BEIJING (Reuter) - China warned the United States Friday that it would face
retaliation if it imposed
sanctions for copyright piracy, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation
told the Xinhua news agency.
A U.S. decision to identify China as the worst violator of copyrights and
patents on a list of offending nations
issued annually by the U.S. Trade Representatives' Office was
``irrational,'' Xinhua quoted the ministry
spokesman as saying.
``China firmly opposes the action,'' the spokesman said.
``If the U.S. goes so far as to implement its trade retaliation, China will,
according to its foreign trade law,
take countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and national esteem,'' he
said.
``The U.S. side should bear all the consequences rising therefrom,'' he warned.
Since China and the United States signed a landmark agreement on protection
of intellectual property rights
in China, Beijing had ``comprehensively and earnestly'' implemented its
obligations, the spokesman said.
U.S. trade officials said on Tuesday that China's failure to implement the
pact to protect copyrights from
widespread piracy was a top trade priority and sanctions against Chinese
imports were possible.
That agreement narrowly averted a bruising trade war.
Industry experts estimate Chinese piracy of intellectual property costs U.S.
industry $1.5 billion annually.
Copyright 1996 Reuters LTD.
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