China seeks eased US export controls
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-28 07:07
The Chinese government is urging the United States to ease or even abolish
controls over exports of high-technology goods to China, following indications
Washington is proposing to tighten such restrictions.
"We hope that the U.S. can take concrete measures to relax or lift its
restrictions on high-tech exports to China, to better address the imbalance of
China-U.S. trade," Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said at a
regular press briefing Tuesday.
A report by the Financial Times newspaper Tuesday said the U.S. Commerce
Department was preparing new proposals that would strengthen curbs on exports of
high-technology goods to China.
The paper said a final draft of the restrictions had been presented to
Chinese commerce ministry officials on Friday, and that the proposals were
expected to be published in the coming days.
Jiang's comments Tuesday did not specifically address those reported
proposals.
Chinese officials complain that the restrictions are an unfair trade barrier,
hindering China's access to advanced civilian technology and contributing to
Beijing's ballooning trade surplus with the United States, which hit a record
$202 billion last year.
The controls on exports to China are aimed at preventing transfer of
sensitive technology to China's army. Some critics have said the restrictions
are too broad, putting many items that have no specific military applications
off limits.
Among the goods at issue are advanced communications equipment and high-speed
computers.
U.S. business groups have urged Washington to revamp the export controls
program or risk losing competitiveness on a wide range of products in major
markets like China.
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