CHINA WATCH : First You, Then Us

Beijing, which tends to threaten just about everything short of World War III whenever the word Taiwan is merely mentioned, seems to be looking the other way lately as the island nation bids to join a new club. And that could be good news.

The United States and other Western governments have worked out a soon-to-be-announced deal for Taiwan to enter a world trading group known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Admission would be fitting for the world’s 13th-largest trading nation and a big step for Taiwan, rich with $88 billion in foreign exchange reserves. As a member of GATT, Taiwan would have to reduce its tariffs and drop other import barriers. This would please Taiwanese who want to buy “Made in USA” products.

Taiwan’s membership process, which will take two years, will proceed under the name of Chinese Taipei, the politically less offensive name that the island uses in the Olympics. (Taiwan applied in 1990 as a “customs territory,” not as a sovereign government.) Beijing, whose own GATT membership application is pending, had opposed Taiwan’s separate entry as contrary to its “one China” policy, which claims Taiwan as part of China. But in Bangkok on Sept. 11, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said that Beijing no longer opposed Taiwan’s application as a customs territory.

Why? In view of the enthusiasm for Taiwan’s membership, Beijing hopes to ride its foe’s coattails and eventually join GATT itself. Beijing is playing a little Machiavellian move that may work out for everyone.