Whoever wins the election, the U.S. public has been let down by a Clinton administration that has been unable to develop a coherent China policy outside of trade liberalization, and betrayed by a presidential campaign unwilling to address major foreign policy issues. In September, the Chinese side backpedaled on its previous commitment to a timetable for opening its telecommunications market, reducing or abolishing export subsidies, and other market-opening measures. WTO Working Group members also maintained that given China's opaque legal system, the overall rules for it to join the trade body must be more stringent. Part of the problem for the current distrust about China's ability to comply with the WTO rules is that Beijing has not submitted its complete legislative plan on how it will conform with the trade body's complex rules. China said it would submit its proposed legislation plan of some 160 laws to comply with its WTO commitments, but so far it has placed only half of those laws for WTO members' consideration.
China still has three main hurdles to overcome before accession.
First it must hammer out a market-access schedule in Geneva. Then it must complete protocol documents outlining its other commitments under the WTO agreements. The protocol for accession is the legal scaffolding for China's membership in the WTO, and is prepared on the lines of bilateral agreements that Beijing has already signed with Washington, Brussels, and 33 other countries. Finally, it needs to finish its bilateral negotiations with Mexico. Most analysts say China will likely not enter the World Trade Organization until the first or second quarter of next year, although China still publicly insists that it hopes to gain membership before the end of 2000.