Posted on: Saturday, September 22, 2001

Editorial
WTO approvals bode well in the long run

The 142 members of the World Trade Organization formally cleared China for admission last week, and then a day later, for Taiwan. The two should become full WTO members early next year.

That would mark the end of a 15-year-old quest by Beijing to integrate fully with the global trading community. The effects will be profound and, for the most part, beneficial.

In China, inefficient state enterprises will be forced to reform or privatize, while the private sector will be empowered as never before.

Because massive layoffs are expected in state enterprises and, in the short term, in agriculture, Beijing will be forced to encourage private industry as never before. That's because the Chinese people, no longer interested in communism, will demand prosperity as a condition to keep China's gerontocracy in office.

Taiwan will be under increased pressure to further integrate its economy with that of China, thus increasing the cost for both sides of an attempted reunification by force.

For American consumers, increased Chinese imports will help keep the cost of living low, although low-end American jobs will continue to be transferred to lower-paid countries, including China. But the Chinese market will be empowered to buy great numbers of high-value American exports, from cars to cellular phones, creating more new high-paid jobs in the United States.

At a recent, timely conference on the subject at the East-West Center, a Chinese official said there will be more pressure "coming from the inside rather than the outside" for China's government to reform, hasten development of programs such as social security, and improve infrastructure. "Most Chinese believe the WTO will create opportunities," he said. "Most people think the direction is right."

It's exactly the way Americans should think.