2024-04-25
39 分钟The Economist. It's late May of the year 2000 and a group of Republican congressmen are gathering in front of the press to celebrate a vote that's just passed through the House.
I went to lunch today thinking of passing this thing and they gave me a large fortune cookie here today.
One of them brings out a prop, a fortune cookie the size of a bowling ball.
They crack it open.
and read the message inside.
They were celebrating a landmark vote to grant permanent normal trading relations to China.
This meant the US would give China favorable market access,
cutting or eliminating a range of restrictions on Chinese imports,
at the same time opening up the booming untapped Chinese market to US goods.
One of those fortune cookie-cracking congressman, Bill Archer,
listed the groups that he hoped would benefit from the new bill.
It's good for America's families.
It's good for our workers.
It's good for our businesses.
It's good for our farmers.
Freeing up trade with China had remarkable cross-party support at the time.
It was a flagship policy for Democratic President Bill Clinton,
who campaigned enthusiastically for China to join the World Trade Organization.
which it did in 2001.
China will open its market to American products from wheat to cars to consulting services.