HIJACKING A CHINA POLICY

Congress's Distrust Erupts in Trade Status Vote

by Steven Erlanger

New York Times - International Herald Tribune

Wednesday, April 30, 1997

WASHNGTON - This was supposed to be the year that a re-elected President Bill Clinton finally got his China policy on track, the year that a bipartisan Congress might make normal trading status for China permanent. Instead, the president's policy is being attacked with new vigor on Capitol Hill, especially by Republicans who see another weapon to use against a Democratic president. In heated language, China is becoming a touchstone in domestic partisan politics in a way it has not been since the early 1950s, when arguments raged over "who lost China" to the Communists. In general, the administration describes good relations with China as in the long-term strategic interest of the United States, with important strands of regional security, trade, human rights and global issues like terrorism and the environment. Its policy of "constructive engagement" is designed to pull Beijing into the larger network of global alliances, responsibilities and obligations befitting the great regional power China is becoming-C

ompared with the self-isolation of the Cultural Revolution, officials argue, signing the Chemical Weapons Convention and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, in agreeing to abide by important proliferation guidelines and in playing a responsible role with North Korea. But on matters from human rights and Hong Kong to trade, and from campaign finance to Chinese sales of cruise missiles and chemical-weapons components, Congress is showing a distinct lack of faith in the administration's policy. As a result, Mr. Clinton risks losing control of this key area. The debate this year over renewing Beijing's most-favored-nation trading status, which is the level of tariffs applied to nearly every country, is expected to be loud and bitter. The House speaker, Newt Gingrich of Georgia, is proposing a six-month ex-tension rather than permanent trading rights, while Senator Connie Mack, Republican of Florida, plans to introduce legislation to delay renewal until September, giving Congress a chance to monitor Hong Kong's return

to China on July 1. Many legislators and other officials say that after Mr. Clinton extends most-favored-nation status to China, he may have to veto a congressional resolution to overturn the extension. The president, who must make his decision by June 3, is likely to sustain a veto. But the debate will only strain relations between the two countries further. In addition to other problems, relations have been damaged by accusations of illegal Chinese involvement in American campaign financing and increasingly serious charges that Beijing is helping Teheran with missiles and chemical-weapons components. Robert Zoellick, an undersecretary of state in the Bush administration, said that through neglect, the administration "is perilously close to losing control of the China issue, and in an era when Congress is inserting itself more into foreign policy." After meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Qian Qichen, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Monday that the full range of issues had been discussed

, including the fund-raising allegations, which Mr. Qian again dismissed. Extension of China's trading status is vital, she added, in "a pivotal year for U.S.-China relations." President Jiang Zemin is to visit the United States in the autumn. Part of Mr. Clinton's difficulty is that Beijing is not helping much to resolve things, frustrated senior American officials say. Human rights conditions in China have only worsened, and Beijing humiliated Washington and European governments by engineering a split among them at the UN Human Rights Commission in a vote over its record. Critics argue that the Chinese are being ham-handed in asserting control over Hong Kong before it regains control of the British colony. And, in a growing issue in Congress, China continues to aid Pakistan and Iran with chemical-weapons components and advanced cruise missiles. Senior administration officials say they are concerned but insist that the missile proliferation has not yet reached the extent that would prompt sanctions against

Beijing. But there are cases being investigated involving Chinese sales to Pakistan and Iran that could invoke sanctions, other officials say. Many key issues come together in the debate on the most-favored trading status, said Representative Christopher Smith. "On Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and proliferation," the New Jersey Republican said, "there's not only no remorse there from the Chinese, there's a brazen, in-your-face attitude: 'We'll do what we like and sell what we like to whomever we like, including rogue regimes.' Human rights has gone from bad to worse, and constructive engagement is a failure." Other Republican leaders have said they were rethinking their positions on continuing low tariffs on Chinese good,,;. Even the foreign-policy sage of moderate Republicans, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, while supporting an extension, has said legislators feel the administration focuses too, much on business and trade interests. Harry Harding, a China scholar at George Washington University, said t

rade status had lost credibility as a way to punish Beijing. "When lifting MFN was a real threat, we got at most cosmetic changes from the Chinese," he said. "Now, when the Chinese believe power has shifted a bit more and we've had our bluff called once, to believe this lever remains powerful is simply incorrect."