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- THE WEEK, Page 23WORLDBeijing's Best Friend
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- China has not mended its ways, but Bush wants to keep trade
- links open
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- Exactly three years after army tanks crushed the pro-
- democracy movement in Beijing, George Bush notified Congress that
- he is again granting China most-favored-nation status, which
- provides the lowest possible tariff rates. The measure also helps
- China to a $12.7 billion surplus in trade with the U.S. "It is
- wrong to isolate China," Bush argued, "if we hope to influence
- China."
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- Even Bush did not pretend his policy of engagement with
- Beijing's communist autocrats had influenced them much. His
- statement found improvements in China's treatment of dissidents
- "insufficient" and said its policies overall leave the U.S.
- "deeply disappointed." As if to prove Washington's point, police
- arrested a lone demonstrator in Tiananmen Square last week and
- beat foreign journalists who were watching. Also marking the
- anniversary, Amnesty International reported that thousands of
- political prisoners are still in jail in China. Says the
- organization: "Unfair trial, torture, long-term detention
- without charge or trial and summary executions continue."
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- In Washington, Democrats in Congress introduced a bill
- that would permit renewal of most-favored-nation status for
- China only if it dramatically improves its respect for human
- rights, stops selling nuclear and missile technology abroad,
- halts unfair trade practices and gives up its pattern of
- copyright violations. Democratic leaders fully expect the bill
- to pass, but Bush is just as likely to veto it. As in past
- showdowns over China, Congress will probably lack the votes to
- override the President.
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