ad info




Asiaweek
 home
 intelligence
 web features
 magazine archive
 technology
 newsmap
 customer service
 subscribe
 TIMEASIA.COM
 CNN.COM
  east asia
  southeast asia
  south asia
  central asia
  australasia
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 SHOWBIZ
 ASIA WEATHER
 ASIA TRAVEL


Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

NOVEMBER 26, 1999 VOL. 25 NO. 47

Not-So-Great Expectations
Don't wait for results from the Seattle meet
By ALEJANDRO REYES and SAMUEL M. GILSTON Washington

    ALSO IN ASIAWEEK
WTO
China's deal with the U.S. is just the beginning

Seattle
What to expect from WTO's global negotiations

Zhu Rongji
Back in the saddle again

War
Will Globe upset Philippine phone leader PLDT?

Tycoon
Li Ka-shing flirts with another windfall

Interview
Outgoing IMF chief Michel Camdessus on Asia - the expanded online interview

Investing
David Roche tells it like it is

  RELATED STORIES
Asiaweek
Intelligence: Take It to the Limit, One More Time
The inside view on the U.S. and China's WTO talks (10/07/99)

The Week Ahead: Ascendant Zhu?
With WTO agreement, Zhu Rongji on the comeback trail (11/15/99)

Intelligence: Take It to the Limit, One More Time
The inside view on the U.S. and China's WTO talks (10/07/99)

CNN
China opens doors to more free trade
China took a long step toward membership in the 135-nation World Trade Organization Monday, signing an agreement with the United States that lifts trade barriers (11/15/99)

It took three hours to prise free a group of Swiss students who chained themselves to the steps of the World Trade Organization's Geneva headquarters last week. That may be a foretaste of what officials can expect at the four-day WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle that starts Nov. 30. Over 750 non-government organizations, including minority pressure groups and human rights activists, will converge in the northwestern U.S. city. The nightmare scenario: raucous marches on the streets, deep divisions among the WTO's 135 members on the future of trade liberalization, and little progress on efforts to bring China to the table.

Beijing's chances, at least, look brighter after it signed a landmark agreement with the U.S. on its WTO membership. The world's most populous nation will be more than an observer - the paper work for accession will be completed next year - at this meeting, the third after the inaugural conference in Singapore in 1996 and the second one in Geneva two years later. The previous meetings finalized a number of Uruguay Round agreements. This time, members must agree on the direction of the new multilateral trade negotiations due to start in 2000, and tie up the remaining loose ends from the Uruguay Round completed six, yes six, years ago.

U.S. business groups are critical of what they see as Washington's inadequate preparation for the Seattle meeting. Unfinished business from the Uruguay Round includes negotiations on agriculture and services. But the scope and timetable of these talks are still up in the air. They may spill over to the new negotiations (dubbed by some as, what else, the Millennium Round), which could tackle new areas like e-commerce. Malaysia argues that there is no need to rush into another marathon, even though it agreed with other APEC members, including the U.S., to push for a three-year timetable.

"It's always nip-and-tuck at the end, but the parties seem to be much further apart than I can recall in the past," worries Eric Autor, vice president for international trade at the Washington-based National Retailers Federation. The classic battle lines will pit developing countries against developed ones, especially the U.S. "We're heading for a fiasco," warns Chau Tak-hay, Hong Kong's secretary for trade and industry. He is scornful of U.S. efforts to link trade liberalization with labor issues: "We will fight it tooth and nail."

The developed countries have their own quarrels. The U.S., European Union and Japan are brawling over agriculture. Anti-dumping measures and the environment are also likely to figure in heated discussions. The U.S. wants a detailed agreement on the scope and timing of the Millennium Round. But given that President Bill Clinton is entering his final year in office, the ministers may produce just a broad-brush declaration. And don't forget those anti-WTO demonstrations.

This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow


Quick Scroll: More stories and related stories
Asiaweek Newsmap: Get the week's leading news stories, by region, from Newsmap


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN
 Search

Back to the top   © 2000 Asiaweek. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.