U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, "Symposia on Transatlantic Perspectives on Economic and Security relations with China," November 30, 2004

OPENING REMARKS OF CHAIRMAN C. RICHARD D’AMATO

Good morning. On behalf of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which is an advisory body to the United States Congress, I welcome our panelists and our guests to what we anticipate will be a productive exchange of views and ideas about China’s growing role in the world and the appropriate policy responses of the United States and the European community and Union. We are very pleased to be hosting today’s symposium, which we’ve entitled ‘‘Transatlantic Perspectives on Economic and Security Relations with China.’’

Our Commission was established by the United States Congress with a clear mandate to evaluate the national security implications of the broad-ranging economic relationship in all of its various guises between the United States and China. In setting out our mandate, the Congress directed us to take a broad view of security to include an assessment of both traditional national security issues, as well as how our economic relationship with China is impacting the United States’ economic health, be it our manufacturing base, our research and development operations, our jobs in national growth levels.

The Members of the Commission were appointed by the Republican and Democratic leaders of both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. It is a bipartisan effort to address a number of very important issues. This is what brings us to Europe, where we will be conducting symposia and meetings first here in Brussels, and then later this week in Prague. We are here in Europe because an understanding of the relationship between Europe and China is critically important to U.S.-China relations. Unfortunately, this has not been the focus of sufficient attention in the United States. We think that a renewed dialogue is in order between the United States and the European community, and we appreciate your hospitality.

We believe that U.S. policy towards China and Asia needs to be informed by a better understanding of the views and perspectives of our European friends and allies that we are receiving here today.

Economically, China presents a picture of rapid growth in sector after sector, from labor-intense products to high technology. EU-China trade, like U.S.-China trade, is both booming and unbalanced. On this point we hope that today’s symposium will give us some insight into Europe’s apparently greater success in exporting to China. China is also a primary destination for foreign direct investment from both Europe and the United States. Thus, we have a shared interest in making sure that these new and dynamic global economic patterns work to all of our advantages.

We have been closely monitoring China’s record of compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments, and evaluating the effectiveness of WTO mechanisms to enforce compliance. While we recognize that China has made progress in many areas, we continue to be dismayed at the compliance shortfalls in critical areas such as intellectual property, agriculture, and the failure of the WTO’s Transitional Review Mechanism to adequately press China to address these shortfalls. There appears, in our view, to be a need for the U.S. and the EU to better coordinate our WTO activities with regard to China.

We are also interested in a discussion that compares EU and U.S. perspectives on traditional security matters. China’s military strength, along with its intentions toward Taiwan and countries in the region are global concerns. So are human rights, consistently emphasized here in Europe, and which are a concern of people everywhere. On both points we think that the manner in which the EU and the U.S. deal with these issues will be of paramount importance in determining the future security and human rights situations globally. Today’s discussion is an important one for both sides and we look forward to conversing with such a distinguished group of panelists.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding support and assistance we have received from Ambassadors Tom Korologos, Rockwell Schnabel and Nicholas Burns. Special recognition and thanks to their very capable staffs for their hard work and personal efforts on our behalf. A special thanks goes to Van Reidhead, and Peter Stonier, with the U.S.-EU mission, who assisted us with all the meetings and logistical arrangements.

We owe a special thanks and our deep gratitude also to Paul Hogue, Peter Stonier, Yannick Pauweis, Florence Vanholsbeek, Anne Barbaro, Jean-Marc Libert, Ed Kemp, Jeannine Johnson, and Marijke Hendricks. They did an outstanding job for us. Thanks to each of you for your support. You were instrumental in our ability to conduct this important event.

I’m now going to turn the microphone over to the Commission’s Vice Chair, Mr. Roger Robinson. I just would like to mention that at the end of the panel, we will set aside 15 minutes for questions from the audience, and there will be a microphone available if you have any questions for us on the Commission or for the panelists.

With that, I’ll turn the microphone over to our Vice Chairman, Roger Robinson.

OPENING REMARKS OF VICE CHAIRMAN ROGER W. ROBINSON, JR.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning.

I’d like to add my thanks to all those individuals who have assisted in putting this important event together, and the subsequent event that we’ll hold, as the Chairman mentioned, later this week in Prague.

As the nations of Europe are interacting more frequently and on numerous levels with China, we’re interested in learning how the relationships those countries have with China impact the relationships they have with the United States. As Chairman D’Amato mentioned, trade with the EU and China is growing at a very rapid pace. While China provides a vast market opportunity for European companies, there are also a number of areas of concern, such as counterfeiting, market access and others. Generally, American companies have the same concerns as their European counterparts, and we’d like to learn how Europe is addressing these concerns. We’d also like to better understand how European firms gauge the risks and rewards associated with such ventures.

We will also consider security issues, in particular the much-discussed EU arms embargo, which has been in place since 1989. We look forward to a candid exchange about European views and concerns regarding the embargo and the prospect for possible alternatives, such as a strengthened Code of Conduct, possibly even strengthened export controls as well. We in turn hope to serve as an informal conduit in relaying American misgivings on this issue. The changing dynamics in the cross-Strait relationship are a major focus of the Commission’s work, and we’ll look forward as well to a dialogue on EU and U.S. views on prospects for conflict, as well as the outbreak of peace in the Strait. An enhanced and candid dialogue between the U.S. and EU, particularly with the many European friends that we’ve had the opportunity to interact with thus far on these vital security concerns is, in my judgment and that of my colleagues, considerably greater than it’s ever been before.

