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"Of the 50 states, this one probably has the closest affinity with China and the Chinese"
CHINESE President Hu Jintao's stop here tomorrow is no routine thing. Seattle is not Los Angeles or New York. Boeing and Microsoft provide an attraction, but this state also stands out because of an attitude. Voters here elected and re-elected Gary Locke, a Chinese American who took an interest in China and continues to promote it. In many ways, from long support of trade with China to construction of a traditional Chinese garden, this area has made a statement. "Of the 50 states, this one probably has the closest affinity with China and the Chinese," says retired diplomat Joe Borich, president of the Washington State China Relationship Council. China has placed another fat order of planes from Boeing. Beijing has announced that it will require all computers sold in China come with an operating system installed by the manufacturer a measure of protection for Microsoft. All this is more than business. It is a way of giving us acknowledgement. You may interpret it cynically, as politics, but it is politics of the warm response. The very least Seattle will do is give China's leader a strong welcome. Sometimes a welcome in a democracy includes protests but we are generous with our protests and hand them out to local politicians, too. The political climate in Washington, D.C., is not all that positive, stemming from a huge trade deficit with China and the protectionist sentiments of regions different from ours. And yet, says David Bachman, associate director of the University of Washington's Jackson School, the relationship between China and America "is probably the most important for the world economy and world peace." Between America and China are issues of trade, international security and human rights. There is also Taiwan, an important trading partner and friend of this region whose political future remains a potentially dangerous puzzle. Taiwan's democracy is part of the greater Chinese story out of Asia. World economy and a tranquil Pacific is part of China's enormous importance to Washington state. Of these things, Hu will have something to say. We need to listen. How far we can cooperate with him comes later. But this is the most important foreigner to step into our city for some years, and the reception we give him is of national importance. "Yes, the East Coast blue State dhimmis may surrender to Islam, but we West Coast blue Staters will surrender to the ChiComs first." Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-04-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=148895 |