The President's decision to extend Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status to China demonstrates business as usual in U.S.- China policy. I am disappointed that President Clinton has chosen to continue a failed policy. Since he delinked trade from human rights three years ago, the human rights situation in China and Tibet has deteriorated, the U.S. trade deficit with China has soared, and China's authoritarian government has continued its sale of nuclear, chemical, missile and biological weapons technology to dangerous countries, including Iran.
The Administration's policy of so-called "constructive engagement" is neither constructive nor true engagement. It has brought us to a status quo that is not sustainable in terms of trade, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and human rights. The U.S. trade deficit with China is projected to be $50 billion for 1997; the piracy of our intellectual property continues, costing the U.S. economy $2.3 billion in 1996, and Chinese demands for technology and production are increasing, at the expense of American workers.
Unfortunately, once again, the Administration has chosen to hold U.S.-China policy hostage to the profits of a few exporting elites at the expense of most products made in America. Instead, we should have a policy of sustainable engagement, an engagement which sustains our economy, our values and the safety of our world.
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