Agence France Presse
GENEVA, March 21 (AFP) - Any attempt to link the debate on China's human rights record with its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would not be in members' interests, a Chinese trade official said here Tuesday.
Long Yongtu, China's senior negotiator, played down the likely effects of a US-sponsored resolution condemning China at the UN Commission on Human Rights, which is currently meeting in Geneva.
"I think it is absolutely not in the interest of all WTO members," he said.
He added he saw no reason why the US Congress would block legislation giving China "normal trade relations" (NTR), and signaling ratification of last November's Sino-American bilateral agreement on China's WTO entry.
"I don't see this kind of possibility, I have always been optimistic," Yongtu said, in reply to journalists' questions about the likelihood of congressional opposition jeopardising the accession process.:
