[00:00.00]More recently,
[00:02.07]during the spy plane incident over Hainan,
[00:04.91]American President Bush
[00:07.21]changed the American position toward China
[00:10.01]from that of being a world partner
[00:12.41](the approach of the Clinton Administration),
[00:14.93]to that of being a competitor
[00:17.22]or an opponent in international affairs.
[00:20.07]This “bashing” propaganda about China
[00:23.46]is considered by many people
[00:24.99]a cover-up (or a smoke screen)
[00:27.40]for growing American insecurity
[00:30.46]in international affairs
[00:31.88]and this distortion is accumulative in the brain
[00:35.71]washed minds of the American people.
[00:37.57]It is also degrading to say the least.
[00:40.53]It is like a champion football team that
[00:44.03]does not want to play fairly any more
[00:46.22]because it is afraid of losing.
[00:47.64]It is the fear of being beaten fairly
[00:50.60]and decisively on the field,
[00:52.78]according to an agreed upon set of rules.
[00:55.52]This obsession with human rights
[00:59.13]has flared up in many areas
[01:00.56]of American foreign policy in recent months.
[01:02.86]This rash, sometimes graphic ChinaBashing attitude
[01:07.46]is probably driven, in part,
[01:09.53]by powerful economic interests
[01:11.83]in the United States.
[01:13.25]The positions of these powerful interests
[01:16.10]will be seriously threatened
[01:17.95]by China's entry into the WTO.
[01:20.25]These industries, if they are forced
[01:24.19]to face stronger competition,
[01:25.94]fear losing their shares of their respective markets.
[01:29.12]These same interests also
[01:32.07]heavily support political parties financially
[01:34.76]and therefore have some indirect influence
[01:38.26]over government policies.
[01:39.80]China has enough ballots to get into the WTO.
[01:44.39]The United States alone cannot veto China's entry,
[01:48.77]but can make things difficult.
[01:50.85]Both China and the United States
[01:55.12]will have to adjust themselves
[01:57.09]to raise economic efficiencies,
[01:58.73]a fact that normally results
[02:00.91]from greater competition.
[02:02.12]However, what must clearly be seen
[02:05.83]are the comparative advantages,
[02:07.81]which will benefit all trading partners.
[02:10.21]With the reduction of trade barriers,
[02:13.50]more efficient use of the world's productive resources
[02:17.32]will emerge through greater specialization
[02:19.84]by the various countries involved.
[02:21.81]In the short-run,
[02:23.78](in the first few years)
[02:25.75]there will be dislocations of productive resources,
[02:29.14]particularly of labour.
[02:31.00]For some industries,
[02:33.40]the future will be bleak.
[02:35.05]There will be short run unemployment
[02:37.89]in some sectors of each country.
[02:39.64]It is important that
[02:41.83]these countries develop plans,
[02:43.37]such as retraining and increased technology,
[02:45.88]to make adjustments easier as productive resources
[02:49.93]shift from one sector to another.
[02:52.44]With greater sharing of international expertise,
[02:56.60]these transitions should become easier.
[02:59.44]The longrange result will mean
[03:02.73]more benefits for all countries;
[03:04.70]meaning higher standards of living all round.
[03:07.54]China has already made persistent strides
[03:11.59]in this direction through its partnership
[03:13.77]arrangements with foreign corporations
[03:15.74]over the last twenty years,
[03:17.61]since the reforms
[03:19.14]at the end of the Cultural Revolution.
[03:21.11]China has no alternative but
[03:24.80]to move forward into the international markets
[03:26.77]and in other areas of globalization
[03:29.29]of the twentyfirst century.
[03:30.93]Not to do so would mean inevitable deterioration or,
[03:35.74]perhaps, even complete evaporation of China's strong economy.
[03:40.34]Some sacrifices in socialist economic
[03:44.17]and political philosophies and policies
[03:46.46]are imperative if these goals are to be achieved.
[03:49.31]The big advantage that
[03:51.91]China has had over the former Soviet Union
[03:54.65]is that of cautious gradualism in economic policy.
[03:58.36]China's political hierarchy is slowly embracing the theories
[04:03.40]and practices of a new socialist market system.
[04:07.01]The knowledge and skills gained
[04:09.86]from this approach places China
[04:11.55]in an excellent position to succeed.
[04:13.63]The country sees quite clearly that
[04:16.91]a pure command economic system
[04:18.99]will not endure to the end
[04:20.82]under the inertia of this epoch of brisk globalization.
[04:24.55]In the end, China is destined to succeed.
[04:28.15]Much of what China will face in the WTO
[04:31.99]will be the coincidence of internal policies
[04:35.38]that have been formulated in recent years,
[04:37.56]although some reconfiguration will be necessary.
[04:41.07]To suggest immediate success for China
[04:44.68]may be premature at this point,
[04:46.76]but there are precedents
[04:48.48]that are favourable to China's aspirations.
[04:51.00]Such success is difficult to quantify or generalize,
[04:55.81]as there are so many factors
[04:57.88]that are constantly changing.
[04:59.40]It is a gamble.
[05:00.83]World recessions, strong economic growth periods,
[05:04.66]and disasters such as the September 11th,
[05:08.27]2001 terrorist attacks,
[05:10.02]can drastically create economic casualties overnight
[05:14.17]followed by the “trickle down” negative impacts.
[05:18.00]All these being said, it would be
[05:20.96]a mistake to underestimate China's legitimate presence
[05:24.46]in this period of globalization.
[05:26.21]It is indicative, as well as fitting,
[05:29.05]that almost all countries of the world
[05:31.90]will benefit from the potential contributions
[05:34.53]that China can make in the years to come.
[05:36.71]The WTO's success hinges on international cooperation
[05:42.73]and ceaseless pursuit of positive common goals
[05:46.01]rather than focusing on negative issues
[05:49.18]that could only handicap good economic
[05:51.70]and social relations along with progress
[05:54.10]in international trade.
[05:55.97]It is hoped that such barriers
[05:58.81]between China and other countries
[06:01.33]will dissipate now that its membership
[06:03.30]has finally been certified. |
