2 ex-U.S. Presidents push for China vote

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MAY 10. The White House has got a boost for the China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) legislation when two former Presidents, Mr. Gerald Ford and Mr. Jimmy Carter, signed on to the move.

In the last several days, top officials of the administration have been on a mission to ensure that the bill gets through the House of Representatives when the vote is scheduled in the week of May 22. The administration does not see a major problem in the Senate vote that is to follow in June.

The backing from Mr. Ford and Mr. Carter does mean something to an administration which has been quite active in securing endorsements for the bill from a variety of sources. The crux of the White House argument is that if the U.S. rejects the measure it would be like kicking itself in the foot or the ``rear''.

The President, Mr. Bill Clinton, said, ``If Congress votes against it, they will be kicking themselves in the rear 10 years from now, because Americans will be paying the price''. Senior officials doing the lecture circuits have been pointedly saying that irrespective of how the American Congress votes, China will get into the WTO implying that it would be better for the U.S. to be on the right side of history.

Supporters of the PNTR look at it from an economic and business point of view. ``A negative vote in the House or Senate would be catastrophic to American agriculture, electronics, communications, autos and countless other products and services,'' said Mr. Ford. But critics look at it differently in terms of China flooding the American market with cheap goods produced with dubious and flagrant violation of labour and human rights.

Mr. Carter said a negative vote would be a ``serious setback and impediment for the further democratisation, freedom and human rights in China''. The high pitch from the White House has mainly to get over the problem from Democrats who are sitting in the Opposition largely on account of the labour vote. Key Democrats like the House Minority Leader, Mr. Richard Gephardt, have come out against the PNTR but the saving grace is that he has promised not to force anyoneelse toeing his line.

The Vice-President, Mr. Albert Gore Jr., who is the presumptive Democratic Party candidate for the November 7 Presidential elections finds himself in a tough spot. On the one hand he is unable - because of his dependence on the labour and the environmental vote - to fully sign on to the administration's aggressive posturings on the PNTR. And on the other hand for Mr. Gore to totally break ranks on such a major foreign policy issue will also have political fallouts. On Tuesday, his comments were suggestive of a careful endorsement that looked at only the positive side - more jobs.

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Section  : International
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