China and Taiwan join WTO
By Becky Castle

After nearly 15 years, China finally gained admittance to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Nov. 10. Taiwan was admitted to the WTO the day after China's accession. Taiwan has been trying for 12 years to join the WTO.

The WTO is an "international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by most of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business" (www.wto.org).

The addition of China and Taiwan brings total membership in the WTO to 144 countries. The WTO believes membership in the organization will be beneficial to both new members as well as to the WTO itself.

" When a country as important as China decides to join the WTO, it means there is a new impetus toward the development of trade," French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said.

In anticipation of the admittance of China and Taiwan to the WTO, Taiwan eliminated its ban on investments in and direct commerce with mainland China. The ban had been in place since 1949, during the Chinese civil war, when Nationalists fled to Taiwan after the Communists took control. In spite of the ban, some Taiwanese businesses had traded with China via third-party countries.

China did not want Taiwan to join until after the mainland because China still views Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory. In a politically correct choice of words, Taiwan will be called a "separate customs territory" and not a "country" by the WTO.

The Chinese government has changed several laws which did not comply with WTO standards. More changes will be coming concerning governmental control of the economy in China.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has many concerns about China's membership in the WTO. The possibility that increased international trade could hurt the suffering Chinese farming population is first among his worries.

"How can China's small peddlers compete against the transnational agribusiness firms?" asked Wu Peiliang, a Chinese agricultural specialist.

China's agricultural produce is considered lesser in quality than America's. Chinese agricultural goods are also more expensive than international goods. With China's accession to the WTO, imports from other countries will increase, causing a possible loss of some 20 million Chinese jobs related to the agricultural business alone.

China and Taiwan are two of the major exporters in the world of trade. In spite of possible drawbacks from WTO membership, Beijing and Taipei both hope that joining the WTO will further assist their countries economies.

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