Off The Beat: If China Foots the Bill, Who Sets the Agenda?
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle is in China and Taiwan until June 20, and took a shorter trip to South Korea last month.
The governments of those countries all helped pay for his travel, lodging, meals and transportation. How does who pays affect what happens on a business trip?
The mayor’s spokeswoman told Civil Beat Monday that the goals of Carlisle’s trip include:
- Strengthening “sister city” relationships with multiple cities in Asia
- Discussing of long-term and short-term investment opportunities
- Expanding tourism to Honolulu
- Promoting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, which Honolulu will host in November
That’s a lot to accomplish in two weeks, especially when the mayor and his delegation are guests of the Chinese government. When someone else is paying, he or she usually calls the shots.
The Chengdu Municipal People鈥檚 Government and the Qinhuangdao Municipal People鈥檚 Government are chipping in to cover the cost of Carlisle and company’s local transportation, room and board.
The Seoul and Incheon metropolitan governments paid for Carlisle’s trip to those cities in May.
Carlisle is not the first to travel this way. In 2006, former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann visited Shanghai, Zhongshan and Beijing at the of China’s government (the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii also chipped in).
When former Gov. Linda Lingle traveled to China in 2009, state funds covered the cost of her plane ticket but China’s government paid for transportation, room and board, according to a .
If the goal of these trips is to advance Honolulu’s economic interests, but other governments are footing the bill, how can we be sure our elected officials are setting the agenda?
