> > His statements were widely reported in the Chinese press, as were
>> statements made Tuesday by President Bill Clinton which said failure to
>> pass PNTR would be "very unwise and precarious" from a national security
>> point of view.
>
>Is this Clinton's line or that of the Chinese press?
<http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/2000/5/3/10.text.1>
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 2, 2000
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF AMERICA CONFERENCE
Grand Hyatt
Washington. D.C.
[...]
In that regard, there are two initiatives before the Congress today that have bipartisan support, and at least one -- maybe both, but certainly one -- that has bipartisan opposition. The first is the proposal to bring China into the World Trade Organization. That may not be something that you think is of immediate concern to insurance agents, but since you care so much about the economy, it's very important.
China's going to get into the World Trade Organization, whether we vote to give them normal trading relations every year or not. And the deal we negotiated with them does not give them one bit of increased access to our markets, but gives us huge increased access to their markets.
If you saw the deal, you would ask why they signed it. The reason they signed it is, you can't get into the World Trade Organization unless you're willing to trade. So they have a more closed economy -- they sell a lot of stuff to us; our biggest trade deficit now usually is with them. And they have to open their markets. And we negotiated a very strong deal that will mean more jobs, more businesses, more investments for America. And from a national security point of view, it would, in my view, be a very, very unwise and precarious move to say that the United States doesn't care whether they're a part of the world community or not. You don't have to agree with another country on everything to say you prefer to trade with them, than have an arms face-off with them and constant conflict with them.
So it's in our national security interests, but it's necessary to keep our economy going. There are 1.2 billion people over there, and increasingly, more and more of them will be able to buy what Americans can sell. And as people sell more over there, they'll have more to buy insurance with. It's very important. (Laughter and applause.)
[...]