Issue date: 2/14/03 Section: Opinion

The United States' continuing trade relationship with China, despite the enduring unfavorable human rights practices that are still evident there, sends a message of acceptance and tolerance to the oppressed in China and to nations around the world.

In September of 2000, the Senate approved a bill granting China status as a permanent trade partner, according to CNN.com. The debate that followed the Senate approval is now being ignored. Despite China's membership in the World Trade Organization, problems continue to occur because of an absence of laws to protect the two billion inhabitants of China.

China is far from enjoying equality of opportunity or a fair and organized court system, but worse, the basic and intrinsic rights of the people are being denied. In addition to religious persecution and a heavily censored, government-controlled press, the real issue that relates clearly to commercial concerns is that of workers' rights. Chinese workers are subject to abuse and harassment, exposure to dangerous chemicals, and are forced into working overtime. China is also characterized by lack of labor unions without the means to begin to organize such unions, according to the Human Rights Watch Web site.

However, American businessmen, politicians, and economists insist that a few million suffering Chinese is not the question at hand. They maintain that through continual trade with the United States, American principles will eventually seep into China's ideology until the human rights issues magically solve themselves.

These businessmen and politicians believe that through trade, the United States will ship its beliefs to China, and that by commercial interaction with the Chinese, America provides the best opportunity to improve their lifestyle. However, the concern is not solely about trade. Merely shipping products is not going to communicate freedom to China any more than importing their products convinces us to adopt communism.

The United States acted selfishly in the admission of China into the status of permanent normal trading relations in 2000, proving to be arrogantly concerned with increasing its own wealth, even at the expense of countless unseen slave-driven children in a factory.

In all aspects of politics, there is a growing trend to separate morals from actions and to force the ends to justify the means. However, for economic transactions, one cannot simply choose to ignore the rights of those who produce the goods, especially when such people are too oppressed to speak out for themselves. Ideals and rights are inextricably intertwined with business and cannot be ignored. Trade is not a right given to every country, but the fundamental human rights that China denies its citizens should be.

Trade with China should not continue to go unnoticed. To get results from the Chinese government, instead of further empty promises, the United States must restrict commercial actions to see improvement.

The Chinese economy depends upon the United States just as the United States' economy depends on Chinese trade. However, life and freedom should be more important. The United States must begin to uphold principles instead of destroying them.

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