U.S. Dept. of State - IIP: The United States and China

Excerpt: NBC Interview with President Clinton on China PNTR
(PNTR, WTO accession for China will support U.S. interests)

Granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will support U.S. interests, President Clinton said in a May 22 interview with NBC News.

"China gets no new access to our markets and we get vast new access to their markets. This is not like a normal trade agreement, this is more like a membership deal -- they get in the World Trade Organization and we get great new access to their markets," Clinton pointed out.

Clinton noted that Hong Kong democracy leader Martin Lee, Taiwan's president Chen Shui-Bian, and the Dalai Lama have expressed support for WTO accession for China, saying it "will advance the cause of human rights and personal freedom and the rule of law."

"I think it's quite interesting that you have people who have been persecuted in China, or someone like Martin Lee who can't even go to China from Hong Kong because he's for democracy, saying that the only way to get China into a system that observes the rule of law more and protects human rights more and has more liberty is to have this kind of strategic engagement and put China in a system where they will observe the rule of law," he said.

Clinton acknowledged that there are some dissidents like Wei Jingsheng who oppose granting China PNTR and WTO accession, but stressed that "in China the main people who don't want this to pass are the ultra-conservative communists in the military and those who run the state-owned industries."

"All the press reports coming out of China show that it is the reformers, the people who genuinely want to change China, who want to get into the WTO and who want to have a constructive long-term working relationship with the United States," he said.

Following is an excerpt from the White House transcript of the interview: (begin excerpt)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
May 22, 2000
INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT BY TOM BROKAW OF NBC NEWS
The Roosevelt Room
6:30 P.M. EDT

QUESTION: Now, to the President of the United States, live from the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Mr. President, good evening. Thank you for being with us. You need 218 votes in the House. How many do you have firm tonight?

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know, Tom, we're getting close. I'm not sure I agree with Lisa -- I don't know that we're confident, but we're working hard. And I think that the message is getting there because everyone knows, first of all, economically, China gets no new access to our markets and we get vast new access to their markets. This is not like a normal trade agreement, this is more like a membership deal -- they get in the World Trade Organization and we get great new access to their markets.

And secondly, I think all these people who care about human rights in China coming out for the agreement because it will move China closer to the rule of law and closer to freedom -- the dissidents in China, the new leader of Taiwan, the Hong Kong democracy leader, Martin Lee, the Dalai Lama even, all these people saying that this will advance the cause of human rights and personal freedom and the rule of law, and the fact that it's clearly in our national security interests -- I think these things are helping us. And so I'm optimistic. But, boy, we've got a lot of work to do. It's not done yet.

Q: Mr. President, Wei Jingsheng, who is a leading dissident, is violently opposed to this trade deal. Let me read to you from the 1999 State Department report on human rights in China: The government's poor human rights record deteriorated markedly throughout the year as the government intensified its efforts to suppress dissent. By year's end, almost all the key leaders of the China Democracy Party were serving long prison terms or were in custody without formal charges. We're not going to be hearing those voices in this debate.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we have also taken the lead in trying to call attention to China's human rights abuses in the proper international forum. But I think it's quite interesting that you have people who have been persecuted in China, or someone like Martin Lee who can't even go to China from Hong Kong because he's for democracy, saying that the only way to get China into a system that observes the rule of law more and protects human rights more and has more liberty is to have this kind of strategic engagement and put China in a system where they will observe the rule of law.

And there are dissidents, of course, who don't think it should be done, but I think it's really important to know that in China the main people who don't want this to pass are the ultra-conservative communists in the military and those who run the state-owned industries, who know that if we give them the back of our hand, then they can use that as a way of saying, okay, America's going to be our enemy now, so we're going to maintain our control over the military, our control over the businesses, our control over the people more.

I think it's quite interesting that in China, the people who want us to vote against this are the -- basically the more reactionary communist elements who would like to have America as an enemy for a long time to come. I think if you -- all the press reports coming out of China show that it is the reformers, the people who genuinely want to change China, who want to get into the WTO and who want to have a constructive long-term working relationship with the United States.

So I'm doing this because, yes, it's clearly good for America economically, but also because we fought three wars in Asia in the last 50 years, and I want to give our children a chance to have a constructive relationship with China, give China a chance to evolve toward more democracy. Is it guaranteed? Of course not --

Q: Mr. President, the Interfaith Alliance that has been advising Congress and the White House on matters of religion has also come out against it. But one of the people who says that he's going to vote for the China trade bill is a New York Congressman by the name of Rick Lazio. Does he strike you as a pretty enlightened public servant?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I agree with him on this, and I'm glad he's going to vote for it....

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)