Coddler-in-Chief.

• Position: US and China - Editorial

By renewing China's "most-favored-nation" status, president Bill Clinton has shown once and for all that in his Administration, human rights take a back seat to corporate profits. Despite his blushing remarks that China has made "some progress in important areas," Clinton could convince no rational person--not even himself--that China has taken significant steps since last year toward improving its sorry human-rights record. Under Clinton's own executive order, that should have meant the end of China's preferential trade treatment, but Clinton simply reversed course once again and conferred "most-favored-nation" status anyway. The only punitive measure he imposed was an insignificant ban on the import of made-in-China firearms and ammunition. Ouch!

One needed to look no further than the business pages to find out why Clinton caved. Clue: It was not to "advance our ideals," which was one of the reasons Clinton adduced for his policy. Instead, it was simply to advance the interests of U.S. corporations. The day after Clinton's announcement, U.S. companies were crowing. AT&T, McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, J.C. Penney, Sears, Kmart, and the Gap all applauded the decision. These companies either manufacture goods in China, sell goods to China, or import goods from China, and they would have lost a great deal if U.S. trade relations with China had gone sour.

The sums involved were not insignificant. Boeing, for example, is negotiating to sell China fifty commercial aircraft for $5 billion, and AT&T, according to The New York Times, "expects to collect $3 billion in revenue from its China operations by the year 2000."

Not surprisingly, the Chinese rulers also lauded the decision, having won their game of chicken with the Clinton Administration. "The Chinese Government and people welcome this decision of President Clinton," the foreign ministry declared, calling it a "historic opportunity" for improving relations between the two countries.

In the months leading up to Clinton's decision, the Chinese government not only arrested a number of leading dissidents, including Wei Jingsheng; it also arrogated to itself vast new powers of repression. Crimes are now on the books for "disturbing public order and damaging people's health through religious activities," for "stirring up conflicts between nationalities," and, most broadly, for "doing harm to the public interest," reports Lena Sun of The Washington Post. Reports of arrests, torture, and secret trials...