KINDER'S COMMENTARY: CURRENT DEBATE OVER MFN STATUS FOR CHINA IS DEFINING TOPIC

My last offering described the theory that cycles among America's political parties dictate that one party will enjoy dominant status for a time ("the sun"), while the other party can be understood as though it were "the moon," reflecting light radiating out from the "sun" party, the latter being dominant both electorally and as the source of most of the interesting ideas and debates of the period.

After decades of Democratic dominance, some years ago we entered a period in which the Republican Party is today's "sun" party to the Democrats' "moon." Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan remarked years ago that the opposition Republicans had, for the first time in his lifetime, become "the party of ideas." Consider one important debate -- whether to approve most-favored-nation status to China -- raging today inside the GOP congressional majority. Despite the somewhat misleading name, MFN is the normal category of international trade we extend to all but a few nations.

It is in the nature of majority parties that they will be home to the most interesting debates. This is true if only because majorities consist of a more diverse governing coalition -- a stronger bolt of cloth, if you will, because composed of more and denser threads. On MFN for China the GOP has cleaved into two camps. On one side is the formidable and influential Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council and his Christian Coalition allies, the redoubtable Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family) and others such as Pat Buchanan. This camp has moved from exclusive concentration on abortion, the culture war and pro-family tax relief to embrace opposition to MFN. Bauer ably scores MFN, condemning China as among the world's worst human rights abusers, citing its ruthless repression, horrific policy of forced abortions and persecution of Christians.

Guilty as charged. The only argument: What means can best redress all this? In the pro-MFN camp inside the GOP are such luminaries as former vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and publisher Steve Forbes, along with House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Speaker Newt Gingrich, alongside the powerhouse Wall Street Journal editorial page. An sometime Bauer ally, passionate free-market advocate Father Robert Sirocco of the Acton Institute, recently took to that page to brand Bauer a trade warrior. Bauer heatedly denies this.

Consider Forbes on MFN: "Fruitful, non-warlike relations with China require the rise of pro-freedom, pro-free enterprise forces there. Economic expansion and open trade are essential. So is the exercise of real moral leadership. Abandon Bill CLinton's `see-no-evil, hear-no-evil' approach. Slap sanctions on China's rogue military-owned companies. Consistently denounce horrifying humanrights abuses. Expand Radio Free Asia. Stop selling sophisticated technology."

Or Kemp, who wants "a four-point plan to promote human rights in China and move them towards democracy and freedom" of which MFN is only a part, and Forbes' radio campaign is another.

Or Michigan Gov. John Engler: "Stopping religious persecution and ending human rights abuses must be moral objectives of America's China policy. If we end normal trade relations, will we accomplish those objectives? I think not. Isolation breeds repression. Trade fosters freedom. History teaches that the power of repressive states is ultimately nothing compared with the power of free markets."

Our big-investing friends out near Neelyville, the fine folks of Procter & Gamble, comprise a worldwide company whose leaders are aware of the stakes. Missouri corporations such as Monsanto and Anheuser-Busch are investing billions in China. Export-minded farmers, aware that one of every three rows of soybeans is destined for international markets, understand the new global economy.

So does Rep. John Shimkus, a West Point grad, freshman GOP congressman from Collinsville, Ill., and self-described born-again Christian. Shimkus considers himself as much a Christian conservative as any opponent of MFN. Says Shimkus, quoted in Crain's Chicago Business: "I truly believe this is the best way to free the Chinese people. Trade is the best way to create religious freedom and ... to aid the persecuted." He says his fellow Republicans "can have it both ways. They can cast their vote for Christian conservatives and still have MFN, which they know in their hearts is the right thing."

~Peter Kinder is assistant to the president of Rust Communications and a state senator from Cape Girardeau.