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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-22 08:24 Unwise decision The decision of US President Barack Obama on Sept 12, 2009, to impose extra tariff on tires imported from China was an irrational move that aroused strong protests from the Chinese side. The move sent a wrong signal to the world. There are two reasons behind Obama's decision to impose additional tariff on Chinese tires. First, the lawsuit was filed by the United Steelworkers (USW), which is a firm supporter of Obama. Therefore, the Obama administration was not willing to displease the USW. Second, with the re-emergence of US trade protectionism, "Made in China" has been targeted. A few statesmen in the US continuously spread rumors to spoil the image of Chinese products in order to gain political mileage, and Obama wanted to secure the support from these statesmen on the issue of healthcare reform. I believe it is not reasonable to implement trade protectionism, especially at a time when the global financial crisis has not completely receded yet. As Sino-US economic and trade ties are highly complementary, the US resistance to products made in China will cause great losses to American consumers, and the US domestic tire industry can at best look for other suppliers of low-priced tires other than China, rather than producing these by themselves. I hope the US government can fully realize the potential bad impact as well as serious consequences of taking such measures, and hope it will take concrete measures to ensure prevalence of the free trade system under the framework of WTO. Frank Young via e-mail Good action to encourage independence Comment on "Late encouragement" (Letters and blogs, Page 4, August 12-13, China Daily) The article that commented on China Youth University for Political Science giving 100 yuan ($14.7) to freshmen who came to school by themselves said this action was a late encouragement. In my opinion, this action is very good. It can encourage students to learn to depend on themselves instead of on parents. Nowadays, many students, no matter whether they are in high school or college, cannot make their own living without parents' help. As a result, issues such as dropping out of school, psychological problems, and even suicide emerged one after another. China Youth University for Political Science praised the independent students by giving an award of 100 yuan, which can make them feel proud of themselves. Besides, it can encourage them to be more mature and independent. And those who were accompanied by parents may feel ashamed and think more about self-reliance. Wang Yuqin, Sichuan International Studies University via e-mail (China Daily 09/22/2009 page5) |
