It’s something our governor doesn’t share. Any idea what I am talking about? Here’s the answer. The first three men have been to China, in search of economic advantages for our state and nation.
But our governor has not. To quote Tom Watkins, a former state superintendent of schools and a fellow Democrat, “Gov. Jennifer Granholm still not made a trade mission to China in her nearly seven years in office.” What’s worse, Watkins adds in a recent newspaper commentary, she continues to spout political rhetoric bashing China.
Now, it needs to be said that Watkins has no reason to feel kindly towards Granholm. A few years ago, she forced him out of his job as state superintendent, a job he very much wanted to keep. He isn’t exactly an unbiased observer.
Yet there is plenty of evidence that his criticism of the governor‘s lack of a China policy is accurate.
Indeed, he is far from the only one who finds the governor’s failure to court the world’s largest emerging market baffling. The governor is hardly a stay-at-home type.
She’s constantly globe-trotting in search of new jobs, and claims to have brought nearly 11,000 of them to Michigan since she took office.
That was her fourth trip to Japan, which has less than one-tenth China’s population.
Earlier this week, veteran Lansing correspondent Tim Skubick asked why our “go anywhere, anytime, governor” hasn’t exploited China’s potential for jobs.
“You remember China, the place that makes everything we buy over here? “ Skubick asked, adding “It is a market to be exploited.”
So, why aren’t we trying to do that? Well, as both Watkins and Skubick point out, the governor has been very successful at making political points by bashing China. Three years ago, she repeatedly accused her opponent, Dick DeVos, of shipping Michigan jobs off to China. That’s something the experts agree that this isn’t helpful to Michigan’s long-term economic interests.
In fact, the governor got complaints about this from her own Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
But the governor continues to beat the anti-China drum. During an August fundraiser for Lt. Gov. John Cherry, her chosen successor, she asked “Do we want to be a place where the unemployed suffer while we watch our jobs shipped off on a slow boat to China?”
That isn’t helpful. As Watkins notes, “this type of rhetoric not only fails to create a single Michigan job,” it makes it harder to even begin to do so. Other Michigan leaders have been smarter about this.
Both Wayne and Oakland counties have set up permanent offices in China. Legislative leaders have begun to go there as well. Solid business partnerships in Asia require building relationships.
We haven’t done that. The state does have an office in China - but it is run out of Lansing by a man who told Skubick, “It’s not a top priority.” Even high school students know that China is the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economic superpower.
Michigan is the place most in need of new jobs and industries.
Figuring out our priorities here shouldn’t be that hard.
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