Greg Mastel is a trade policy expert and author who has written extensively on international commerce, particularly U.S.-China trade relations. He contributed to The Weekly Standard between 1999 and 2004, where his articles focused on free trade agreements, China trade policy, and U.S. relations with both China and Taiwan. He has served in trade policy advisory roles and authored books on trade and economic issues.
TAIWAN'S ECONOMICS MINISTER, HO Mei-yueh, visited Washington in early December with a simple message: The United States and Taiwan should negotiate a free trade agreement to deepen and expand their economic ties. Given that Taiwan is already a major U.S. trading partner and has lately resolved most…
MAINTAINING RELATIONS with both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China has posed a series of challenges to American diplomacy. And things have only become more difficult as Taiwan has completed a transition from authoritarian rule to true democracy, while mainland China remains a dictatorship…
FRIENDS OF CHINA both inside and outside the Clinton administration are quick to assert that China's accession to the World Trade Organization will also mean WTO membership for Taiwan, as if the two actions were inevitably linked. But this is wishful thinking. China has acted for years to keep…
The fight over the permanent extension of most-favored-nation trading status to China is likely to be one of the hardest- fought congressional battles of 2000. Last week, the administration launched a high-profile campaign in favor of MFN for China; labor is vigorously countering. But for all the…
WITH CONSIDERABLE fanfare, the Clinton administration last week struck an agreement with China that should clear the way for its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). On paper, the deal has many positive features. But U.S.-China trade relations are a saga of great press releases and…
The fate of China's effort to join the World Trade Organization is unclear; matters involving internal deliberations in Beijing usually are. There is always the possibility that China is waiting until the last minute to wrap up WTO negotiations, hoping that the Clinton administration's desire to…
THIS WEEK, THE PRESIDENTS OF CHINA and the United States are poised to strike a historic and probably irreversible agreement paving the way for China to join the World Trade Organization. Unfortunately, although China's membership in the WTO would allow some in both countries to declare victory,…
Zhu Rongji, premier of China, will visit Washington in April. As preparations go forward in both countries, some officials are expressing the hope that the visit will complete the more than decade-long negotiations over China's accession to the world trading system. China's membership in the World…