Graham: 'Let's push China to change'

BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, back from a recent trip to China, said the United States needs to encourage changes in China that go beyond economic policy.

"Let's push China to change," the Republican lawmaker told the Berkley County Chamber of Commerce on Monday, noting that China is a dictatorship without an independent newspaper.

He told the group that their biggest competition in a global economy is from places like China and India.

Graham and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., are sponsoring legislation to impose punitive 27.5 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports to the United States unless China allows its currency's value to be determined by market forces.

The lawmakers announced last week they would delay a vote on their legislation for up to six months based on discussions they had indicating Chinese authorities are preparing to do more to introduce currency flexibility.

"Yo•can't compete if they cheat," Graham told the business leaders.

On another front, he said while the United States is having trouble in Iraq, he is confident of ultimate success. The lawmaker has been to Iraq four times and is planning to go back.

"We are asking the Iraqis to settle a 1,400-year-old religious dispute in three years," he said, adding that he met judges during his first trip there that are no longer alive.

But, he said, the people in Iraq are willing to fight terrorists for a better life.

"Every time they kill a judge or a policeman or a politician, someone takes their place," he said.

Graham also discussed immigration, noting that America has always been a nation of immigrants.