Brittan plans talks on China’s WTO bid

Date: 08/04/1999

By Gareth Harding

ACTING Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan will seek to build on the progress made by the US in negotiations on China's bid to join the World Trade Organisation when he visits Beijing later this month.

Brittan's visit is intended to prepare the ground for a high-level summit between China and the EU in May. But he will also use it to try to make progress on obstacles standing in the way of Beijing's WTO membership.

The Union and the US are working in tandem to try to ensure that China is able to join the WTO by the end of this year. But Brittan has stressed that while Brussels and Washington want "similar things" from Beijing, their views are "not identical".

" Inevitably we have our own priorities and for the negotiations to be brought to a successful conclusion, China has to move closer to the US, but also closer to Europe," he said late last week.

An aide close to Brittan said the EU would "move heaven and earth to get the Chinese into the WTO", but warned: "We will not give them a cheap entry ticket. That would rip the WTO apart."

Before the Union agrees to invite China to join the 136-member club, it wants Beijing to slash import duties on goods such as cars and bikes, to open up access to domestic banking, insurance and telecommunications services, and to scrap laws forcing foreign companies to form joint ventures with local businesses if they wish to gain a toehold in the country's vast and lucrative markets.

Conscious of the fact that these demands are unlikely to be met at once, the EU has proposed setting transition periods to give China extra time to comply with certain rules.

Meanwhile, the US is stepping up pressure on the Union to support a resolution criticising political repression in China at a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights later this month.

The EU and US held back from condemning the Communist state last year in return for Chinese pledges to improve its human rights record. Union foreign ministers decided last month to continue this softly softly approach at this year's UN session.

But under strong pressure from the Senate, the US last week took the surprise decision to sponsor its own resolution denouncing China.

Assistant US Secretary of State Harold Hongju Koh said Washington had taken the step to protest at the recent crackdown on political dissidents in the country. He added that the EU shared American concerns and said the two sides were in daily contact over the issue.

But Union officials say it is highly unlikely the EU will change tack as this would require the consent of all 15 member states. Instead, it is expected to put forward a general resolution condemning human rights violations around the world.