Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
May 22, 2000, Monday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B7
LENGTH: 797 words
HEADLINE:
U.S. COMPANIES SOW SEEDS OF POSITIVE CHANGE IN CHINA
BYLINE: Philip M. Condit And Michael R. Bonsignore
BODY:
China Trade
CONGRESS
is set to vote on legislation to grant China Permanent Normal Trade Relations
status. An affirmative vote is needed to bring U.S.-China trade policy into
conformance with the World Trade Organization rules and to give U.S. businesses
access to China's vast marketplace. Critics of WTO and PNTR
would have you believe that the surest way to bring about constructive change in
China is to cut it off from the free world -- to lock out foreign investment and
isolate China into redemption. These critics have rigidly framed the issue to
imply that conducting commerce with China is akin to rewarding it. Sadly, that
sort of thinking prevents a broader examination of the facts and of what already
is happening in China because of the presence of U.S. companies.
For
example, Honeywell supports the International Republican Institute's Electoral
Reform Program, which works to assist villages in conducting free elections. The
Boeing Co. has sponsored courses for Chinese lawyers to learn about U.S. legal
processes and the rule of law.
Our firms engage directly with government
officials, employees and their families to support the needs of communities.
Boeing, in cooperation with Air China, the China Red Cross and Project Hope,
helped transport a shipment of urgently needed medicine and supplies worth $ 1.3
million to Beijing in 1998. Honeywell China, with the support of the Honeywell
Foundation, has contributed $ 140,000 as well as the voluntary time of its local
employees to help build a primary school and community center in a rural village
outside of the city of Tianjin.
A report issued by the Business
Roundtable, an association of CEOs of major U.S. companies, provides hundreds of
other examples of how commercial engagement fosters change in China.
It
also challenges the notion that cutting off trade with China will accelerate
change. "Corporate Social Responsibility in China: Practices by U.S. Companies,
How U.S. Companies Contribute to the Improvement of Social, Labor, and
Environmental Conditions" is a compendium of U.S. company-inspired initiatives
that promote the kind of change even China's harshest critics demand. The report
is filled with facts, not theories, and demonstrates that commercial engagement
should be a tenet of any strategy to bring democracy to China.
U.S.
firms in China often provide free access to information -- a key underpinning of
a democratic society. Many U.S. firms in China provide their employees with
Internet access, e-mail systems and international travel. In fact, tens of
thousands of Chinese citizens travel to the United States each year for a wide
range of company training and thereby receive exposure to Western thought and
culture.
Those who oppose China's participation in the world trading
system for environmental reasons may be surprised to learn that the Chinese are
being exposed to Western environmental regulations and management systems used
by U.S. companies. Factories in China are today being certified in FDA's Code of
Good Management Practices, the International Standards Organization's
environmental program and the U.S. chemical industry's Responsible Care
initiative. This is a direct result of the presence of U.S. enterprise and
China's involvement in international trade.
U.S. companies in China
practice fair labor practices and apply strict standards of employee health and
safety. Companies such as Delphi Automotive implement safety systems and record
every workplace accident.
Eastman Chemical Co. boasts more than 467,000
work hours without an OSHA recordable accident or environmental incident.
ExxonMobil requires its upstream business partners to subscribe to the company's
safety and health standards.
THESE examples represent only a fraction of
the stories out there. The point is that U.S. companies, strictly through their
own volition, are making a significant difference in China and are improving the
quality of life for the Chinese people. Without international trade, without
engagement, the pace of change will diminish. We are not saying that the
presence of U.S. business in China is a panacea that will bring about change
overnight. But the story must be told that engagement is a key part of the
equation for a healthy relationship with the world's most populous nation.
Congress should vote to give China PNTR so that the
United States can conduct trade with this emerging economic power in a system
governed by fair rules.
This not only will provide countless
opportunities for American enterprise, but also will expose China's 1.3 billion
citizens to Western ideals and values. Opening markets and encouraging trade is
not just about economics -- it's a policy with benefits well beyond the balance
sheet.
LOAD-DATE: May 22, 2000
