The Port of Los Angeles’ head received an email with effusive praise from a prominent city resident as he prepared a flurry of media interviews to warn of the harm caused by tariffs passed by President Donald Trump last month.
Wang Wei, the ex-wife of Chinese Consul General Guo Shaochun, requested that Port of Los Angeles CEO Gene Seroka know that she found his opinions “practical, well-reasoned, and very convincing.”
In an email on May 6, Wang wrote, “I was pleasantly surprised to see your interview on Fox News this afternoon, where you shared your insights on the effects of the US-China tariff conflict on port trade.
“Later, I looked up YouTube and discovered that you’ve recently been interviewed by a number of major networks, including CNN and CNBC, etc. I was just aware of your celebrity status and business acumen,” Wang continued.
“Thank you for standing up and making a difference in terms of US-China trade development and exchange.”
The following day, Seroka thanked Wang for her message.
He declared, “We will continue to support world trade.” We need to do so much together, they say.
The emails, obtained by Al Jazeera through a public records request, offer an unusual insight into the Chinese lobbying for Trump’s trade war, which has targeted Beijing most frequently.
Trump’s administration has accused protectionism and “unilateral bullying,” while the most severe of his tariffs, which have been halted as Washington and Beijing work toward a comprehensive trade agreement.
State and local authorities, such as the Port of Los Angeles, a self-supporting division of the City of Los Angeles, are more likely to see the advantages of business between the parties, despite the US government’s growing skepticism of China’s rise as it attempts to halt its expansion.
The busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere, the Port of Los Angeles, announced that cargo had decreased by 35% from the previous year during the week of Wang and Seroka’s email exchange.
Seroka, who has repeatedly claimed in interviews that “no one wins” from a drawn-out US-China trade war, claimed his conversation with Wang was typical of his job as port CEO.
I have a wide range of international business relationships because I have lived in China and other Pacific Rim nations. One of many, he said, “is Ms. Wang Wei, who is also engaged in Port of Los Angeles business promotion.”
China’s Embassy in Washington, DC and Los Angeles did not respond to requests for comment.
A more pragmatic, pro-business perspective of ties is widely held at the state and local levels despite the tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Events like the US-China Sister Cities Summit held last year in Tacoma, Washington state, demonstrate how diplomatic relations between lower-level officials of the nations are not uncommon.
Washington has been critical of this engagement, though.
The US National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) warned in 2022 that China intended to “interpret” local government relations with local officials and legislators in order to “influence US policies and advance PRC geopolitical interests.”
More recently, the NCSC has issued warnings about China’s efforts to recruit current and former US officials through posing as consulting firms or think tanks.
A former Western diplomat in China told Al Jazeera that while foreign diplomats frequently speak with local officials and businesspeople about government policy, it is unusual for their families to voice their opinions.
Under the condition of anonymity, the ex-diplomat said, “Spouses or other family members of diplomats don’t typically speak with host country counterparts on policy issues, unless there happens to be an established personal relationship.”
Family members may discuss policy in private social settings with other diplomats and/or host nation representatives, but, in my opinion, it’s unusual for a spouse to discuss a policy issue with a counterpart in the host country, even privately.
A former US diplomat in China shared a similar opinion.
The ex-diplomat, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera, “It would be very uncommon from almost any country in the world to have a consul general’s spouse make that comment.”
“China can be a little different sometimes. Although occasionally, a Chinese diplomat’s spouse is also a government official. They may act in this way in those circumstances. Otherwise, it would primarily be written in response to comments made on cultural or interpersonal programs.
The former diplomat said that the US government’s warnings about Chinese cooperation with state and local authorities are largely “overblown,” and that “90 percent” of it is unconcerned.
Source: Aljazeera
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