UPDATE on Sleeping with the Enemy – NGA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah – July 2011

A few updates on OK-SAFE blog post Sleeping with the Enemy -National Governors Association to Pair U.S. Governors and  Chinese Party Leaders, dated 6/7/11.

1)  A Media Advisory issued July 8th by the Governor’s office has confirmed that Governor Mary Fallin will be attending the NGA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah July 13-17, 2011.

Up to now, calls and emails to OK Governor Mary Fallin questioning her participation at the upcoming NGA U.S.-China Governors Forum in Salt Lake City, Utah have gone unanswered.

Additional emails and calls are needed now that her attendance has been confirmed – just exactly what are her intentions at this conference?

Phone: 405-521-2342, 800-865-5853

Email: info@gov.ok.gov

2)  Calls and emails are needed to Lt. Governor Todd Lamb, who answered “Yes” to the question “Is your office planning to actively seek foreign direct investment in the state of Oklahoma?”

Phone: 405-521-2161

Email: info@gov.ok.gov, attention Lt. Gov. Lamb.

3)  Missing MOU document Found: The MOU Creating the U.S.-China Governors Forum was noticeably absent from the U.S. State Department’s website a full 6 months after its announcement. After repeated inquiries, this document is now available on the U.S. State Department’s website. Details on the OK-SAFE blog.

Getting it Right – “Ohio Gov. John Kasich has decided to drop out of the National Governors Association. With state finances tighter than tight, he wants to save the dues of $176,000 a year…. The Kasich administration will leave the bipartisan group at the end of this month. He will not attend its annual conference in July in Salt Lake City.” Rest here.

Too bad OK Governor Fallin didn’t make the same decision.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Interview with Prof. William Kauffman on America in the Balance

Guest Prof. William “Bill” Kauffman, Retired, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, President, Explosion Research and Investigation Corporation, was forced into retirement when he began questioning the University’s ties with Communist Chinese, including sharing defense technology. Kauffman is a contributor to the china-threat.com website.

 

Missing MOU now on U.S. State Dept. website

On January 19, 2011 the U.S. State Department announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creating a U.S.-China Governors Forum.

While fact sheets and summaries were available, including photos of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, and press conferences were held announcing this document by State Dept. officials, the actual MOU was noticeably missing.

Numerous phone calls and requests for the missing document to State’s Special Representative Reta Jo Lewis’ office, the official announcing the MOU,  were unsuccessful.  OK-SAFE then made a request through Congressman John Sullivan’s office on June 28, 2011; two days later, a legislative assistant in Sullivan’s D.C. office provided a link to a pdf version of the missing MOU.  This link was provided to him by a contact in the State Department.

Wonder of wonders, this MOU is also now available on the State Department page with the other documents pertaining to the U.S. China Governors Forum. (It wasn’t there January – June of 2011 – interesting.)

Here’s a direct link to MOU in pdf format: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/167499.pdf

The National Governors Association sponsored U.S.-China Governors forum is scheduled for July 15-17, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah and will be held at the 5-star Grand America Hotel.

The NGA event coincides with the U.S.-China 2011 Conference on Trade,Education, and Culture, to be held at the Little America Hotel, directly across the street from the NGA event, July 14-17, 2011.

Both events advertise pairing up of U.S. officials with Chinese counterparts. (See the OK-SAFE blog post entitled “Sleeping With the Enemy” for more details.)

Citizens in all states have been asked to contact their governor and ask whether they plan to attend either of these conferences and if so, just what their intentions are regarding foreign direct investment, or other types of partnerships with the Communist Chinese.

Sleeping with the Enemy – U.S. Governors to Pair Up with Chinese Officials

OK-SAFE 6/6/11 – U.S. Governors will be saying more than “Ni hau” (Hello)  to Chinese party officials at an upcoming National Governors Association (NGA) meeting.