We are going to open today’s activities with a panel discussing trade and investment flows between the EU and China. We’re pleased to have a group of panelists who will be able to provide us with perspectives on both the labor and business fronts. In 2003 EU-China trade was valued at $146.7 billion. The EU trade deficit with China this year was $54.7 billion. This is clearly a substantial issue for European economies, just as it is for ours.

Our second panel will further examine economic issues, but from a macroeconomic perspective. We hope that the comparisons we draw today will be useful for those on both sides of the Atlantic. Thus, we also hope to locate key areas where European and U.S. interests coincide, and where the potential exists for better coordination in our respective trade policies.

In the afternoon we’ll consider security issues. As mentioned, we’ll discuss the cross-Strait situation, how to maintain peace and stability there, and in the region more broadly. We’ll also discuss the arms embargo and implications of a possible lifting, the positive signal that we think is going to be sent to the Chinese, for example, in the context of the December 8 summit, and followed several months later by possible action in the May/June timeframe, or soon thereafter. Obviously, this entire activity has a number of regional security and relationship implications.

Our fourth panel will examine progress on human rights in China, an issue of deep concern to both of our communities. Europe and the U.S. have very close positions on human rights across the globe. Given the same broad goals, we hope a dialogue today can help us think about appropriate strategies each side should pursue toward China to accomplish or advance those goals. And, as with the balance of the symposium, we also want to identify those areas where transatlantic cooperation can be strengthened.

I want to note that we’re recording today’s symposium, and this will permit us to produce a report on the proceedings that we hope will prove useful to policymakers in the U.S. Congress, which is, of course, our sponsoring operation, and also to European researchers, scholars and policymakers as well.

So with that, I’d like to turn to our first panel. Joining us will be Mr. John Monks, of the European Trade Union Confederation. Peter Nightingale from the Euro-China Business Association, and Francesco Marchi of The European Apparel and Textile Organization.

I turn the podium over to Mr. Monks.
 

RUSSELS, BELGIUM SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVES ON ECONOMIC AND SECURITY RELATIONS WITH CHINA
Opening remarks of Chairman C. Richard D’Amato
Opening remarks of Vice Chairman Roger W. Robinson, Jr.

PANEL I: CHINA TRADE AND INVESTMENT: INDUSTRY AND LABOR PERSPECTIVES
John Monks, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
Peter Nightingale, Chairman, Euro-China Business Association
Francesco Marchi, Director of Economic Affairs, European Apparel and Textile Organization

PANEL II: TRENDS IN EU-CHINA ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Peter Ferdinand, Director, Centre for Studies in Democratisation, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
Bernhard Speyer, Director, Head of Banking, Financial Markets, Regulation, Deutsche Bank Research/Economics, Frankfurt, Germany

PANEL III: PERSPECTIVES ON EU-CHINA SECURITY RELATIONS, THE ARMS EMBARGO AND TAIWAN
Frank Umbach, Resident Fellow, Head of the Asia-Pacific Program, and Co-Chair, CSCAP Europe, Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin, Germany
Willem van der Geest, Director, European Institute for Asia Studies

PANEL IV: EU PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA
Charles Tannock, Member of European Parliament, Vice Chairman, European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights
Jim Cloos, Director, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
Philippe van Amersfoort, Administrator, European Commission Directorate General for External Relations, Human Rights and Democratisation Unit

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUPPLIED FOR THE RECORD
Francoise Lemoine, Senior Economist, Centre D’Etudes Prospectives, Et D’Informations Internationales (CEPII), Paris, France
Kay Moller, Senior Research Associate, Asia Unit, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin, Germany

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVES ON ECONOMIC AND SECURITY RELATIONS WITH CHINA
Opening remarks of Chairman C. Richard D’Amato
Opening remarks of Vice Chairman Roger W. Robinson, Jr.

PANEL I: PERSPECTIVES ON SECURITY DIMENSIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP I
Jan Ruml, Vice President, Senate of the Czech Republic, Chairman of the Olympic Watch Committee
Jir Schneider, Political Director of the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic

PANEL II: PERSPECTIVES ON SECURITY DIMENSIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP II
Senator Josef Jarab, Chairman, Senate Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security, Czech Republic
Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Senior Researcher, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Paris, France

PANEL III: INDUSTRY AND LABOR PERSPECTIVES ON CHINA’S ECONOMIC AND TRADE POLICIES
Jan Musil, CEO, Skoda Energo a.s., Plazen, Czech Republic
Oldrich Schwarz, Director, Libra Management Group Limited, Prague, Czech Republic
Vladimir Matousek, Head, International Department, Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, Prague, Czech Republic
Volker Riemann, Head, Purchasing Department, Skoda Auto a.s., Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic
Michele Tajariol, Sales Director, Tajmac-ZPS, a.s., Zlin-Malenovice, Czech Republic