Subnational ties forge lasting bonds

Move beyond abstraction

Whether through pickleball, a classroom or a medical exchange, the deeper purpose is the same: to move people beyond abstraction. For those working on China-US subnational ties, that begins with showing up.

Ker Gibbs, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, often recalls a story about Max Baucus, the US ambassador to China under then-president Barack Obama.

Early in his posting, Baucus was the guest of honor at a Chinese banquet. Everything was going smoothly until, midway through the meal, he looked next to him and found the seat beside him empty. His host had gone. Baucus' first instinct was anger. Then he looked up. The host was moving from table to table, glass raised, toasting guests, filling the room with warmth. Then came understanding. He picked up his own glass, walked to the nearest table, and did exactly the same. The room was delighted.

Gibbs shared the story with the attendees at the recent China-US Sister Cities Summit in San Francisco to make the point: you have to be there.

"If you talk to Max Baucus today, he can't wait to get up out of his chair. You invite him to dinner, he barely sits down, and he just grabs his glass and goes off and toasts people," Gibbs said.

"There is no substitute for actually being there in China, talking to people and experiencing their culture and traditions," said Gibbs.

This year marks the 42nd anniversary of Oregon's sister-state bond with Fujian province and the 12th year of its sister relationship with Tianjin municipality.

Oregon became the first state in the United States to codify a sister-state committee in law: a bipartisan, bicameral committee designed explicitly to outlast any administration or electoral cycle. When political winds shift, the relationship holds its course.

"This design is highly intentional," said Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner, who cochairs the Oregon China Sister State Committee. "It ensures that our relationship with China transcends elections and party politics."

The legal framework, he said, sends a clear message that Oregon is open for business, committed to educational and cultural exchanges, and committed to building enduring subnational bridges.

Last October and November, the committee sanctioned two trade missions to China. Wagner led a delegation that visited 13 cities in nearly three weeks.

Those missions bore what Wagner called "magnificent fruit": Oregon signed an agreement last month to export more than 80,000 additional tons of hay to China.

He acknowledged that, to economists, this amounts to a line on a balance sheet. "But to the farmers, to local communities keeping their generational lands profitable, and to the workers at our ports staying employed, it means so much more," he said. "It is these subnational relations that turn abstract diplomacy into real-world mutual prosperity."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com