So the battle to persuade Congress to approve of China s entry into the WTO promises to be explosive. President Clinton has announced an all-out effort to win over the sceptics, and business lobbyists are making a strong pitch, too. But ranged against them is a coalition of trade unions, human-rights protesters and others who are in fighting spirit since the breakdown of last month s WTO summit in Seattle. Trade with China has long been controversial. Critics oppose America doing business with a communist, potentially hostile power that persecutes dissidents and religious groups.
Protectionists fret that a flood of cheap Chinese imports threatens American jobs.
But for businessmen China is a new Promised Land, a rapidly growing market of over a billion consumers that promises them untold bounties. Until now, Congress has dealt with this tricky issue by making China s access to the American market conditional on an annual vote that is swayed by its human-rights record. But, once China joins the WTO , that has to go. Although America could conceivably seek a waiver from WTO rules, this would be unacceptable to China. So Congress has to grant China permanent access to the American market before it can join the WTO .