MFN Status, Human Rights, and U.S.-China Relations
NBR Analysis vol. 5, no 1

MFN Status, Human Rights, and U.S.-China Relations

by Merle Goldman, Harry Harding, Dwight H. Perkins, Nicholas R. Lardy, Robert B. Zoellick, Michel Oksenberg, and David Bachman
July 1, 1994

On May 9, an op-ed by project participant Robert Zoellick, former undersecretary of state and White House deputy chief of staff in the Bush Administration, appeared in the Washington Post. Widely read by current Administration officials, it set out a rationale and major prescriptions that presaged the announcement by President Clinton on May 26. Both the op-ed and the President’s announcement are included in the volume.

With the future of America’s relations with China uncertain, NBR decided in late 1993 to bring to the national debate the knowledge and views of premier specialists through focused studies and policy discussions in Washington, D.C. The resulting project, appropriately funded by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, is entitled “MFN Status for China: What’s at Stake.” On April 28, 1994, the authors of this volume gave a briefing at the National Press Club and then held off-the-record discussions on Capitol Hill, first with members of Congress and subsequently with key staff. On May 9, an op-ed by project participant Robert Zoellick, former undersecretary of state and White House deputy chief of staff in the Bush Administration, appeared in the Washington Post. Widely read by current Administration officials, it set out a rationale and major prescriptions that presaged the announcement by President Clinton on May 26. Both the op-ed and the President’s announcement are included in the volume.