Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 16yearcycle who wrote (123009)	4/6/2001 9:32:00 AM
From: Robert Rose	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Friday April 6, 7:26 am Eastern Time U.S. Firms in China Worry Over Standoff By Bill Savadove BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. firms in China are worried that Washington's diplomatic row with Beijing could hurt business and one company -- auto giant General Motors -- has told expatriate staff to be cautious of their safety. But U.S. business executives said on Friday they had not yet seen any major impact from the standoff. China continues to hold the U.S. plane and 24-member crew on the southern island of Hainan after it collided with a Chinese fighter and made an emergency landing on Sunday. ``There is no immediate effect on businesses here,'' said Sydney Chang, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and managing director for China of building materials company Armstrong World Industries. But he added: ``If the relationship goes sour, that might affect our business.'' When the United States accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 on a NATO mission, protesting mobs broke windows of Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's restaurants. Some U.S. firms pulled out foreign staff and faced tense labor relations with their angry Chinese workers who felt the bombing was deliberate. General Motors, whose $1.5 billion plant in Shanghai is among the largest Sino-U.S. joint ventures, sent a letter to more than 100 expatriate employees in China warning them to take caution due to the plane incident. ``The letter is primarily to let our people know what's going on and put their minds at ease as much as possible,'' said GM China spokesman Alan Adler. He said GM's business in China -- which includes the passenger car venture in Shanghai and a truck plant in the northeast province of Liaoning -- was running normally. BOYCOTT AMERICAN One message posted on a bulletin board at Sina.com -- one of the few forums for public debate in China -- urged a boycott of U.S. goods. ``Take action and boycott American products, this is something every Chinese person can do,'' said the message signed ''Dashan.'' But foreign business executives said there were no signs of any widely organized boycott. Ordinary Chinese people, meanwhile, say their beef is with the U.S. government not Americans per se. ``We still welcome Americans here for business, we're just angry with the U.S. military,'' said a counter worker for a McDonald's restaurant in the eastern city of Huzhou, hometown of the Chinese fighter pilot Wang Wei, who is still missing following the accident. ``Most people in Huzhou are very angry, but food is food and the military is the military,'' he said. Analysts said China wants to avoid risk to foreign business from getting out of hand to keep foreign investment flowing and offset an expected slowdown in economic growth this year. ``This is like a dignity issue for China. They can't lose face in front of their people but at the same time they don't want to impact the economy and business,'' said Paul Schymyck, regional economist for IDEA Global in Singapore. WTO DELAY FEARED The U.S. was China's second biggest trading partner last year with almost $75 billion worth of bilateral business, according to Chinese statistics. The United States says China was its fourth largest trading partner. U.S. business executives worry the dispute could slow talks on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, delaying long-desired market opening by Beijing. The U.S. Congress may be more reluctant to approve permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for China, though some Western diplomats said it was still likely to pass. Congress approved PNTR last year, but it was contingent on China becoming a member of the WTO. ``I wonder about the impact on the issue of WTO, whether it's going to hold up China's entry, which is not going through as fast as anticipated,'' Schymyck said. ``There's also the possibility of the United States taking away PNTR.''