Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story of sound and spirit of Christmas is in the Republic of China in Taiwan but is not reflected in the Communist mainland China.

The United States has pressed China over the past several years to improve its protection of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) and to afford greater market access to intellectual property-related products, such as computer software, compact disks (CDs), and audio-visual products. U.S. threats of trade sanctions against Chinese products helped produce trade agreements in January 1992 and February 1995 that pledged China to improve its IPR enforcement regime and expand market access for IPR-related products. However, despite these agreements, U.S. and IPR industry officials have charged that IPR piracy in China remains rampant and is costing U.S. firms $2.3 billion in lost trade annually. On May 15, 1996, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) threatened to impose approximately $2 billion in trade sanctions against China for failing to abide by the February 1995 IPR agreement. This report outlines the history of the U.S.-Chinese IPR dispute and examines its ramifications for future U.S.-Chinese economic relations.

U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. China is now the third largest U.S. trading partner, its second largest source of imports, and its fourth largest export market. However, U.S.-China commercial ties have been strained by a number of issues, including a surging U.S. trade deficit with China, China's refusal to float its currency, and failure to fully comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially its failure to provide protection for U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR). This report explores these issues in detail, especially concerning the lack of protection for U.S. IPR.

This report presents policy and oversight issues for Congress arising from maritime territorial disputes involving China in the South China Sea (SCS), East China Sea (ECS), and an additional dispute over whether China has a right under international law to regulate U.S. and other foreign military activities in its maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).