growing opposition in Washington, where Congress will vote later this year on the accord reached last year. Opponents of the deal have regained momentum after China earlier this week threatened to use military force to achieve its long-sought reunification with Taiwan. That raised hackles in Washington, which has insisted that reunification be peaceful. Even if China wins over the U.S. and the EU, it still needs approval from all 135 members of the WTO, the global body that sets trade rules. Chinese trade negotiators are due to travel to Central and South America next week to work on accords with Mexico, Argentina and Colombia before heading for Geneva in mid-March for a meeting with WTO members. Write to Ian Johnson at ian.johnson@wsj.com