By ALEXA OLESEN
(Virtual China News, May 16) U.S. Senators and Congressmen aren't the only people this week debating whether China should be granted permanent normal trade status with the U.S., or whether China should join the World Trade Organization.
Some of the very people who have spent years as political prisoners in China are speaking out in favor of granting China a trading status that will bring the country undeniable economic benefits and global prestige.
Wang Dan, an activist who spent most of a decade in prison in China for his role as a student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, says PNTR for China will help the cause of democracy and will benefit Chinese society as a whole.
"China's future is not just up to the government but to society and PNTR will be good for Chinese society," Wang said in a telephone interview. "I think if you don't give PNTR it will encourage nationalism," said Wang Dan.
For and Against
While firm in his opinions, Wang said it was sometimes hard to stand by them.
"It's a little sensitive for those of us who support PNTR," he said. "The human rights record is really very bad."
Last week two prominent mainland dissidents still living in mainland China, Bao Tong and Dai Qing, spoke with the Washington Post in favor of PNTR for China.
Other dissidents have made their positions public through Web sites, press releases, and by courting members of the press such as Harry Wu and Wang Xizhi, who both argue against granting China PNTR status.
One of the best known Chinese dissidents, Wei Jingsheng, testified earlier this year before the House Ways and Means Committee regarding Permanent MFN for China.
In that testimony, Wei took pains to refute the argument by Wang Dan and other Chinese dissidents that membership in the World Trade Organization will be another step that will offer economic benefits to millions of Chinese.
Natural Supporters
"It is true that a small number of Chinese do stand to benefit from WTO entry," Wei said. "Why else would this batch of leaders be pushing so hard for WTO entry?
Should China enter the WTO, it would become easier for this small group to divert and embezzle the country's money and betray China's best interests."
This hard anti-China line finds natural supporters on both the far right of the U.S. political spectrum, where it resonates with fervent anti-Communists like Jesse Helms, and on the far left, where uber-liberals like Senator Paul Wellstone reside.
Many Americans of Chinese descent either feel ambivalent about hardliners like Wei or disagree with him outright.
Song Yongyi, a librarian turned activist from Dickinson College Library in Carlisle, Pennslyvania, said he fears that PNTR and the economic benefits it will bring China could fan the flames of nationalism. China could turn into a "dictatorship with a market economy," he said.
Song was detained in Beijing last August 7 for trying to send home books and papers on the Cultural Revolution. He was held in a Chinese prison for six months before being released without explanation in late January of this year. Song said that six months ago he would have argued the case of PNTR for China. Since his incarceration, however, he now believes a prosperous Chinese government will be dangerous.
No to Weapons
"It would be very easy for the Chinese Communist powers, if they had more economic power, to purchase more weapons," said Song, referring to the volatile situation in the Taiwan Strait. "I think we should prevent this. We should not help the Chinese communist party to get more money and more hard currency to purchase weapons."
Dali Yang, the director of the Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago, said that despite the natural hatred of the Communists by formerly imprisoned dissidents like Wei, denying China WTO membership would be a mistake.
"With WTO membership comes not just trade but rules," Yang added. "Beginning with economic rights people will learn to make use of and follow rules. As China becomes more rules bound, there will be less political discretion for political leaders in terms of affecting economic policies. It should help in limiting the power of the state leaders."
For more information and related links see the Virtual China WTO Focus Page.
