Bill Clinton Spoke In Favor Of Rapid Admission Of China To WTO And Called For Cooperation With China

The former American President Bill Clinton called for rapid admission of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Clinton stated that only cooperation and not confrontation with Beijing was the basis of Asia's stability and prosperity. The US ex-president underlined that China's admission to WTO would promote rapprochement of this country with the rest of the world. When addressing 700 businessmen who gathered at a forum in Hong Kong, Clinton underlined that the United States was interested in good-neighborly relations with Asian countries and, in particular, with China. For the last few weeks the Chinese-American relations have become considerably tenser, following the air collision of a Chinese fighter with an American plane which performed a reconnaissance flight along PRC's border. In this connection, many analysts have regarded Clinton's speech in Hong Kong as criticism of the stand-off policy pursued by George Bush's administration towards China. -O- (VAS/lio) 11/05/01 09:36