Sen. John Hoeven’s recent support of the Chinese Fufeng corn-milling plant in North Dakota is the latest in a pattern exhibiting poor judgment in dealing with countries hostile to America.
On Independence Day of 2018, Hoeven, R-N.D., and seven other Republican lawmakers met with Russian officials in Moscow. Prior to the event there was much posturing about being firm with the Russians. Unfortunately, Hoeven and the others, referred to as the “Moscow Mules,” signaled only weakness. They were ridiculed in the Russian press as “lap dogs,” and little was accomplished aside from losing face.
Specifically with China, Hoeven, who was governor at the time, issued a press release in March 2010, announcing his involvement with China in North Dakota’s energy sector. He partnered with China for their advice on coal-to-liquid technology. After several years and millions of taxpayer dollars spent on related corporate welfare, the boondoggle never materialized.
Doubling down on his China bet, in April 2010, Gov. Hoeven issued a press release extolling the benefits of involving China in North Dakota’s higher education system. The plan involved the Confucius Institute, a propaganda organization of the Chinese government infiltrating American colleges (to which Sen. Hoeven is now opposed). This tremendous misstep ended in the scandalous debacle known as the “Chinese Diploma Mill,” once again at taxpayer expense, and associated with fraud and abuse.
And now, for the sake of the theoretical benefit of better corn prices after construction of the Fufeng corn-milling plant, John Hoeven is willing to ignore the human rights abuses of China, their history of stealing our intellectual property, and their continued threat to the security of America. Let’s also not forget the ill-advised move of putting China in the middle of our food supply chain, nor the issues of taxpayer-funded subsidies for a foreight company, or its alarming proximity to the Grand Forks Air Force Base and drone program.
ADVERTISEMENT
Time will tell whether Fufeng will be another in the growing list of John Hoeven’s foreign cronyism debacles.
