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China
Relationships
Produce
Jobs
Op-Ed By
Tom
Watkins/Special
to Tell
Us USA
News
Network
DETROIT
Tell Us
USA) - A
$4.3
billion
deal has
a way of
getting
our
governor’s
attention.
Because
it’s
sure
buying a
lot of
Iowa
soybeans.
During
this
month’s
trip to
the
U.S.,
China’s
next
leader,
Xi
Jinping
(pronounced
shee
jeen
ping),
currently
China’s
vice
president,
inked
the mega
deal in
Iowa.
You can
bet Gov.
Rick
Snyder
paid
close
attention
to that
sale.
Since
taking
office a
little
more
than a
year
ago, he
has
taken
steps to
start
building
the kind
of
relationship
with
China
that his
Iowa
counterparts
started
building
in the
1980s
and
continue
to
nurture
to this
day.
There
are
lessons
for the
Mitten
State to
learn
from the
Iowa-China
connection.
Iowa’s
leadership
has been
nurturing
relationships
(“guanxi”)
with
China
dating
back
more
than a
quarter
of a
century.
It is
paying
off big
time.
Iowa
Gov.
Terry
Branstad
first
met Xi
in 1985
when Xi
was part
of a
delegation
that
visited
Iowa to
study
farming
and
hog-raising
practices.
Branstad
and
other
Iowa
leaders
nurtured
those
relationships
over the
years,
and
Branstad
led
another
trade
mission
to China
last
year.
Branstad
boasts,
“since
Xi’s
first
visit,
Iowa’s
agricultural
exports
to China
have
grown
1,300
percent.”
Quite
simply,
Iowa’s
leaders
have
worked
to
assure
that
China’s
rise did
not come
at their
demise.
Imagine
if
Michigan
had not
been
playing
“Peking
Duck”
for
political
reasons
the past
eight
years.
Our
former
governor
never
visited
China,
the
fast-growing
and now
second
largest
world
economy,
to
develop
the
necessary
relationships
that
might
have
grown
jobs
here in
Michigan.
Sadly,
rather
than
building
the
relationships
that
would
add and
multiply
jobs and
investment
in
Michigan,
there
was more
focus on
subtraction
and
division,
painting
China as
the
economic
bogeyman.
Just
recently,
former
congressman
Pete
Hoekstra’s
infamous
and
equally
dumb
Super
Bowl ad
that
played
in
Michigan
did not
help our
image as
a
friendly
place
for
Chinese
investment
either.
The ad
was
aimed at
U.S.
Senator
Debbie
Stabenow.
But its
insensitive,
xenophobic
shrapnel
hit
Chinese
Americans
across
the
state,
the
nation
and in
Taiwan
and
China as
well.
The
Hoekstra
ad,
while
striking
a chord
for
those
seeking
someone
to blame
for our
economic
misery,
was as
inappropriate
as it is
culturally
and
racially
insensitive.
It is
equally
bad for
business
and
developing
constructive
relationships
with
Chinese
business
and
governmental
leaders.
Business
and
people
go where
they are
wanted
and stay
where
they are
supported.
Gov.
Snyder
is on
the
right
track by
traveling
there in
his
first
months
in
office.
He has
set a
positive
tone in
getting
our
business
fundamentals
right
and
making
Michigan
a
hospitable
place
for
people
from
around
the
globe to
do
business.
He has
taken
steps to
get our
fiscal
house
and
business
taxes in
order,
as well
as make
Michigan
an
economic
and
immigrant
magnet
to help
get our
state
working
again.
Gov.
Snyder’s
relationship
with his
counterpart
in Iowa
netted
him an
invitation
to the
dinner
Branstad
hosted
for Vice
President
Xi and
his
delegation.
Snyder
attended
and had
conversations
with the
vice
president
of the
Ministry
of
Education,
governor
of Hebei
and
other
Chinese
business
and
governmental
leaders
during
this
historical
event.
Gov.
“Relentless
Positive
Action”
Snyder
understands
China
can and
must be
part of
the
ingredients
necessary
to
reinvent
and
revitalize
Michigan’s
economy.
He also
understands
it would
be
beneficial
for the
state to
restart
our
sister
relationship
with
Sichuan
Province
that was
established
during
the
Milliken
Administration
in the
late
1970s
and
early
1980s,
nurtured
by Govs.
Blanchard
and
Engler
and
foolishly
left to
wither
on the
vine
over the
last
decade.
With
Snyder’s
leadership,
it could
be
restored
and
enhanced.
It would
also be
wise for
the
state,
with
support
from
private
industry,
foundations
and our
major
universities,
to
re-establish
a trade,
tourism
and
cultural
exchange
office
in China
to help
tap
global
trade
and
investment
as the
21st
century
unfolds.
All
interactions
are now
global,
and
China,
with a
population
of 1.3
billion
and a
rising
middle
and
upper
class,
is a
mother
lode of
opportunity
to tap.
At a
Washington
luncheon
in honor
of Vice
President
Xi, he
referred
to the
U.S.-
China
relationship
as “an
unstoppable
river
that
keeps on
surging
ahead.”
Xi is
right:
Like it
or not,
we are
like a
bowl of
Chinese
noodles,
inextricably
linked.
It is
the
governor’s
job to
tap the
China
rise in
ways
that
work for
our
citizens.
Finding
the
right
path to
build
economic,
cultural
and
educational
bridges
with
China,
the
governor
may need
to
follow
the
advice
of the
man who
helped
push
open
China’s
doors to
the
world,
Deng
Xiaoping.
When
Deng was
asked
how he
would
build a
new
China he
responded,
“We
shall
cross
the
river,
by
feeling
for the
stones.”
Yet, as
we
celebrate
this
40th
anniversary
of
“Nixon
going to
China,”
there
are
well-worn
paths to
follow.
Many
have
found
the
stones
to build
bridges
with
China –
universities,
businesses,
The
Detroit
Chinese
Business
Association,
The
Chinese
Association
of
Greater
Detroit
and
other
Chinese
American
associations,
as well
as
leaders
in our
K-12
school
districts.
They
have
found a
path and
stand
ready to
help.
The
ancient
Chinese
philosopher,
Lao Tzu
teaches
us a
lesson
with his
famous
saying,
“A
journey
of a
thousand
miles
must
begin
with a
single
step.”
As Vice
President
Xi’s
recent
visit
demonstrates,
here in
Michigan,
we have
much
ground
to make
up.
Let’s
keep
feeling
for the
stones
and
seeking
ways,
like
Iowa, to
tap the
rich
China
vein and
build
two-way
cultural,
economic
and
educational
bridges
with
China.
I can
think of
4.3
billion
reasons
to do
so.
Tom
Watkins,
is a
US/China
business
and
education
consultant.
He
serves
on a
number
of
Chinese-American
business
and
education
boards
and is
an
honorary
professor
at
Mianyang
University
in
Sichuan
Province
and an
international
educational
consultant
to a
K-12
school
in Hong
Zhou,
China.
Tom
Watkins
can be
reached
at:
Tdwatkins88@gmail.com
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