In 2001, after 25 rounds of negotiations over 15 years, China obtained the consent of the United States and successfully joined the WTO. After the collapse of the USSR,Why can the United States, which regards China as the number one target of suppression, agree to China's accession to the WTO?
Why did the then Clinton change his attitude drastically and vigorously push for China's accession to the WTO under pressure from Congress?
What kind of difficulties and obstacles did China go through when it joined the WTO?
On July 10, 1986, Qian Jiadong, ambassador of the Chinese delegation to Geneva, officially represented China and proposed the restoration of the status of a signatory to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the predecessor of the WTO). It was not until 2001 that China successfully joined the WTO, and in the 15 years of negotiations, the United States was the decisive factor.
Why is the American attitude so important?That's because after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,The world has changed from a bipolar pattern to a unipolar world in which the United States is the only one.
The half-century-long Cold War completely overdrew the national strength of the Soviet Union, and under the encirclement and infiltration of the United States, the Soviet Union fell apart, the ** faction held the right to speak, and Russia became the little brother of the United States at that time.
Under the tactics of the ideological struggle of the United States,China, as the boss of the world's socialist countries at that time, became the target of their suppression. Although after Nixon's visit to China and the United States established diplomatic relations, the two sides resumed communication and cooperation, but after the fall of the Soviet UnionChina has become the biggest obstacle to US control of the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States has repeatedly targeted China.
China, which is growing in national strength, has endured a lot of humiliation:
July 1993In the Yinhe cargo ship incident, the Yinhe was detained by the United States for one month without reason and forced to undergo compulsory inspection
October 1994The U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk illegally entered the waters of the Yellow Sea;
The 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, the United States supports the position of Taiwan Province;
In 1999, the United States bombed the embassy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in China for no reason, killing Chinese diplomats and journalists;
In 2001, the "South China Sea Plane Collision Incident".The US EP-3 electronic reconnaissance plane arrived close to reconnoiter the waters off Hainan Island, and the malicious collision caused the crash of the Chinese fighter and the death of the pilot Wang Wei.
This series of events fully reflects the attitude of the United States towards China at that time, and from 1993 to 2001, it was also the term of office of the 42nd Clinton of the United States, which shows that Clinton was not a very pro-China leader. In recent years, in the previous election campaigns in the United States, the issue of China is unavoidable, and both Republicans and Democrats have adopted tough tactics for the sake of votes.
Clinton targeted China, and his attitude toward China before the election campaign was the same, using the "human rights" issue to criticize China and maliciously speculate and denigrate China in order to win the support of more voters. After taking office, he even acquiesced in the United States to take so many repressive actions, and no matter how Clinton thinks about it, it is impossible to support China and join the WTO.
However, in history, Clinton firmly supported the passage of a bill by the US Congress in 1999 to allow China to join the international world organization. Not only did the "Sino-US Joint Statement" emphasize the one-China principle, but it even said in a televised speechRegardless of whether the Democratic Party or the Republican Party is elected, they should welcome China's accession to the WTO.
Clinton's change of stance is not for the sake of China's development, but for the sake of US national interests. Even behind the strong support for China's "accession to the WTO," there are three conspiracies to considerIn this way, the US Congress was persuaded to pass the Sino-US ** law to promote the process of China's accession to the WTO. What kind of wishful thinking did the Americans have behind this?
Why did Clinton, who once adopted a hostile and suppressive attitude toward China, support China unusually?This is closely related to Clinton's election strategyThe reason why they are pushing for China's "accession to the WTO" is that they have also planned three poisonous schemes against China behind the scenes.
In the 90s of the last century, the United States still used electoral politics to divide the people and create antagonismBut the politicians of that time were not as extreme and anti-intellectual as they are today. When Clinton ran for election, the United States was still igniting fires everywhere in the world, and the Gulf War in 1991 gave Bush Sr. a high degree of prestige.
However, the anti-war voice in the United States is also increasing day by day, and racial contradictions and people's livelihood problems are becoming more and more serious. In 1992, due to racial issues, riots broke out in California, and the United States dispatched 2,000 National Guards to suppress them.
After Clinton ran for the election, he formulated a campaign strategy for domestic economic development, raising taxes and improving people's livelihood. The campaign headquarters even posted "Stupid, the problem is the economy!."slogan. After being elected, Clinton focused on the US economy.
So what does this have to do with the later support for China's accession to the WTO?The answer is economic. For many American businesses and politicians, "anti-China" is work, and "pro-China" is life. Politically, they made gestures, but they did not delay their coveting of China's vast market at all.
After China's reform and opening up, the economy has developed rapidly, with one-fifth of the world's population, and many domestic industries are blank, which is a very ideal market. The United States is highly developed, and there is a good place for excess capacity. In the second year after Clinton took office, he began to understand that Sino-US relations had deteriorated, and it was the United States itself that suffered the most from its interests.
