In March 1998, Zhu Rongji became premier of the State Council, when he was over 70 years old. At that time, the domestic economic situation was not optimistic, and he immediately threw himself into the work of reforming the economic system.
While improving the domestic economic situation, he is also very worried about China's accession to the WTO. Zhu Rongji took the time to call the person in charge, but after listening to the report, he was full of anger -- the United States is really rude!
Zhu Rongji angrily rebuked: This is very impolite
On the afternoon of 14 November 1999, the Chinese delegation sat in the conference room with a displeased face. This is the 25 th round of consultations on the "WTO accession talks," a Sino-US consultation meeting. It is said that out of basic diplomatic etiquette, even if the Chinese delegation is not pleasant, it cannot "hang its face", what is going on behind this?
It turned out that the US delegation disappeared for no reason, and the whole "world evaporated". As the chief negotiator of the Chinese delegation, Long Yongtu was very unhappy, and sat in his chair with a calm face, but refused to call the US representative. There is no other reason, first lose if you can't hold your breath, and what you lose is the dignity of the country.
What Long Yongtu did not expect, however, was that Premier Zhu Rongji would make a special phone call to be concerned about the consultations, and he had no choice but to call US representative Barshevsky. Barshevsky said the consultations would continue, only if they would work overtime — and he asked for a "mini-meeting" in the early hours of the next morning.
The scheduled meeting of the US side began at 4 a.m., but the US side was obviously not prepared to seriously consult with the Chinese side. The two sides remained in a stalemate until about half past nine the next morning, when the door to the conference room suddenly opened -- Zhu Rongji himself came.
As soon as Zhu Rongji sat down, he seriously criticized the US representatives, saying that their sudden disappearance was not like a negotiation, but rather a game of hide-and-seek, which was really inexplicable and extremely rude. The US representative was scolded and thought that the consultations would not be able to continue, but Zhu Rongji gave them a 180-degree turn -- he agreed to three US conditions in succession.
Zhu Rongji's move made the US deputies overjoyed and thought that he was an easy to handle. Long Yongtu on the side was different, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and kept handing notes to Zhu Rongji, hoping to stop Zhu Rongji's blind connivance.
Zhu Rongji ignored Long Yongtu and opened his mouth before the US representative wanted to continue to put forward conditions, saying that he had agreed to the first three conditions, and that it was time for the United States to make concessions. This is Tian Ji horse racing! Long Yongtu reacted at this time. With Zhu Rongji's help, the consultations were finally successfully concluded, and both sides made concessions on some of the contents.
From the resumption of GATT to WTO accession, the United States has many obstacles
New China's "resumption of GATT" and "accession to the WTO" can actually be regarded as the same issue. "GATT" refers to the restoration of China's membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and "accession to the WTO" refers to joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), which was established on the basis of the GATT.
China was one of the founders of the GATT, but due to various historical reasons, New China has always been shut out of the organization. On July 10, 1986, Qian Jiadong, ambassador of the Chinese delegation to Geneva, formally put forward the request for "resumption of customs", and since then it has been a 13-year road to "resumption of customs".
Before 1989, the process of China's "reopening" was generally smooth, but after 89 years, the United States became the biggest obstacle. The United States has rejected most of the agreements reached before and called for a resumption of negotiations. In the ensuing negotiations, the United States was full of malice, constantly raising the economic asking price, and even demanded that China resume customs relations as a developed country. Such a scoundrel demand is naturally difficult to achieve.
Later, the WTO replaced the GATT, and the mainland's "resumption of GATT" also shifted to "accession to the WTO." However, on the road to WTO accession, the United States continues to commit vicious acts. This includes, but is not limited to, falsely accusing China of stealing U.S. nuclear technology in the House of Representatives and attacking Chinese rights with human rights reports...... In short, before November '99, the United States tried everything possible to prevent China from "joining the WTO."
Generally speaking, from the "resumption of GATT" to the "accession to the WTO," the journey has been thrilling, and behind it is because there is a trouble-making United States.
Bibliography:
[1] Lv Baoyue.Game analysis between China and the United States in the process of China's resumption of GATT and accession to the WTO[D].China Foreign Affairs University:2012.