This paper examines the conflict in relations between the United States and China over the issues of trade versus human rights. Human rights activists have amassed ample evidence to show China's abysmal record regarding such activities as persecution of Tibetans, use of slave labor in manufacturing, arbitrary detention and mistreatment dissidents, and religious persecution. The Chinese government has argued that practices which seem cruel and unusual to observers from other countries are justifiable because China is a different culture, with different societal expectations and behaviors. Human rights activists have sharply criticized the Clinton administration's policy of renewing most-favored nation (MFN) status to the Chinese government, which protects and encourages trade despite China's record of abuse. They have found surprising allies among staunch conservatives, such as Pat Buchanan and Jesse Helms, who contend that MFN renewal amounts to coddling a dictatorship and allows China to continue to grow economically at the expense of the United States. Clinton and MFN-renewal supporters counter with the argument that returning to an isolationist policy with China will be likely to increase human rights abuses, since the publicity given to these abuses is the best weapon against them. Relations between the United States and China have been problematic throughout history. The debate over trade and human rights issues continues to make the situation complicated.
Although China is an ancient civilization, its geography and enormous size allowed it to remain isolated from most of the rest of the world for centuries. Even after Western explorers had begun to force their way in, they still remained daunted by China's size and unfamiliar culture. With the takeover in 1949 by the Communist Party, China again closed its doors to the outside world. In the early 1970s, prompted by meetings with the West which were initiated by U. ...