Lawmakers Press Bush on China

Congressional leaders demanded Thursday that tough conditions be attached to a renewal of trade benefits for China, and the Administration said President Bush might consider some restrictions but would prefer a no-strings extension.

A bipartisan group of 24 senators, led by Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), submitted legislation that would cut off China’s most-favored-nation trade status in six months unless Bush certifies that Beijing has radically changed its behavior on human rights, trade, weapons proliferation and forced labor.

Mitchell accused Bush of using a double standard to judge China as opposed to the rest of the world.

“They know they can do anything they want and the President will not do anything about it,” Mitchell said, underscoring complaints by Democrats and Republicans alike that Bush has been too easy on China’s hard-line leaders.

Bush announced Wednesday that he strongly favors renewing China’s most-favored-nation trade status, which would allow it to sell goods to the United States at the lowest possible tariffs. The designation is a major economic boost for Beijing because it expects to ship more than $15 billion worth of goods to American buyers.

Even as Mitchell was preparing to offer his bill, the White House said Bush might be willing to accept some conditions to win approval of renewing trade benefits, which expire July 3.

But it was unclear how far Bush is willing to go. Bush keeps his own counsel when it comes to China, where he served as U.S. envoy in 1975, and it appeared likely that he might bend only far enough to win a veto-proof voting bloc in Congress.