In September of that year, an Administrative Memorandum of Understanding was signed to seek dialogue with ChinaHowever, at the press conference after the meeting with ***, he also said that he would continue to implement the "Taiwan Relations Act", and China put forward ** and condemned it.
In the Sino-US exchanges, China's firm attitude has played a roleIt was only on 16 May 1996 that Clinton publicly reaffirmed the one-China policy, and he understood that this has always been the bottom line of China's diplomacy and cannot be trampled onSince then, although there have been frictions, the two countries have maintained high-level dialogues and exchanges.
Clinton began to think about how to persuade Congress to support China's accession to the WTO. They can achieve progressive penetration from three angles. Economically, China's accession to the WTO will become the largest consumer market in the United StatesIn the financial and ** system dominated by the United States, China's economic control will be stronger.
Politically,Further opening up and exchanges can influence and infiltrate the Chinese through the export of goods, culture and ideasThrough the beautiful cloak of liberalism, it will imperceptibly affect China's future.
The country is in more comprehensive military and security exchanges and cooperationThe United States can also have a more comprehensive grasp of China's situation, understand China's strength and trends, and better guard against China.
For the United States, these three strategies are a win, and Clinton used this to persuade the US Congress to support China's entry into the world organization, and Clinton has also become a key figure in it.
However, throughout the process, Clinton's attitude has changed, and it is entirely based on the consideration of US national interestsIf the three strategies he advocated succeeded, then China may have fallen into a situation from which it will never recover!Should we still be grateful to Clinton?
On September 19, 2000, under the strong impetus of ClintonThe US Senate passed a bill on permanent normal relations with China. In the process of China's accession to the WTO, the biggest obstacle has been removed. Clinton has also become a key figure in our "WTO accession," but Clinton is still planning to give the United States better control over China through the WTO.
But Clinton would not have thought that by joining the world's ** organization,China's glory on the world economic stage, and his vain attempts to manipulate China are now bankrupt. China's accession to the WTO is more the result of the hard work of Chinese leaders and staff members over the past 15 Chinese New Year's Eve.
From 1986, when China formally applied for the restoration of GATT membership, to 2001, when China formally joinedThere have been 40 formal negotiations with the United States and the European Union alone, and countless consultations with other countries, large and small. In particular, when the West was advocating the theory of the China threat in the 90s of the last century, the process of China's accession to the WTO became even more difficult.
On May 23, 1997, Hungary became the first member state to agree to China's accession to the WTO, and we will need to obtain the consent of 36 countries before we can join the WTO. One of the hardest bones to gnaw on is the United States. In order to obtain the consent of the United States, China signed an "Agricultural Cooperation Agreement" with the United States in April 1999, which was in fact the United States forcing China to open up its agricultural market.
In exchange for more space for economic development, China, which has a weak economy, has to make concessions. In November 1999, the last day of the most critical negotiations between China and the United StatesThe United States has put forward harsh conditions in seven areas: energy, agriculture, insurance, intellectual property rights, tariffs, banking, and energy exploitation rights, and even threatened that if they did not sign that day, they would return to the United States tomorrow.
In the face of the menacing Americans, Chinese negotiator Long Yongtu saw an opportunity. Because the representative of the United States was also carefully reviewing the fine print of the document, it was a good indication that they also wanted to signLong Yongtu will then report his findings to Premier Zhu Rongji.
Premier Zhu made a decisive decision and made concessions in the areas of energy, insurance, and agriculture, and the US representative felt very happy to have a good grasp of ChinaPremier Zhu immediately took a tough stance, saying that China would not make a single concession on the last four issues, and that China had already made three concessions, and that it would be time for the United States to show its sincerity.
Premier Zhu understood that the US representatives also came with a mission, and capital lobbying and political pressure also demanded that the negotiations must achieve results, and in the end the US representatives agreed to sign. Premier Zhu has turned retreat into advance, defended national interests in key areas, and exchanged the market for development.
Long Yongtu recalled,If China does not seize this opportunity, it will have to wait another five to 10 years for China to join the WTO, and it seems that this is indeed the case. In 2000, there was a lot of uncertainty about the U.S. policy, and the "911" incident in 2001 completely changed the U.S. diplomatic and military strategy.
Clinton has indeed played an important role in the process of China's accession to the WTO, and this has also been won by China's efforts. Since then, China has used its own market in exchange for leaps and bounds, and is like a fish in water in the global wave。At that time, the United States fantasized that it would infiltrate and control China through WTO rules.
In fact, looking back at China's rise, the Western world's conspiracy against us has never stoppedIn recent years, the seemingly ferocious sanctions and blockades have not been interrupted from beginning to end in the process of China's development, but many people are moving forward with heavy burdens.