China blasts Washington as Kantor begins visit<\/p>\n
BEIJING (AFP): Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Wu Yi accused
\nWashington yesterday of failing to meet its obligations under a
\n1992 market access agreement, saying Beijing was entitled to
\n\"take corresponding actions.\"<\/p>\n
Wu's comments to journalists came as her guest, U.S. Trade
\nRepresentative Mickey Kantor, began meetings here with Chinese
\nofficials ahead of signing an eleventh-hour Sino-U.S. agreement
\non copyrights reached late last month, averting the launch of
\ntrade war.<\/p>\n
The issues of market access and China's stalled bid to join
\nthe World Trade Organization (WTO) are expected to be among the
\nmain focuses of Kantor's talks.<\/p>\n
Since the 1992 signing of the Sino-U.S. market access
\nmemorandum of understanding, \"the Chinese side has been very
\nseriously implementing the obligations that it undertook in the
\nagreement,\" said Wu.<\/p>\n
But, she added, Washington has failed to meet its \"most
\nimportant commitment\" to increase support for China's application
\nto rejoin the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),
\nwhich gave way to the WTO on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n
\"Very regretfully ... when the negotiations concerning China's
\nGATT resumption reached the critical moment, the U.S. side took
\nthe lead to block that process. As a result, China failed to
\nbecome a GATT member,\" the trade minister said.<\/p>\n
Citing a Chinese saying that \"courtesy demands reciprocity,\"
\nWu said the US failure to honor its commitments meant \"the
\nChinese side is entitled to express its displeasure and ... to
\ntake corresponding actions.\" She did not elaborate on what
\nactions were being considered.<\/p>\n
Kantor, who arrived here late Friday for a three-day visit,
\nearlier accused China of failing to meet the terms of the
\nmemorandum of understanding, under which Beijing promised to
\nimprove market access for US computers, agricultural products and
\ncapital by the end of 1994.<\/p>\n
A recent letter from Wu to Kantor on the subject \"was not
\ncompletely sufficient to meet our concerns,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He made clear that, while the copyright agreement should help
\nChina's WTO application, Beijing still needed to do more to open
\nits markets before the United States could support its admission.<\/p>\n
Washington also opposes Beijing's demands to be admitted with
\ndeveloping country status.<\/p>\n
On the copyright issue, Wu said that \"the Chinese government's
\nresolution to combat piracy and infringement is very determined
\nand we have come up with very detailed action plans to that
\neffect,\" pointing to a State Council order this week demanding
\nimproved protection.<\/p>\n
The trade minister was responding to a question by a
\njournalist who in recent days bought a disc carrying US$20,000
\nworth of software for 200 yuan ($24) from a shop, in Beijing's
\nnorthwestern computer district, that four weeks ago had been
\nclosed down.<\/p>\n
\"China will further improve the laws and regulations
\nconcerning IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) protection,\" while
\nintensifying enforcement and using \"judicial and administrative
\nchannels to severely punish piracy,\" she said, pledging to
\nseriously look into the case raised by the journalist and punish
\nthe company.<\/p>\n
The foreign trade minister disputed U.S. figures giving China
\na $28.9 billion surplus a bilateral trade last year as
\n\"ridiculous.\"<\/p>\n
In 1994, bilateral trade was worth $35.4 billion, and \"China
\nindeed had a trade surplus, but that surplus was not very big,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
The United States, which calculates last year's total trade
\nvolume at $46.8 billion, includes Chinese reexports through Hong
\nKong, while Beijing does not.<\/p>\n
Kantor met yesterday morning with Minister of Post and
\nTelecommunications Wu Jichuan and officials from the State
\nPlanning Commission, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman said, adding he
\nwould attend a welcoming dinner hosted by Wu after the copyright
\nsigning ceremony.<\/p>",
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