Gephardt Calls For End To Trade With China

House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt broke ranks Tuesday with President Clinton for the second time in a week and called for an end to normal trade with China.

Gephardt blasted what he termed the Chinese tyranny of forced abortions, slave labor, religious persecution and weapons sales to dangerous nations. He urged Congress to reject Clinton’s request to extend most-favored-nation trading status to China for another year.

“What have we gained by trafficking with a tyranny that debases the dignity of one-fifth of the human race?” Gephardt asked in a speech to The Economic Club of Detroit. “What is gained by a policy that sees all the evils and looks the other way?”

White House press secretary Mike McCurry, who was in Paris with Clinton, said the president will charitably disagree with the Missouri Democrat.

“The suspension in trade relations with China would in some sense be a declaration of economic war with China,” McCurry said. He said the action would isolate China, which is the world’s fastest-growing economy.