The Bush administration stepped up its pressure on China this week to back off its plan to impose a software encryption standard for wireless computers that American technology companies regard as an unfair trade barrier.
In a joint letter, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Secretary of State Colin Powell and the US trade representative, Robert Zoellick, expressed their concern about the Chinese plan and urged China to work with the US government to resolve the issue. The letter was addressed to Deputy Prime Ministers Wu Yi and Zeng Peiyan, and delivered in Beijing on Tuesday.
The unusual appeal by three Cabinet-level officers is an attempt to defuse the first of a handful of potential conflicts between China and the US in high-technology trade. The wireless encryption issue, analysts say, points to what may be a trend of China setting its own exclusive standards, including formats for future generations of cell phones and DVD players.
American industry executives and trade officials express fear that the Chinese approach could fragment global markets in high-technology products in a misguided protectionist attempt to give Chinese producers an edge.
But some industry analysts note that powerful nations over the years -- Britain and the US, for example -- have exercised that kind of power by setting technical standards. With its huge population and fast-growing economy, China, they say, is merely trying to take its turn as a standard-setter.
This week's letter refers only to the Chinese software standard for short-range wireless networks, known as Wi-Fi. In December, China announced that foreign computer and chip makers that want to sell Wi-Fi devices in the country would have to use Chinese encryption software and co-produce their goods with Chinese companies on a designated list. Foreign computer makers, led by American companies, have protested the plan.
In addition to having to use a separate standard, the foreign companies worry about the loss of intellectual property if they are forced to work with 24 Chinese companies that might become competitors. The Chinese plan, unless modified, will take effect on June 1.
Industry representatives praised the effort by the Bush administration to resolve the issue. In recent months, administration officials have raised the wireless security standard with Chinese government officials. "But this will broaden and escalate the discussion," said Rhett Dawson, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group. "This makes it clear on a high-level, government-to-government basis that this is an important issue."
The Cabinet letter is "unusual and significant," said Bruce Mehlman, a former official in the Bush administration who is the executive director of the Computer Systems Policy Project, an industry group.
"It speaks to the importance of the issue and the precedent of using technology standards as a nontariff barrier to restrict access to the Chinese market," Mehlman said.
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