Appeasing China is not best U.S. policy
By Daily Bruin Staff
July 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Ben Shapiro Shapiro is a second-year
philosophy student bringing reason to the masses. E-mail him at
[email protected].
Click Here for more articles by Ben Shapiro
Trade can’t buy the U.S. happiness and the liberal idea
that “appeasement is the best policy” is simply
false.
If the U.S. admits China to the World Trade Organization, as
expected, antagonism will not cease. China will also have less of
an incentive to stop human rights abuses if granted “Most
Favored Nation” status.
Lowering trade barriers and tariffs in an effort to appease
China will not instantly make it come around to the democratic
system. Opening all U.S. markets to China will endanger the U.S.
economy. And by allowing entrance to the WTO, the U.S. will be
funding China’s already-imposing war machine, which is
gearing for aggressive action toward Taiwan and eventually the
U.S.
The WTO’s purpose is to “oversee trade agreements,
enforce trade rules, and settle disputes” (New York Times
Almanac 2000, 517). There are currently 141 nations in the WTO,
with China as the only major trading nation excluded (www.wto.org).
Gaining MFN status in the WTO means that no nation can be given
preferential trading conditions, and “discriminatory”
trading status cannot befall your country.
The U.S. decision regarding China is extremely important,
symbolically and practically. Symbolically, China’s ascent to
the WTO would signal a willingness on the part of the U.S. to
accept China’s widespread human rights abuses and its
increasing antagonism toward the U.S.
 Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin China remains
one of the world’s foremost human rights abusers. Its justice
system is still one of the most brutal on the face of the planet,
and China’s suppression of free speech is a hallmark of the
oppressive communist nation. A New York Times article states,
“Without more uniform enforcement of the law … and in the
absence of institutions like a free press and a strong judiciary,
the country continues to rule most of its people in the same brutal
way it has for centuries” (“China Justice: Swift
Passage to Execution,” New York Times, June 19).
According to the same article, in China 68 types of crimes are
punishable by the death penalty, including such nonviolent crimes
as tax fraud, embezzlement and accepting bribes of over $12,000. By
allowing China to enter the WTO and gain MFN status, the U.S. shows
its acceptance of China’s horrific human rights policies.
Any effort toward the appeasement of China would only signal the
U.S.’s weakness to China.
China has already implemented a policy of calculated antagonism
against the U.S. The debacle concerning the U.S. surveillance
aircraft colliding with a Chinese jet is the best example of such
antagonism.
First, the Chinese government refused to return the U.S. airmen
onboard the surveillance plane. Second, they demanded an apology
from the U.S. government despite the fact that the Chinese jet had
struck the U.S. plane.
Third, they refused the return of the damaged aircraft. Finally,
after returning the aircraft, they sent a $1 million bill to the
U.S. for “expenses related to the crippled Navy EP-3
surveillance plane held on Hainan Island for three months”
(“U.S. considering $1 million China bill for plane,”
Reuters, July 10).
If China has the utter gall to make such ridiculous demands, the
U.S. cannot just give way to its desire for WTO membership. How
could such a move be seen as anything other than U.S. weakness?
Opening U.S. markets to China via the WTO would also endanger
our domestic economy.
One of the major problems with China’s accession to the
WTO is their insistence on subsidizing their farmers at an
extremely high level. China recently compromised on their level of
subsidy, but the compromise still allowed China to subsidize
farmers at an 8.5 percent clip (“Endgame in China Bid For
Entry To WTO,” New York Times, June 28).
This level is just below what is allowed in developing
countries. If the U.S. opened its agricultural market to Chinese
products, cheaper Chinese produce would undercut domestic farmers
whose jobs are already in danger due to the influx of Mexican and
Canadian produce.
Another major difficulty with granting China MFN status is that
America already runs an enormous trade deficit with China. In 2000,
the U.S. ran a trade deficit of $83.8 billion, a figure which had
increased nearly 20 percent from 1999 (www.census/gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html).
Allowing China into the WTO would enable greater access to the
Chinese market, a supposed “sleeping giant,” but it
would also make the American market even more accessible to Chinese
producers.
The fact is that the buying power of the Chinese people will
never equal the buying power of the American public. The Gross
Domestic Product per capita is just $3,800 in China, while the GDP
per capita in America is $33,900 (CIA World Factbook, 2000).
Even in the unlikely event that the trade deficit were to
decrease, the Chinese government could block further importation of
American goods through non-tariff means.
By allowing China into the WTO, the U.S. would also be pouring
money into the Chinese military.
China spends $36.5 billion and 5.7 percent of its GDP per year
on its military, which is already the largest standing military on
the planet, with almost 3 million active troops and another 1.2
million reserves (New York Times Almanac, 2000).
Further, China is preparing for military operations, short-term
in Taiwan but long-term in the America. In the words of U.S.
Congressman Bob Schaffer, “When China is building three new
types of long-range ballistic missiles capable of attacking the
United States and casts the shadow of militarism over the Far East,
America is concerned” (www.house.gov/schaffer/oe1299concerned.htm).
When it comes to foreign policy in regards to China, America
cannot afford to constantly play good cop. Ceding to China is a bad
short-term policy but a disastrous long-term policy. China will
continue to act aggressively against the U.S. and Taiwan, maintain
their current level of human rights abuses and be strongly
communist, no matter how much the U.S. tries to appease them.
America has found its new opponent. And America must face it
head-on.
