By Helen Dewar and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 25, 2001; Page A24

Key lawmakers are warning that China faces a wide-ranging backlash on Capitol Hill over its recent detention of a U.S. military air crew, including stronger opposition to normalized trade relations between the two countries.

As Congress returned this week from a two-week recess, lawmakers in both parties said that, while tempers have cooled since the 24 crew members were released two weeks ago, their 11-day detention and other sources of friction have chilled congressional attitudes to one of the lowest points in more than a decade.

"The feeling is much more harsh. Members now view China with a lot more hostility,", said Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Calif.), a longtime advocate of expanded trade with China. The hostility may even be greater than it was after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Matsui said, because Americans were involved in the recent incident.

Like many of his colleagues, Matsui believes that Congress is unlikely to take punitive action against China on trade. But "it could be a closer vote," he said. "Before, it [a resolution to deny favorable trade treatment for China] had no chance. Now it is possible . . . not probable but possible."

"I'm just glad it [the vote] is not this week," said Rep. Roy D. Blunt (Mo.), chief deputy whip for House Republicans.

Regardless of how the House or Senate votes on the trade issue, a continuation of normal trade relations with China -- meaning the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets that nearly all other nations have -- is considered virtually assured. President Bush would veto legislation to erect new trade barriers between the United States and China, and neither house could muster the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto, said House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (Calif.).

With a trade showdown not likely until summer, Congress is taking out its frustrations over China in other ways, starting with the unanimous House approval of a resolution last night calling for the United States to support Taiwan's bid to participate as an observer in the World Health Organization. China regards Taiwan as a province and opposes its participation in international organizations.

Also pending are an array of proposals targeting China that could come up for consideration in the next few weeks.

Among the most provocative initiatives is one sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) opposing Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics unless China improves its record on human rights. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said yesterday he favors bringing up the measure to allow members to vent their frustration over China, perhaps as early as next week. Also, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) has proposed granting citizenship to American University professor Gao Zhan, who is being detained in China.

The need for a trade vote arises because, even though Congress overwhelmingly approved a permanent normalizing of trade with China last year, it does not take effect until China joins the World Trade Organization. China has not yet done so because it has not fully implemented the agreement admitting it to the WTO.

As a result, the White House and Congress must go back to their old practice, dating to 1979, under which the president can extend normal trading relations on a year-to-year basis, subject to a vote of disapproval by both houses of Congress. Bush has until June 3 to decide whether to approve an annual extension, and Congress has 60 days to act on a disapproval resolution. No such resolution has been approved by either house since the post-Tiananmen era in the early 1990s.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and other conservatives are pushing legislation to repeal the 2000 law granting permanent trading relations, and 15 Democrats have written House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) urging him to schedule a vote on the proposal. But other lawmakers say it has virtually no chance of being approved.

The key vote will come on the annual extension, and some lawmakers in both houses are saying the outcome is unclear, especially if China continues to detain religious, academic and other figures and refuses to return the U.S. Navy surveillance plane that has been held on Hainan Island since it collided April 1 with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.

The House has always been shakier than the Senate on China trade and remains so. Although the disapproval resolution is unlikely to pass, "it's going to be tough" to fight it, said House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.), a trade backer.

One danger seen by pro-trade lawmakers, including Matsui and Cox, is that some members may be tempted to cast a political vote against China trade, secure in the knowledge that Bush would then bail them out with a veto. "This is a free vote, in one sense," said Cox.

While many in the Senate say they do not see a turnabout on the issue there, some are less certain. "I think it's very close" as of now, said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a trade supporter. "If this relationship continues to deteriorate over the next few weeks, then I think it's very much an open question whether the Senate would support [normal trade relations] this time," he added.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Answers

Oh poor companies, if they hadn't move to China they wouldn't have a problem. They thought the american consumer could go on forever. I hope they rot in hell.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

My feeling for a long time has been that the average Congressperson, whether Republican or Democrat, is pretty pathetic. Now we have just been on the receiving end of an outrage. If all we do is posture and blovate, without getting really tough and mean on trade, then I think we will have been disgraced.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001