his troops were too out of shape to makernany such eharge across open fields andrnover fences, Lee dehberately orderedrnthem to their deaths—and so saved thernUnion.rnThere is still time to put forth alternativernexplanations for the events depictedrnon the screen, and it is not too soon to dornso. There is the distinct possibility thatrnthe Confederate soldiers in Gettysburgrnwere such slobs simply because Turnerrnrelied on the services of hundreds of 40-rnsomething reenactors who seem tornspend the rest of their waking momentsrnwedged into La-Z-Boy recliners and whornought to get lives.rnWhen they go to film Gods and Generals,rnHollywood can again be expectedrnto take liberties with the story, though itrnwould be to everyone’s benefit, and history’s,rnif less portly extras were used. It isrnentirely possible that Turner was simplyrntoo lavish in the feeding of his cast,rnwhich might have been better served hadrnhe issued them all Jane Fonda workoutrnvideos, to be put to good use, say, sixrnmonths before filming began.rnIf that is the case, then Lee was mistakenrnwhen he told his men that thernslaughter in Pickett’s Charge was “all myrnfault.” As usual, Marse Robert was beingrntoo hard on himself. The Southern defeatrnwas not his fault at all. It was TedrnTurner’s caterer’s.rnAlan Pell Grawford, author of Thunderrnon the Right: The “New Right” and thernPolitics of Resentment, is senior counselorrnat Martin Public Relations in Richmond,rnVirginia.rnFOREIGN AFFAIRSrnDeclaring Chinarn”Normal”rnby William R. HawkinsrnThe annual process of extendingrn”most-favored-nation” (MFN)rntrade status to communist China was tornhave a new twist this year. Beijing’srnfriends in Washington were pushing forrnan end to this embarrassing review ofrnBeijing’s brutal behavior by grantingrnMFN to China on a permanent basis.rnThe move was to be attempted beforernChina takes formal control of HongrnKong on July 1. To wait could derail therneffort if China follows through on its announcedrnplans to rescind a variety of thernformer British colony’s freedoms.rnRepresentative Doug Bereuter (RNE),rnchairman of the International RelationsrnSubcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,rnintroduced a bill to repeal thernJackson-Vanik Act that sets up the waiverrnprocedure by which the President canrnrestore MFN status to “nonmarketrneconomies.” Any such waiver is nowrnsubject to a vote of disapproval byrnCongress. Bereuter wants to eliminaternthe oversight role of Congress, placingrnthe question of trade terms entirely inrnthe hands of the President. Further,rnBereuter would lessen the sanctions thatrncould be applied, limiting them to onlyrnmodest tariff hikes. Revoking or suspendingrnMFN would no longer be an option.rnWith the start of President Clinton’srnsecond term, the China Lobbyrnexuded confidence.rnSuddenly, the drive to expand thernconcessions already given to Beijing on arnunilateral, unconditional basis wasrnstalled by a series of revelations concerningrnChina’s military, political, and espionagernactivities. Now, China’s apologistsrnare fighting to prevent any change inrnthe policy of “routine” annual renewalsrnof MFN. If they can wait out the currentrnstorm of controversy and make itrnthrough the summer unscathed, they’llrnbe able to resume their “long march” ofrnappeasement toward Beijing by year’srnend.rnThe China Lobby will continue to followrnthe line set out during last year’s debate,rnwhen Bereuter argued that evenrndiscussing China’s behavior was dangerous,rnfor itrncan push China to unnecessarilyrnbecome an enemy or adversary.rnThat would undoubtedly prove tornbe one of the truly momentousrntragedies in American and worldrnhistory. The financial consequencesrnof a cold war with Chinarnare staggering and the costs of anrneventual overt conflict with thernPRC are unimaginably tragic forrnthe two countries and mankind.rnIt is apparently better to appease Beijingrnwith soothing words, infinite patience,rnand large infusions of cash.rnSome of this cash has been recycled tornsupport Chinese political and espionagernoperations, which have flourished in thernpermissive atmosphere created by appeasement.rnHundreds of Chinese companies,rnmany owned by the People’s LiberationrnArmy, serve as fronts for agentsrnseeking commercial ties with Americanrnbusinessmen to gain access to technology,rncapital, and the political process.rnLast summer, the FBI warned membersrnof Congress—and tried to warn thernWhite House—of Chinese attempts torninfluence the 1996 elections. The cashobsessedrnClinton reelection campaign,rnhowever, ignored the tip and adoptedrnthe same stance of studied ignorance ofrnChinese intent regarding illegal contributionsrnto the Democratic Party as it hasrnregarding Beijing’s aggressive trade andrnmilitary policies.rnChina’s apologists have advanced thernargument that “most-favored-nation” isrna misleading term because it impliesrnChina is getting some special treatment.rnIn point of law, all countries are entitledrnto MFN unless specifically denied.rnTherefore, MFN should be consideredrnthe “normal” trading status and be givenrnto China as a “normal” government andrna “normal” member of the world community.rnThe problem with this is that China isrnnot “normal” and has not been consideredrnso in American trade policy sincern1951. From slave labor camps to thernproliferation of ballistic missiles andrnweapons of mass destruction to militaryrnactions in the Taiwan Straits, China’s behaviorrnis more on a par with Cuba orrnNorth Korea, countries which do notrncurrently enjoy MFN status. MFN wasrndenied to the Soviet Union and WarsawrnPact members, when their policies conflictedrnwith those of America.rnTrade is not an isolated facet ofrninternational relations. Many in thernbusiness community would like to haverngovernment officials think otherwise,rnleaving corporations free to pursue theirrnself-interest without regard for any largerrnconsequences of their actions. Trade,rnhowever, cannot be so isolated, especiallyrnwhen it involves industrial investment,rnthe transfer of advanced technology, andrnthe providing of other resources thatrnundergird the political and militaryrnstrength of nations. This has been wellrnknown for centuries; as Louis XIV’s FinancernMinister Jean-Baptiste Colbertrnput it, “Trade is the basis of finance andrnAUGUST 1997/47rnrnrn