Chinese economists fear favoured West may threaten sovereignty

Mainland economists and legal experts have expressed fears that Western countries might manipulate the WTO's disputes panel to undermine China's sovereignty in deciding trade-related policies.

'It is feared that the WTO trade disputes arbitration mechanism is biased towards Western powers and arbitration will be unfavourable to China, undermining China's control of its trade policies,' said Zuo Dapei, an economist at the Economic Research Institute of the China Academy of Social Science.

Mr Zuo said his experience was that international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague had failed to treat countries in a fair and equal manner and were influenced by politicians of certain world powers.

'That's why China will not recognise the war crimes court's rulings and insists it has no jurisdiction over China,' Mr Zuo said. China did not complain to the Hague about Nato's bombing of its Belgrade Embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999 for this reason, he said.

'China faces the same dilemma as the United States: it wants to join the globalisation game but does not want to impair its sovereignty,' Mr Zuo said. 'The US has the influence and power to make its own interests international interests, but China does not yet have such power.'

He said China's lack of legal experts in international trade law and the scarcity of experienced players who knew how to manipulate the rules of the game in international organisations would pose a threat to China's sovereignty. 'The power of the disputes panel should be curbed,' Mr Zuo said.

China's chief negotiator for WTO entry, Long Yongtu, has warned that China's biggest fear after becoming a member will be 'being a blind man riding a blind horse'.