TRADE TALKS: CAN DIPLOMAT BARBIE BE FAR BEHIND?

CAN DIPLOMAT BARBIE BE FAR BEHIND?

In the art of diplomacy, the well-timed gesture can make all the difference. During presummit haggling, National Security Adviser SANDY BERGER warned his Chinese counterpart, Liu Hua Qui, that the ballooning trade deficit with China, $44 billion this year, was going to provoke a mega-political backlash. Liu replied that the deficit had many complex causes, including wrongheaded U.S. export controls. During a break, a frustrated Berger told an aide to buy a present for Liu. When the Chinese official unwrapped it, he found, instead of the traditional vase, a spanking-new Barbie--made in China, of course. Berger razzed him, "I want you...

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