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| Gov. Rick Snyder, right, was among a select group of governors who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Seattle on Tuesday. |
Meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the
second time in three days, Gov. Rick Snyder has engaged in a full-throttle
effort to establish strong trade ties between Michigan and the world’s
fastest-growing economy.
Snyder will attend a U.S. State Department luncheon in
Washington this afternoon that will include President Xi, Vice President Joe
Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry. All three officials will address the
luncheon audience.
in Seattle on Tuesday where Snyder was one of a handful of governors who met
with Xi and top business and provincial leaders from China. What’s interesting
is that the governors were the usual suspects while Snyder was an outlier to
earn such a prestigious meeting. Tom Watkins, former state school superintendent, CEO of the
Detroit-Wayne Mental Health Authority and a keen observer of U.S.-China
relations, said that Snyder’s appearance at the Seattle and Washington events
on Xi’s first trip to the United States “elevates Gov. Snyder and the state of
Michigan in the eyes of key Chinese decision makers.”
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| President Xi |
Watkins, a prolific writer of guest columns and Op-Eds for
the Michigan media, said that the Republican governor, just back from his fifth
trade mission to China, has steadily and methodically established the trusting,
“guanxi” relationships that the Chinese expect when choosing a business/trading
partner.
Traveling to China in each of his five years in office, Snyder understands that
building relationships for the long run will pay great dividends for the people
of Michigan, according to Watkins.
Snyder’s China strategy
Decidedly Democratic in his political views, Watkins, who
made numerous trips to China over the past decade as a business consultant, sent
an email message to Politically Speaking about the governor’s activities this
week:
“While at the national level the Republican Party treats
China like “Peking Duck,” constantly looking for ways to divide and
subtract, Gov. Snyder has been about addition and multiplication of jobs and
investment for the people of Michigan. He has constantly sought ways to assure
China’s rise did not come at Michigan’s demise.
“American elections need to be about adding and multiplying
jobs — not election year subtraction and division. Bashing China will not
create a single American job.”
political leaders that are able to create “win-win” opportunities
that will add jobs and investment in our great state. While the Chinese economy took a dip in recent months it
is still expected to remain as the United States’ top trading partner for
decades to come. Watkins said that greater foreign, direct investment and more
exporting of our goods and service to China, a market of 1.3 billion people — including
300 million in the middle class, nearly equal to the entire U.S. population —
will generate interest in what we have to sell.“Gov. Synder has been building bridges,” he said, “while
others were digging moats.”
Host families needed
for Chinese law students
The Macomb Cultural and Economic Partnership (MCEP), which
has hosted numerous cultural exchanges between Macomb County and China, is
seeking host families for 11 Chinese law students who will be visiting starting
Oct. 1.
The students, from China University of Political Science and
Law, will need locals to share American culture with them over the next three
months. The MCEP is looking for local
families to serve as a host for as little as a night or weekend.
join them on a family outing for an evening, a day or weekend. The students
will be living on their own and have a “day program.” So, MCEP is looking for
people to talk them shopping, on an outdoors or boating excursion, to the
movies, a night out or a weekend Up North. The MCEP is also seeking donations of tables, desks,
bookcases, hutches, storage units, or games for the Chinese students to make
their stay in America/Michigan/Macomb County more comfortable.
One other need: The nonprofit group is seeking lawyers to be
mentors for the students during their stay here. The MCEP hopes to connect with
lawyers who would meet eight times over two months with one student to describe
their role in the American judicial system. The partnership will provide transportation
and no financial commitment is required.
For more information, log onto MCEPmacomb.com or call (586)
783-6008.
