President Hu Goes to Washington
On Thursday, April 20, Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Washington. Topics of discussion between U.S. and Chinese officials will include trade grievances such as widespread bootlegging of American goods, yuan exchange rate controls, and a trade gap which hit a record $202 billion in 2005. Below, Cato Institute's trade and foreign policy experts comment on the significance of the visit and U.S-China relations.
Daniel Griswold, Cato's director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies:
"The upcoming meeting in Washington between President Bush and China's President Hu provides an opportunity for both leaders to emphasize the huge benefits our countries realize from expanding trade. China is now America's number three trading partner, and our fastest growing major export market. Tens of millions of American families benefit everyday from the clothing, shoes, toys and electronics imported from China. Millions of U.S. companies and homeowners enjoy lower interest rates because of Chinese investment in our country."
"President Bush should not hesitate to raise difficult issues with President Hu. China's fixed currency system, its remaining barriers to international competition and investment, and the lack of many basic freedoms in China should all be discussed. But in all those areas, the United States should seek to influence China through diplomacy and established world trade rules, not through unilateral and economically damaging trade sanctions."
• "A China Policy in America’s Interest," The Hill, September 13, 2005.
• "Protectionism No Fix for China's Currency," June 25, 2005.
James A. Dorn, Cato Institute China specialist.
"When China's head of state, President Hu Jintao, meets with President Bush in Washington this week (April 20) the climate will be tense. Recently released data show that China's overall trade deficit continues to reach record levels, and little progress has been made in getting Beijing to let the renminbi appreciate against the dollar. Although Hu hopes to diminish this tension with promises to buy $16.2 billion from the U.S., such 'checkbook diplomacy' will barely make a dent in the $202 billion U.S. trade deficit with China."
"Threatening China with punitive tariffs and other protectionist measures, however, would be an act of economic suicide. It would impose a high tax on U.S. consumers, harm multinational corporations like Wal-Mart, weaken reformers in China, invite retaliation, and diminish the doctrine of free trade that must be at the center of a vibrant global economy. Instead, the U.S. and China need to take positive steps to reinforce the policy of engagement, and Congress needs to pay less attention to the trade deficit and more to government profligacy at home."
• "China’s Dilemma," Baltimore Examiner, April 19, 2006.
• "A Capital Problem," Wall Street Journal Asia, March 23, 2006.
• "Let Business Trump Quest for Dominance," Japan Times, November 13, 2005.
• "An Abuse of the Free Market," South China Morning Post, August 5, 2005.
• "Have patience with Beijing," Australian Financial Review, July 25, 2005.
• "Zhao’s Market-Liberal Vision," Apple Daily, January 26, 2005.
Daniel Ikenson, Cato Institute trade policy analyst.
"Chinese president Hu Jintao will visit with President Bush in Washington next week amid growing tensions in the bilateral trade relationship. The U.S. Congress, in particular, has been fueling those tensions by alleging or intoning that the large U.S. bilateral trade deficit is the product of unfair Chinese trade practices, like currency manipulation, intellectual property piracy, opaque market barriers, and government subsidization of industry."
"While China can and should do more to curb these practices, their relationship to the trade deficit is overblown. And some of the reactionary measures proposed in Congress to compel Chinese action would hurt both economies and would undermine U.S. international trade credibility. There isn't anything wrong with holding China to account over the commitments it made when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. But it must be done within the rules and within the context of the broader objectives of U.S. policy toward China."
• "There's a New Tariff in Town," Salt Lake Tribune, March 15, 2006.
• "Cornering Freedom in China," January 4, 2006.
• "Diamond-in-the-rough Proposals on China," Washington Times, May 19, 2005.
Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato's vice president for foreign policy and defense studies and author of America's Coming War with China: a Collision Course over Taiwan.
"Four security topics are likely to dominate the summit between President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Those issues are North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the Iranian nuclear crisis, the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement, and Taiwan. President Bush will press Hu for greater cooperation on resolving the North Korea and Iran crises -- including a willingness by Beijing to endorse economic sanctions, if that step becomes necessary. Hu will express China's concern about the U.S.-India nuclear deal and its potential to damage the global campaign against proliferation. He also will be seeking a strong statement from the United States condemning Taiwan's recent attempts to push the envelope on independence. Although both leaders will attempt to emphasize the mutual interests of their two countries and minimize areas of disagreement, there is likely to be little substantive progress on security issues. The policy differences are simply too profound."
• "How China Can Reassure Neighbors, U.S.," March 17, 2006.
• "China Should Come Clean on Defense Spending," South China Morning Post, October 25, 2005.
• "The Pentagon's Surprisingly Sober Look at China," National Interest, August 16, 2005.
Steve H. Hanke, Cato Institute senior fellow.
"The Bush Administration and many in Congress argue that a significant yuan appreciation against the U.S. dollar-- 20 percent or more -- will help China. This latest version of Uncle-Sam-knows-best is laughable. An appreciation in the yuan of 20 percent would generate a 12.5 percent deflationary impulse in China and an economic slump. It would also completely sink China's banking system and spread untold hardship among China's 800 million restless rural residents."


plz pray,
Sardarzada

__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....