Free trade doesn't improve human rights
The recent articles "The Clinton pattern: trade first," and "After China pact, a diminished role for human rights?" reveal the contradictory nature of the Clinton administration's economic statecraft.
Most studies show that economic sanctions seldom succeed in achieving their goals - changing the target state's behavior. Immodest goals, such as human rights or territorial integrity, are especially problematic. So Clinton was right in 1994 when he "delinked" human rights from the annual debate over China's most favored nation (MFN) trade status, by asserting that trade should be trade, and nothing more.
But he then disingenuously oversold free trade as the silver bullet for human rights and democracy in China. If negative economic statecraft (sanctions) won't bring about human rights improvements, there is no evidence that positive economic statecraft (MFN or WTO membership) in itself will do the trick. Cuba is a WTO member, but has MFN changed its human rights practices? If free trade can bring about democracy in Russia, why shut Russia out of the WTO? Again, trade is trade, and nothing more.
Ironically, whereas sensible Americans may eventually understand the limits to economics as a foreign-policy instrument, the Chinese seem to attach a clear connection between WTO and human rights - both symbolize its desire to be accepted as a great power. In this regard, Beijing would have made more improvements in human rights had MFN still hung in suspense.
Regrettably, the Clinton administration threw that leverage away.
Vincent Wei-cheng Wang Richmond, Va.
Decatur brawlers deserve less
Public opinion regarding the fight that broke out during a high school sports event in Decatur, Ill. has gotten out of hand ("Ground zero of zero-tolerance for violence," Nov. 18). Fear over a brawl in the absence of weapons, labeling all the young men involved as thugs and pronouncing them all underachievers is totally unconscionable. In this situation I agree that a short suspension is reasonable and fair.
Let the punishment fit the crime. Many can remember the violence that starts at sports events such as soccer matches and hockey games where numerous bystanders fall victim to the oppressors. Researchers claim that many sports events have become hotbeds of violence and this has spilled over into our culture translating into even more violence.
Fairness and equity have given way to zero-tolerance. What in America do we tolerate? And how much are we willing to endure? Do we pass judgment based on our stereotypical perceptions or do we judge the individual by the content of their character as Martin Luther King so eloquently put it?
Derrick C. Darden Eatontown, N.J.
Misuse of calculators by students
As a mathematics teacher, I find the danger with calculators is that students do not look at the "answers" they get from their calculators to determine whether or not these answers look reasonable. For example, they often accidentally change the sign of the number. They just assume that whatever number shows on the screen must be the answer. I often ask students to put away their calculators and write down all the steps in their calculations. They don' t like to do this, but they often find their mistakes.
Ward Quincey San Francisco
Correction: The editorial "Hope Rekindles In Ulster" (Nov. 19) had the wrong name for the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. It should have read David Trimble.
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