US stooping to new depths of deviousness

Editor's note: The president of the United States recently issued a memorandum to the US trade representative on reforming the developing country status in the World Trade Organization, stepping up its efforts to demand the WTO change its rules on this issue within 90 days, or the US will take unilateral action. Zhong Sheng, a columnist for People's Daily, comments:

Such a move would be in disregard of the established order and break the global trade rules. The threat has caused widespread concern throughout the international community, since the rules-based multilateral trading system is the cornerstone of economic globalization and free trade; it is not the private property of any single member, or even a few members. The authority and effectiveness of the WTO should be respected and safeguarded.

Of the 164 WTO members, nearly two-thirds are developing countries. "Special and differential treatment" is an important embodiment of the WTO's core values and basic principles, which aims to ensure developing countries enjoy fair treatment. Most WTO members believe that these core values and basic principles must be upheld no matter how the body is reformed. The formulation and revision of any rules must respect the general will of WTO members, and any move that ignores the seriousness of WTO rules is a departure from justice.