Dave Porter writes in to say that he and Oregon State Representative Dennis Richardson are proposing a new initiative for the Oregon Business Plan, titled Developing the China Connection through Educational Programs.
Tom is quoted briefly on page 5 and his weblog and brief are linked on page 18. The proposal seeks to increase significantly the number of Oregon students studying Mandarin and studying abroad in China. It is probably a long shot for acceptance as an initiative. But we are promoting it.Thanks for sending this in, Dave.
The whole idea comes from asking if China and the US are to have a “special relationship,” do not a lot more of us need to learn Chinese?
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Comments (4)
Governor Huntsman of Utah was in China three weeks ago with local University Presidents and business execs doing the same thing. This is one reason why we need to look among governors for future national leaders. They're simply further down the curve than our Senators.
Posted by Chuckr | November 14, 2006 12:46 PM
This is also a good example of the benefits of federalism: Oregon rests by the Pacific Ocean, so her thoughts will naturally turn towards that peaceful sea. Similarly, New Englanders know that Old Europe sleeps on other side of the pond.
Distributing decision making, which is exactly what federalism is about, allows each state to creatively explore these different opportunities. Which one will work out? Only time will tell. But with federalism we become experts at many things, not just somewhat capable at a few.
Posted by Dan tdaxp | November 14, 2006 2:42 PM
Here in Minnesota, there's already a strong connection with China:
- Our last 3 governors have led trade delegations to China, including the largest one from a US state last year.
- MN is the 8th largest exporter to China from the US; exports in 2005 increased 71% over 2004, so China is now our 3rd largest export market ($1.2B).
- There are more students and faculty from China at the University of MN than any other university in North America.
- Several MN high schools offer Mandarin Chinese, our legislature funded a $250,000 project to develop more K-12 programs, and one school district (St Paul) received a $680,000 federal grant to expand its program.
I got some of this info from the Minnesota-China Partnership, which is widely supported by state and local government, the private sector, and amazingly both Republicans and Democrats.Posted by Nathan Machula | November 14, 2006 6:38 PM
There is already a history of strong exchanges with Japan in Oregon, so I am not surprised they are reaching out to China.
Posted by Shawn in Tokyo | November 14, 2006 9:38 PM