China’s Dangerous Plan to Acquire Our Ports

China’s Dangerous Plan to Acquire Our Ports

SB 723 Could Aid Holden’s Plan to Secure Chinese Funding for Loop

by Woody Jenkins

BATON ROUGE — Thanks to America’s “free trade” policies, which treat a Communist dictatorship as though it were a private enterprise, the rulers of Communist China now have great wealth, so much so that they have trillions of dollars sitting idle.

They can use their vast wealth to subjugate and control their people, and they do.

They can use their wealth to acquire the world’s most sophisticated and deadly weapons, and they do.

And they can use their wealth to acquire the vital infrastructure of the world — and that’s exactly what they are doing.

In country after country, China is purchasing oil fields, mining concessions over vast areas, and ports.  They are also building and keeping ownership of superhighways in countries around the world.

Mayor-President Kip Holden is well aware of this, which is why he has twice travelled to China in an attempt to secure funding for the Baton Rouge Loop.  He is hoping a Chinese government-owned bank will put up the seed money and become the “private” partner in a public/private partnership to build the Loop.  If that happened, the Chinese government would own and operate a Loop encircling the City of Baton Rouge and cutting across the middle of Central.

When it comes to ports, the Chinese already own some of the most important ones in the world.  For example, not long ago, they acquired port facilities at both ends of the Panama Canal.

Now the Port of New Orleans or the Port of Baton Rouge may well be a target of the Chinese.

In December 2011, Mr. Wei Jiafu, the chairman of China’s powerful, state-owned shipping company China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO), announced that his company is attempting to purchase a major port on the east coast of the United States or on the Gulf of Mexico.  They also hope to acquire a port on the Pacific coast of the United States.

The Chinese use the infrastructure they acquire as a base of intelligence operations and to secure deep roots in the countries where they operate.

They also convert the operation of their new facilities into the China labor model, which means low wages and inhumane working conditions for nationals they hire in their state-owned projects.

For example, the port they acquired several years ago in Greece provides workers long hours with no breaks for food, bathroom, or rest.  And the wages are near the starvation level.

Now a bill in the Louisiana Legislature could help facilitate those very things happening right here in Louisiana.

SB 723 by Sen. Conrad Appel provides that the governor will appoint an International trade board, which will in turn adopt a Master Plan for international investment and trade.  The Secretary of Economic Development would in turn have the power — acting on his own — to enter into joint ventures, partnerships, and cooperative agreements with foreign governments, such as China.

Under Art. 7, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution, “cooperative agreements” can be used to obligate funds and property of the State of Louisiana.

When the act says the Secretary can enter into “partnerships” with foreign governments, it means the Secretary, acting alone on behalf of the State of Louisiana, can become a business partner with a foreign government, such as China.

When President Bush was in office, a company in Dubai proposed to operate a port on the east coast of the United States.

That created an outcry of opposition.  Eventually, President Bush and Congress intervened to prevent Dubai from operating a port in this country.

But today, there is no prohibition in federal or state law to prevent Communist China from acquiring the Port of New Orleans or owning the Baton Rouge Loop.

SB 723 would allow the Secretary of Economic Development to enter into partnerships, joint ventures, and cooperative agreements with the Chinese that could facilitate just such a takeover.

SB 723 has already passed the state Senate and is pending on the House floor.  Please call your state representatives at 225-342-6945 and ask them to vote against SB 723 or at least amend it to prohibit foreign countries from directly or indirectly acquiring our roads, bridges, toll roads, or ports.

If this does happen, we will be an occupied land.


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