Sister City’s president critical of Blackburn
The leader of Chattanooga’s Sister City Association has denounced Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn for her criticism of Chinese sister cities, calling the remarks xenophobic and encouraging the senator to participate in the cultural exchange program.
Last month, Blackburn suggested the decades-old cultural exchange program “may be Beij in g’ s newest political weapon” and signed on to a bill to rein in the programs in the interest of national security.
“Across the globe, China has exploited these relationships, which are ostensibly intended to promote cultural exchange, to achieve geostrategic goals,” Blackburn said in the November release, calling it “imperative we shed light on these partnerships to determine whether they leave American communities vulnerable to foreign espionage and ideological coercion.”
This week, in an open letter written to Blackburn, Sister City Association of Chattanooga President Karen Claypool condemned Blackburn’s remarks.
“My initial reaction upon reading that was WHAT? Whence, Senator Blackburn, did you glean your (mis)information and your ideas,” she wrote. “I suspect that your ideas are simply a product of
your xenophobia.
“Sister Cities International ( SCI), as you may know, was founded while Dwight Eisenhower was president; he maintained that peace did not come through government actions, rather by people-to-people friendships and citizen diplomacy. The organization was founded to spark cultural exchanges through which individuals from partner cities could develop personal relationships.”
Now, the program is in 1,800 cities worldwide, including Chattanooga, which has partnered with Wuxi, China, since 1982.
Claypool praised Chattanooga’s relationship with Wuxi, one of seven such partnerships the Scenic City has across the globe, denouncing Blackburn’s concerns about the program and inviting the senator to get involved.
“’Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts,’” Claypool wrote, quoting Mark Twain’s “Innocents Abroad.”
“I invite you, Senator Blackburn, to travel with us – to Wuxi and our other sister cities – and learn first-hand what Sister Cities is about. Hear stories. Join us as we work to promote peace through people-to-people friendships.”
Wednesday, Claypool told the Times Free Press that she was out of town when Blackburn’s initiative was originally announced.
In response to the letter, in which Claypool describes meeting with Wuxi leaders, including the vice president of the Wuxi Communist Party, Blackburn’s office called
Claypool’s response Communist propaganda.
“Senator Blackburn’s legislation simply seeks transparency about Sister City programs,” Chief of Staff Chuck Flint said in a statement Wednesday. “By Beijing’s own admission, these programs are part of an effort to influence foreign countries by developing strategic relationships. The Sister City Association of Chattanooga’s response is merely Communist cultural propaganda.”
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said that he is skeptical of the Chinese government, but that the program pertains to people, not governments.
“I am extremely suspicious of things that the Chinese government is involved in because they are oppressive, and they violate human rights,” he said at a November news conference, denouncing government censorship in China. “I don’t believe that that type of society is one that we want to support ever in America. And so, I am more than happy to agree with [Sen. Blackburn] that we do not want to prop up the Chinese government or do things that support it.”
But, he said, the program has provided cultural benefit to Chattanooga and no known Chinese governmental involvement.
“Certainly, we’ve seen with other sister cities on the benefit of that cultural exchange. We also know that Chinese citizens should be looking to Americans and the real things that are happening over here, instead of hearing what their Chinese government might be saying about us,” he said. “I do believe that, by showing people what America, really is, as opposed to what they may hear from their government, that that is helpful to the world. But I don’t know of any proof that Senator Blackburn is talking about with regard to Sister Cities, being some somehow inlaid with the Chinese government.”
Blackburn says her Sister City Transparency Act would order the Government Accountability Office to do the following:
› Identify oversight practices that U.S. communities implement to “mitigate the risks of foreign espionage and economic coercion” within sister city partnerships.
› Assess the extent to which foreign communities could use sister city partnerships “to conduct malign activities, including academic and industrial espionage.”
Clay pool’ s letter recounted a number of positive interactions with Wuxi delegations, including a lunch she hosted on her deck for the Chinese visitors and Sister City Association members.
“After ward, the English- speaking group leader Zhao Ming approached me and asked if we might speak privately in my kitchen,” Claypool recalled in her letter. “After profuse thanks for the gathering and the meal, he spoke of how wonderful it had been to see an American home and have an informal gathering with SCA members. ‘ This is what it’s about,’ said he, ‘mingling with the natives!’ I was amused by his idiomatic use of our language but so pleased that he understood SCA’s commitment to promote cultural exchange and friendships. Ostensibly, Senator Blackburn? This is exactly what Sister Cities encourages!”