BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, MAY 26, 1994) WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Clinton says he is renewing Most-Favored Nation trade status for China despite continuing human rights abuses. And going even further, he says he's de-linking trade and human rights, a major change in policy.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That linkage has been constructive during in the past year, but I believe, based on our aggressive contacts with the Chinese in the past several months, that we have reached the end of the usefulness of that policy. And it is time to take a new path for the achievement of our constant objectives.</s>BLITZER: The president says, he is banning imported Chinese arms and ammunition, which officials say amount to about to about $200 million in annual sales. But that's only a tiny fraction of the more than $30 billion in Chinese exports to the United States. Mr. Clinton promises the U.S. will continue to monitor human rights in China. For the most part, human rights activists blasted Mr. Clinton's decision.</s>MIKE JENDRZEJCZYK, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA: It is a huge setback for human rights and for the credibility of the president around the world when he claims to be concerned about human rights, and when he claims that it's a key component of our foreign policy.</s>BLITZER (on camera): During the campaign, Mr. Clinton accused President Bush of coddling tyrants in Beijing. Now the president is being accused of the same thing, suggesting that things often look differently from the perspective of the Oval Office, than they do from the campaign trail.
CNN 20: U.S. Renews China's MFN Status, May 26, 1994