ture of the United States' complaint has to do with China's pirating of musical compact discs, video laser discs and computer software. In fact, it is estimated that such pirating costs American companies a billion dollars a year. Clearly, this is not the way that the trade system works. It is the United States' position that China must adhere to the rules of trade before it can be included in a trade organization. Needless to say, exclusion from WTO would be disastrous for any country, but particularly for an emerging market such as China. (Nathan 52) That is, his comments appeared to demonstrate the beneficence, or the moral force, of the Chinese Communist Party vis--vis economic reform. He noted that such reform involves the essence of socialism: "to liberate and develop productive forces; to eradicate exploitation; to remove polarization; and ... to attain the goal of common prosperity" ("Official" 12). CCP leaders still appear to see their roles as representatives of a moral force. CCP members and leaders wish economic reform not to be judged on just its practical merits, but also as an effect of the moral force of the leadership. Economic reform, then, becomes nothing less than a moral crusade and it is easy to see why China "has staked its national prestige on becoming a founding member of the World Trade Organization" (Gargan 14). Once the Chinese attain more sophisticated international and national markets, institute a more manageable banking system, and make a good faith effort to insure acceptable human rights, the country may well become "the richest economy in the world within the next 25 years" (Gilder 372). China’s economic reform is truly an impressive advancement considering the short time span in which the Chinese government has so greatly improved its country’s economy. However, China, with all its emphasis on morality and "correct consciousness" still retains much of the dictatorial nature inherent i...
