US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called for Congress to renew normal trade relations with China or risk seriously damaging the economies of Taiwan and Hong Kong, along with America's own.
Extending normal trade relations with China "... is good for the entire region, especially our friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan, who have the most to gain or lose as China seeks to define a new role for itself in a global civil society," said Powell in an article he penned for the Washington Post last Friday.
The article's publication coincided with President George Bush's formal request to Congress to extend normal trade relations with China for another year. The request will go to a vote sometime this summer.
Last October Congress approved permanent normalization of trade ties with China by a vote of 237-197. However, the legislation was contingent on Beijing's entry into the WTO, which hasn't happened yet.
While predominantly focusing on the benefits granting the extension would provide America's economy (pointing out that exports to China last year grew 24 percent from 1999 and provided jobs or other direct benefits to 350,000 to 400,000 US workers) Powell also asked Congress to think of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
"Taiwan, our seventh-largest trading partner ... could lose US$15 billion in overall exports and as many as 50,000 jobs, should China lose normal trade relations with the United States," Powell said.
Hong Kong meanwhile would see its "economic growth rate [cut] by more than half and eliminate 72,000 to 102,000 jobs, dealing a severe blow to its autonomy and self-confidence," he said.
Economic impact aside, Powell also said if the Congress snubbed its nose at China by denying the extension it could undermine the cross-strait relationship between China and Taiwan.
"Most important, we would be undermining the basis for economic relations between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, a key factor in building mutual trust and confidence between the two," he wrote.
Powell made no direct mention of the April showdown over the collision between a US Navy spy plane and a Chinese fighter that led to the detention of 24 crew members for 11 days.
During the crisis Powell had made it clear that China was harming chances of the legislation's passage when he said on US television that "... if we have to go for a vote on normal trading relations again, this situation has not improved their chances of winning that again."
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