Hong Kong: US agriculture secretary Dan Glickman on Saturday warned that a rejection by Congress of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China would be a first step towards cutting ties with the whole of Asia."The president feels very strongly that if this vote goes down, it would be the first step for the United States to disengage from Asia in the post-cold war era.""That would be a very dangerous thing for America to be doing," Glickman said, speaking at a meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Glickman arrived here on Friday from a fact-finding trip to China where he and his delegation have been studying China's commitment to market-opening agreements.
"The adversaries (of the agreement) are characterising China in a way that certainly isn'T fair," he said.
The vote by the US House of Representatives on Clinton's proposal to establish PNTR will take place in the week of May 22 and is expected to be close, amid concerns about human rights and working conditions in China.African-American Gregory Meeks, a Democrat Party Congressman from New York, was undecided, saying he did not want to see a repeat of what he described as the tyranny of early capitalism in his country.
Ruben Hinojosa, a Texas Democrat, was also cautious after witnessing how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) caused unemployment in his district.
Beijing has insisted PNTR are essential for implementing open-market concessions in exchange for US support for China's bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
-- (AFP)
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.