No Democrat blow-out on China: experts
13 November 2006
The Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives will take China to task over trade and human rights issues but will stop short of confrontation, experts believe. Nancy Pelosi, set to become speaker of the House, is a frequent China critic who went to Beijing in 1991 to honor victims of the Tiananmen massacre. Pelosi, who still marks the June 4 anniversary, was roughed up by Chinese police while authorities denounced her visit as a "premeditated farce". However, despite expectations of Democrat-driven trade protectionism, the University of Michigan's Kenneth Lieberthal told Reuters that more pressing concerns such as the need for Sino-US cooperation over North Korea will trump these issues. "She will be critical on human rights and on trade, but she will not let things get out of control," agreed Sun Zhe of Fudan University in Shanghai.
