Can you outline the forces within China interested in seeing the United States grant permanent national trade relations status to China?
Wei Jingsheng: Within China, there are only a limited number of people who would benefit from PNTR passing, primarily corrupted government officials. It’s quite possible that if you stopped anybody on the streets of China and asked them if they are in favor or against PNTR, they might say they are in favor — but this would not reflect mass opinion or even their own self-interest, because they don’t have access to adequate information about what PNTR means for them. MM: Why do forces in the government want to join the WTO? Wei: They will benefit in two ways. One is politically. They won’t have to suffer through an annual Congressional vote on Most Favored Nation status and an evaluation each year of China’s human rights record. The annual evaluation forces them to restrain themselves. Secondly, they will benefit economically. Since the corrupt government has robbed the state-owned enterprises, those state-owned enterprises are largely emptied of their assets. Government officials hope
