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Nebraska senator discusses U.S. beef ban, pandas while in China
(AP)--Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson recently spent a week airing his beef over beef with Chinese officials.
The Nebraska Democrat took a weeklong tour of China, meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao, President Hu Jintao and communist party leaders to discuss issues ranging from trade imbalances to pandas.
Foremost among the discussions has been China's ban on U.S. beef, Nelson said.
China has refused to lift its bans on imports of American beef and poultry imposed because of recent health concerns--including the discovery late last year of the United States' first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The ban is part of a larger trade imbalance with the communist country. Last year, the trade deficit with China reached $124 billion--the largest gap the United States has ever recorded with any nation. The weak Chinese currency, the yuan, has made Chinese products cheaper and American products more expensive. Some also contend abuse of workers in China gives it a competitive edge.
Nelson said he insisted during his visit this week that China take a stand on opening up its markets to U.S. goods--particularly U.S. and Nebraska-raised beef.
In fact, after sampling some beef in China, Nelson said he told Chinese leaders "how much better it would taste if it came from Nebraska."
While Chinese leaders assured that they are working to open up markets, Nelson said red tape and foot-dragging by midlevel authorities is keeping any real progress from being made.
"If something were to go wrong in the future, they would be on the line," Nelson said of what he called "the technical bureaucracy level."
"There's no real incentive for them to take a risk here," Nelson said. "It needs to have diplomatic, not a technical, review."
Asked whether he believes the Bush administration has done enough to get China to lift its ban on U.S. beef, Nelson simply replied, "No."
Nelson also again pushed for China to consider a request from Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo to secure a panda.
There are only about 1,000 of the endangered animals left in the wild, and only three U.S. zoos have pandas: the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Zoo Atlanta, and the San Diego Zoo.
While he received no assurances, Nelson said officials assured him that the Omaha zoo's request remains on their agenda.
"One of the things I've learned about dealing with the Chinese is that you have to have some patience, because things move more slowly there than Americans are used to," Nelson said.
Date: 8/26/04
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