Washington, Beijing turn focus on trade<\/p>\n
By Andrew Browne<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Reuters): With Chinese President Jiang Zemin
\nsignaling a turnaround in troubled ties with the United States,
\nthe two sides are preparing a last-ditch effort to secure
\nBeijing's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) this year.<\/p>\n
A meeting between Jiang and U.S. President Bill Clinton in New
\nZealand on Saturday will give a top-level kick to the
\nnegotiations that were broken off by a furious Beijing in May
\nafter the U.S. bombing of China's Belgrade embassy.<\/p>\n
But Clinton and Jiang are not likely to get involved in
\ndetails, leaving that to senior aides attending the Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Auckland, and to lower-level
\nnegotiators and sectoral trade experts who will take over in the
\nnext few weeks.<\/p>\n
Already the public maneuvering has begun.<\/p>\n
Jiang insisted during a visit to Australia on Wednesday that
\nthe obstacle to China's entry to the WTO was the U.S. Congress,
\nand the ball was now in the U.S. court.<\/p>\n
U.S. trade officials are equally insistent the burden is on
\nChina to break the deadlock.<\/p>\n
Jiang portrayed Beijing's WTO bid as a victim of a U.S.
\npolitical process beyond the control of Clinton, who he described
\nas \"my good friend\".<\/p>\n
And he told reporters that having missed a good opportunity to
\nwrap up a deal by accepting an offer made in April by Premier Zhu
\nRongji \"the prospect of the WTO question will be to a large
\nextent dependent on the American side\".<\/p>\n
Zhu dangled the prospect of unprecedented access in
\nagriculture, telecommunications and services. But Clinton balked
\nbecause it did not go far enough on banking and financial
\nservices, or offer adequate protection against surges in Chinese
\nexports, including steel and textiles.<\/p>\n
They are declaring their aim is not to claw back the
\nconcessions made by Zhu, but to use them as a starting point.<\/p>\n
\"That package has never been taken off the table, and we would
\nexpect to essentially pick up where we left off,\" said U.S. Trade
\nRepresentative Charlene Barshefsky, speaking to reporters at the
\nAPEC meeting.<\/p>\n
U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley told Reuters in Auckland
\nthat to get a deal through Congress China would have to improve
\non the Zhu position.<\/p>\n
If China refused \"it would be very difficult to expect that
\ndeal would survive\", he said.<\/p>\n
U.S. trade officials, who embarrassed Zhu by publishing the
\nfull details of his offer, have previously suggested the Clinton
\nadministration would now accept them more or less unchanged.<\/p>\n
But China disputes the published details, saying they are
\nexaggerated. And it has rowed back on a key concession allowing
\nforeign companies up to 50 percent ownership of Chinese
\ntelecommunications firms.<\/p>\n
If anything, the mood in the Republican-controlled Congress is
\nmore anti-China now than in April when Zhu visited, aggravated by
\naccusations of Chinese nuclear spying and anti-U.S. protests in
\nBeijing that followed the bombing.<\/p>\n
Sentiment is likely to sour further as the presidential
\nelection campaign heats up.<\/p>\n
And while Jiang signaled on Wednesday that China was ready to
\nmove beyond the embassy bombing tragedy and patch up relations
\nwith the United States, key issues still divide the world's most
\npowerful and its most populous nation.<\/p>\n
Taiwan is the biggest potential flash-point, and Taiwan
\nPresident Lee Teng-hui has lit a slow-burning fuse by declaring
\nthat the island will only deal with Beijing as sovereign equals
\non a \"special state-to-state basis\". China regards Taiwan as a
\nrenegade province.<\/p>\n
For U.S. businesses frustrated by meager results obtained from
\nmighty efforts in the China market, a WTO market-opening deal is
\ncrucial. Failure could lead to a further fall-off in foreign
\ninvestment in China.<\/p>\n
China arguably has most to lose if a deal cannot be patched
\ntogether in the next few weeks in time for China to join before a
\nnew round of global trade talks begin in Seattle in November.<\/p>\n
At stake is the reform of ailing state-owned enterprises,
\nwhich are unlikely to be shaken into change without the threat of
\nforeign competition.<\/p>",
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