She said it captured the essence of the matter. China has lots and lots of people. Because of the country's size, population and strategic importance, the arguments for free trade apply to China in spades. Many people concede the economic argument, though, and object to establishing permanent normal trade relations with China for human rights, labor or environmental reasons. Trade opens countries, strengthens the private sector, promotes the rule of law and diminishes the relative role of government.
Trade raises living standards, making labor and environmental reforms more affordable.
I am sure the Chinese love their children as much as we hate child labor. I am sure they like clean air and water as well. Child labor, sweatshops and a poor environment are products of poverty, not perversity. I went to grammar school with farm kids who shed their shoes in early spring and were taken out of school for cotton-picking season. They were needed at home, and their parents were lucky not to have moralizing foreign governments threatening to make a bad situation worse.