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The Council Speaks: Time to Get a Grip

The time has come for both nations to embark purposefully on vigorous efforts
to restore a climate of cooperation and stability between the US and the PRC.

Robert A. Kapp

The Board of Directors of The US-China Business Council, meeting in early June, put forth a broad statement on US-China Relations, economic and commercial ties, and the World Trade Organization-permanent normal trade relations issue.

They acted after a remarkable two-month period of apparent crisis in US-China relations. This period began with the disappointing near-miss on the bilateral WTO discussion at the time of Premier Zhu's visit to the United States; continued through the shocking bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the very troubling outburst of popular and government animus toward the United States that ensued in China; and then careened onward with the release of the US congressional committee's report on losses of US military technology secrets to China.

As the Council's directors acted, the two countries seemed to be talking loudly to themselves about each other, but no longer speaking--let alone accomplishing anything positive--with one another.

The directors sought to remind one and all of certain fundamental features of the US-China relationship, and to sound the call for the conscious restoration of a sense of balance and civility in this critical bilateral relationship.

Ironically, only five days after the embassy bombing, a new fund created by donations from corporate members of the US-China Business Council announced its first awards to worthy Chinese and US applicants pursuing cooperative projects in the crucial field of law.

The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund, established by corporate donations as a gesture of business support for the real building-block work so critically necessary in US-China relations, announced modest grants to five wonderful projects:

A joint symposium by the American Bar Association and the Legal Aid Foundation of the PRC on strategies for expanding and supporting the development of legal aid services in China;
A survey and analysis of administrative law procedures in four Chinese cities, to be conducted by The Asia Foundation and the National Institute of Administration of the State Council of the PRC, aimed at supporting improvement in the fairness, predictability and openness of local administrative law enforcement in China;
A compilation and publishing project for a comprehensive English-to-Chinese dictionary of Anglo-American law, to be conducted by the China University of Political Science and Law in cooperation with the University of Michigan School of Law;
A symposium and comparative study of the protection of human rights and the judicial systems of the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, to be conducted by a unit of the Beijing University Law Department;
An Administrative Law Partnership established by the College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, the China National School of Administration, and the Administrative Law Research Group of the Legislation Committee of the National People's Congress of the PRC. The Partnership will assist in development of administrative laws and processes for the protection of rights of Chinese citizens, conduct pilot programs for provincial governments, and train government officials.

This first gesture by a small fund created by US corporations associated with our Council is a tangible reminder of the essential message of the Statement by the Board of Directors of the Council: the time has come for both nations to "embark purposefully on vigorous efforts to restore a climate of cooperation and stability between the US and the PRC." Business can help, but it cannot bear the burden of a stable US-China relationship alone. Governments, and lawmakers, need to contribute to the rebuilding process.

Here is the formal statement from the Council's Board of Directors:

Statement by the Board of Directors of
THE UNITED STATES- CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL

Adopted June 8, 1999

The relationship between the United States and China is, and will be in the 21st century, critical to the well being of the American and Chinese people and of the world.

No good can come from the alienation of our two nations from one another.

In a period of heightened tension in US-China relations, The United States-China Business Council urges the governments of the United States and China to embark purposefully on vigorous efforts to restore a climate of cooperation and stability between the US and the PRC.

The interests of both nations are best served by the fullest possible expansion of economic and non-economic ties. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China in 1979, these ties have grown steadily, and have brought the two nations into mutually beneficial contact in many spheres. In the process, close personal and organizational relationships have developed between Americans and Chinese in education, medicine and public health, culture, business, public policy, and many other fields.

The economic and commercial relationship of China and the United States is an indispensable building block in the overall bilateral relationship.

The Council has been pleased to note that economic and commercial work between China and the United States has been shielded in significant measure from the most serious pressures in US-China relations over the past several months.

The US and China in April appeared close to final bilateral agreement on terms of China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Chinese accession to the WTO along the lines outlined in documents made available by the US government at that time would be very beneficial to the interests of both countries and to the world.

The US-China Business Council strongly hopes that negotiations between the US and China on WTO accession can resume in the near future, and that remaining issues can be promptly resolved. The Council is prepared to devote its full energies, on behalf of its member companies, to ensuring that the United States enjoys the full benefits of China's accession to the WTO.

The Council will work with other organizations, the Administration, and the many Members of Congress supportive of stable US-China relations to pass legislation eliminating the annual review of China's NTR tariff status, and establishing permanent NTR status for the PRC in conjunction with its accession to the World Trade Organization.

Last Updated: 2-Jul-99