That is why we are now so familiar with the widely reported tough position on foreign investment in China's telecommunications and Internet announced by Minister Wu Jichuan of MII in mid-September. It's also why we hardly hear any enthusiastic remarks from top Chinese regulators in the financial sector. If there were enough freedom of expression and association in China, it would not be a surprise to see at least the same scale of opposition demonstrations that any American labor group, including the AFL-CIO, could organize. Beijing will probably need to send more cops than it has in dealing with the Falungong cult group. Labor versus free trade, this classical dilemma, is universally true.
Chinese authorities look at the big picture.
Chinese authorities are very clear that WTO is the only international organization in which the United States does not have veto power. According to Long Yongtu, China's chief negotiator, China is punished unilaterally by the other trading party without any other venues to seek redress of its grievances. For the Chinese, it's a matter of give and take. There are also different levels of understanding of WTO, at the top leadership, at the ministries, and at the grass-roots. Sometimes they can hardly be reconciled.