Nixon backs off trip after complaints from China, local groups
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 7, 2010
By Tony Messenger
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon postponed a trade mission to Taiwan days after the Chinese consulate and St. Louis business leaders complained that the trip could scuttle a potential deal with China to turn Lambert-St. Louis International Airport into a freight hub.
Members of the Midwest China Hub Commission had advised Nixon that going to Taiwan would anger representatives of the Chinese government during a sensitive time in the negotiations to bring that nation's business to Lambert.
"It's fair to say we didn't think the trip would be helpful," said Mike Jones, chairman of the commission.
Jones told the Post-Dispatch on Monday that members of his commission had been talking to Nixon about the trip for a couple of weeks before his Friday decision to postpone the trip. The commission believes Nixon made the right choice, Jones said.
"He came to us," Jones said of Nixon. "He reached out, and we shared our opinion about the trip. We knew the Chinese reaction would be negative."
The U.S. has frequently found itself playing a diplomatic balancing act with China over Taiwan. While relations between the Chinese mainland and the island have improved in recent years, China still considers Taiwan part of its country under its "One China" policy.
On Dec. 1, Nixon announced that he was heading a trade mission to Taiwan and South Korea, visiting the two countries Dec. 10-16. While in Taiwan, the governor was planning to be party to a letter of intent under which Taiwanese businesses would agree to buy $600 million worth of Missouri agricultural products.
The news release announcing the trip included a quote of support from Dan Mehan, director of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and also the vice chairman of the Midwest China Hub Commission.
The next day, Jones wrote Nixon a letter on behalf of the commission asking him to delay the trip. The letter said that a representative of the Chinese government was afraid the trip would be received negatively in Beijing.
"Jeffery Yang, the Chinese Consul General for the Midwest ... officially contacted the MCHC to express his strong concern that your proposed visit to Taiwan would be misunderstood in Beijing and would probably affect our chances of success," Jones wrote. "(T)he Board of Commissioners of the MCHC respectfully requests that you find a diplomatic way of avoiding your trip to Taiwan."
By late Friday afternoon, the governor's office issued a one-sentence news release: "Because of travel challenges, Gov. Nixon's upcoming trade mission has been postponed."
Asked for more information on the cancelation, a Nixon spokesman said the governor's office would have nothing else to say about the trip.
Neither Yang nor Mehan could be reached for comment. Other Midwest China Hub Commission members deferred to Jones to speak for the organization.
The trip to Taiwan and South Korea was to include a large delegation of government and business officials, including representatives of various agricultural organizations, such as soybean and corn trade groups. Last year, Nixon attended the signing of an agreement between Taiwanese and Missouri business groups in his office.
Meanwhile, after nearly three years of talks with the Chinese, local officials say they're in the final stages of negotiations that could bring cargo flights to Lambert by the spring. Executives from three Chinese airlines visited St. Louis for four days last month and told the Post-Dispatch they liked what they saw at Lambert. Now they're studying the feasibility of launching regular cargo service here and could then hammer out a deal with the airport.
Beyond freight routes, which would likely start with just a few flights a week, local business leaders see the relationship as an opportunity to bring more Chinese investment to the region, particularly in industries like manufacturing, biotech and real estate.
The Missouri Legislature has allocated $2 million on the China hub project, though only about $1 million of that has been made available by Nixon because of budget cuts. The federal government, local governments and private businesses also have contributed to the attempt to turn Lambert into the Chinese freight hub in the U.S.
In recent years, China and Taiwan have increased their economic ties, said Elizabeth Economy, the director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Economy questioned whether the Chinese would have a serious concern over a deal between Missouri and Taiwan over agriculture products.
"Economic relations are as strong as they have ever been between Taiwan and the mainland," she said.
