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Close enough for a so-called communist country that recently passed a law allowing private property ownership.

Don't forget the intangibles that go with trade. Do you really want China to become the next Soviet Union? Trade helps us by making China open up.

There are many American companies in China. They go there to make the products they sell them. Doesn't make sense to ship them, cost too much. So a company like, oh, Heinz has 57 (I think it's really 58 or 59 but the idiot press jumped on 57) of their 79 plants overseas. Mostly because it's easier to make ketchup to sell in China in China. Can you imagine the cost of shipping millions of bottles of ketchup from the U.S.? But they sell more ketchup which let's them grow and higher more sales people, IT people, admin people, etc.

Also the biggest barrier to our selling them goods is their income level. Once they raise it they'll start buying American made cars one day. And banking services and insurance services and will come visit increasing tourism.

So I think it's as free as it can be now...but will always change and grow.

Once they raise it they'll start buying American made cars one day. And banking services and insurance services and will come visit increasing tourism.

Should happen by the turn of the century.

In the meantime....

I find your outlook to be naive and simplistic. The intricate protectionist trade barriers the Chinese have in place are designed not to help American or other Western companies in the long run.

Unfair trade opens up China solely on Chinese terms, i.e. under the purview of the Chinese government and those with a vested interest in maintaining its power base and goals for world domination. As much as we all wish to see more democratic tendencies result there, be on the lookout down the road for a corrupt oligarchy (with "old-school" ties) flirting with fascism.

RE: ketchup?

The article (#136) I commented on reaffirms what I have googled time and time again. To wit, the price of doing business in China is your technology and intellectual property. Those items are then used against you, first in domestic competition in Red China and finally in global competition.

The article also reports that the Bush administration has acted to stop WTO violations by the Chi-coms. Earlier efforts to get the Chi-coms to allow their currency to seek its true level failed.

Could you or your talk radio buddies puleeze(!) provide sources to back up your rosy assessment of "free" trade with the government of China? Like, when will all areas of China be allowed to benefit?

"banking services?" China has banking service already -- almost half their value is consumed by nonperforming loans to keep state owned people's "factories" open in areas outside the "capitalist" zones and to fund surplus construction projects. The nonperforming loans are estimated by some to be 40 percent of GDP.