WORLD IN BRIEF : CHINA : U.S. Cautioned on Trade Status Shift

Beijing cautioned the United States against revoking its trading status in the wake of reports that China uses prison labor to make export goods. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman denied a report by the civil rights group Asia Watch on use of prison labor, and the foreign minister said changing China’s trade status would benefit neither side. A growing U.S. trade deficit with China and charges that it pirates U.S. intellectual property also are in the background as President Bush decides whether to ask Congress to renew China’s most-favored-nation status.