The U.S. – China Governors Forum, scheduled for July 15-17, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is set to include one-on-one pairing of U.S. Governors with Chinese provincial party secretaries and Governors.  The pairings, called “peer-to-peer exchanges,” aim to “strengthen bilateral cooperation.” Topics are to include items of “mutual interest,”  i. e. “job creation, education, health and economic cooperation.”

A second session will take place in China in late 2011 or early 2012.

This forum is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the establishment of the U.S.-China Governors Forum to Promote Sub-National Cooperation, signed by Sen. of State Hillary Clinton on January 19, 2011.

Secretary Clinton shakes hands with the Chinese foreign minister after the memorandum of understanding signing, 1/19/2011
Photo Source: U.S. Dept. of State

The Governors Forum will be held behind close doors.

[See researcher Vicky Davis’  excellent article on this meeting, entitled “Quislings to Collaborate with Communist Chinese.”]

The collaboration is indicative of the deepening U.S. involvement with the Chinese government, particularly at the sub-national (state and local) level.

Increased Agreements

At the Third Round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in May 2011 the U.S. and China agreed to 48 strategic outcomes, including “further cooperation between U.S. and Chinese enterprises and institutions on healthcare, disaster response, and smart grids.”

The Rhodium Group, (RHG) has a China Investment Monitor map, indicating that between 2003-2010 there were 230 deals between states and China, totaling $11.7 Billion in “greenfield and acquisition” investments. This includes Oklahoma.

Oklahoma

According to The Rhodium Group investment map, Oklahoma  has one  Chinese investment so far, totaling $4 million in “consumer products”.

Governor Mary Fallin, a member of the NGA’s Economic Development and Commerce Committee, will most likely be promoting more Chinese investment in Oklahoma.

From this committee’s May 2011 briefing:

“Attracting Foreign Direct Investment into the States
On May 17, 2011, the NGA Economic Development and Commerce Committee hosted a briefing for governors’ staff about the role of foreign direct investment from the perspective of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign parent companies. Topics discussed included how to recruit investment, tax challenges, conflict-of-laws and the importance of physical infrastructure to global competitiveness. Panelists: Tom Langan, director of U.S. government relations and public affairs, Unilever (NGA Corporate Fellow); Nancy McLernon, president and CEO, Organization for International Investment (OFII); and, John Lettieri, senior director of public policy and government affairs, OFII. Audio link (mp3)”

Oklahoma’s Dept. of Commerce promotes Foreign Direct Investment in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s universities have been busy developing Chinese partnerships, including OU’s Confucius Institute, which aims to “foster a permanent place for the teaching and study of Chinese in Oklahoma K-12 schools courses.”

Where’s the Document?

According to the Chinese Embassy in the U.S website, describing President Hu Jintao’s U.S. visit:

“During Hu’s January visit, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding commissioning the CPAFFC and the NGA to create the governors forum mechanism.

According to the document, the forum will serve as an important communication platform aimed at promoting practical cooperation at the sub-national level in areas such as trade, investment, energy, environment and culture”

No amount of searching of the State Department, White House, and Chinese embassy websites has revealed the actual Memorandum of Understanding document.

A FOIA request for a copy of the MOU has been submitted to the State Dept.’s Office of Global Intergovernmental Affairs.

The 2011 NGA Winter Meeting , held in Washington D.C. featured Zhou Qiang, Party Secretary, Hunan Provincial Committee, pictured above.  Zhou encouraged increased sub-national cooperation. Photo Source: National Governors Association.

What are the intentions of the Fallin administration regarding expanding Chinese involvement in Oklahoma?

Does Gov. Fallin intend to partner with a Chinese party official at the July meeting in Salt Lake City and seek increased “sub-national cooperation”?

Does Fallin intend to encourage Chinese foreign direct investment in Oklahoma or seek public-private partnerships with the Chinese in developing Oklahoma’s infrastructure?

These and other questions need to be answered by this “conservative” governor.

Governor Fallin’s office contact information:
Phone: 405-521-2342
Email: info@gov.ok.gov