Noem’s Silly Name Calling Provides No Help At All

Among the “evil” governments is the People’s Republic of China.

But just a decade ago, China and the University of South Dakota seemed to have a glowing relationship. Things were so good, in fact, that it looked like a new residence hall was destined for the campus to house students from China and other foreign lands.

I covered the conclusion of the second American Visiting Institute for Chinese Entrepreneurs in July 2013 in Old Main on the USD campus that included a bit of pomp and circumstance.

Eight Chinese participants “graduated” from the institute. A document was also signed by USD with delegation officials indicating that plans would be pursued to construct the new residence hall mentioned above.

“We’ve been talking for several years about how we at the University of South Dakota can work more closely with our friends,” said Dr. Chuck Staben, USD provost at the time, “and we’ve decided that one thing we’d like to pursue is the possibility of an international residence hall near our campus.”

Staben and Ming Liu, a representative of the institute, signed a memorandum of understanding, which Staben described as “the beginning of our planning process to build this international residence hall.” Liu’s wife, Dr. Ling Zhang, served as USD’s International Coordinator and also participated in the ceremonies.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard who spoke at the 2013 ceremony, and Professor Bingquan Lu, whose friendship with former USD professor Eldon Nygaard of Vermillion helped launch the institute in 2012, both witnessed the signing of the document.

Lu, president and chief researcher of Beijing Bo Zhi Hang Research Institute of Commercial Real Estate, is considered a leading expert on business development.

The institute, which began July 7, 2013, marked the second time that a delegation from China has traveled to USD to take part in an entrepreneurial program. The inaugural institute was held in April 2012.

Earlier during the 2013 ceremony, Staben talked about the value of the institute, which provided a delegation of 12 business leaders from China with information about investments in the United States. The four-day session included lectures, tours and demonstrations of South Dakota’s economic capabilities.

Staben noted that the 2013 graduation ceremony for the participants was “wonderful because it recognizes an important transition in our lives,” he said. “In this graduation, I think we are all experiencing a bit of a transition together. Our students have some new knowledge about investment and finance in the United States, but more importantly, all those who participated in the institute have a greater understanding and an enhanced friendship with one another.”

“I know you’ve had some fun experiences, but I hope you’ve also enjoyed learning about investing in South Dakota,” Gov. Dennis Daugaard told the institute’s graduates. “It is good for China and South Dakota to develop business relationships. South Dakota is exporting more than $100 million in goods to China now.”

Daugaard also talked about China’s role as a trading partner for South Dakota.

So much for dwelling on the past.

Gov. Noem probably has a point in not using glowing terms when talking about China, although it’s difficult to categorize the nation as “evil” when we continue to be so friendly and, well, dependent on it.

According to the U.S.-China Business Council, U.S. goods exports to China hit an all-time high in 2021 after hitting a trough in 2019 during the peak of tariff escalations. That boost was powered by substantial growth in the three largest categories of exports: oilseeds and grains, semiconductors and their componentry, and oil and gas.

In 2020, U.S. services exports to China were crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hammered the largest American services export to China. North Dakota, the state with the highest growth figure, saw its services exports to China contract by 19%.

South Dakota’s goods and services exports to China supported 10,800 American jobs in 2020, according to data compiled by the U.S.-China Business Council. Twenty-nine percent of South Dakota’s global goods exports went to China in 2021 and 6% of South Dakota’s global services exports went to China in 2020.

These figures are estimated by Trade Partnership Worldwide of Washington, D.C.

At about the same time that the American Visiting Institute for Chinese Entrepreneurs was active at USD, Marvie Tschetter, owner of Lankota, Inc., in Huron, and Rob Mudge, co-founder of RPM and Associates in Rapid City, were part of Daugaard’s delegation on a trade mission to China, according to a South Dakota Public Broadcasting report.

The trade mission was made possible through a State Trade and Export Promotion grant awarded to South Dakota by the Small Business Administration. Representatives from 15 South Dakota companies made the trip.

Today, U.S. and South Dakota trade with China isn’t even brought up as China is stamped as an evil foreign government by our governor.

And yes, I think we can all agree that China’s recent behavior is worrisome. China has threatened to seize Taiwan by force. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine makes this threat even more real. If Russia’s Vladimir Putin is successful, Chinese President Xi Jinping will almost certainly see that as a green light to invade Taiwan. (All of this makes Noem’s recent talk about the U.S. ending support to Ukraine equally worrisome, but we won’t talk about that right now).

Xi has not been shy about his intentions to use force, if necessary, and has increased military operations in the Taiwan Strait to ramp up the pressure, according to news reports. China is also modernizing and enlarging its military so it can push the United States out of the Indo-Pacific and dominate the region. If China were to succeed, not only would it topple a thriving democracy, but China could create global economic disruptions far beyond the scale of Russia’s ambitions in Europe.

Xi and Putin signed an agreement to expand their economic ties during a bilateral meeting in Moscow on Tuesday.

To summarize:

• China is threatening to invade Taiwan;

• Russia is hoping to strengthen economic and likely military ties with China to help provide resources in its war with Eukraine;

• China remains a major trading partner with the U.S. and with South Dakota. Should things really go south — let’s say China invades Taiwan and U.S. sanctions include ending trade with China, we can kiss goodbye to approximately 11,000 jobs created in the U.S. by South Dakota’s trade with China;

• A glowing friendship, full of possibilities, between China and the University of South Dakota no longer exists. It perhaps ended long ago and considering everything that’s currently happening, there’s no chance of healing that breakup;

• The U.S. military, particularly our Navy, is on alert and making its presence known in the waters near Taiwan;

• Noem hasn’t said a word about the economic impact that restricting trade with China and other “evil” nations will have on South Dakota. It’s likely going to hurt. A lot.

Considering all of the above, Noem’s designating China as evil is really no help at all.