U.S. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said U.S. Sales of high technology to China are rising despite Pekings complaints they are being restricted. He told reporters at the airport on arriving here for talks that technology transfers to China had increased every year and would continue to do so. The official Peking Review yesterday accused the United States of delaying approval on high-technology sales to China. Last year Washington approved only 60 pct of the exports China applied for the magazine said. The COCOM-listed kind of export controls are just a fraction of the technology that the U.S. Is transferring (to China) by other means such as joint ventures Baldrige said. COCOM is the Western coordinating committee formed after World War Two to limit the export of advanced technology to Communist nations. Baldrige said he was sure U.S. Firms could compete against firms from other countries for high technology sales. He added that protectionism would hurt the economies of trading nations and said the Reagan Administration would fight protectionist legislation in the U.S. Congress. Baldrige and Chinas Foreign Trade Minister Zheng Tuobin will act as chairmen of the fifth session of a commission on commerce and trade that will review bilateral trade relations. A U.S. Official said other issues to be raised during Baldriges talks are trade deficits which each country says it has with the other and the problems facing U.S. Companies investing in China.
BALDRIGE ASSURES CHINA ON TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY