Founders of the US House of Representatives' China Working Group
are in China for their first visit since the establishment of the
group last June.
Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, and Rick Larsen, a
Democrat from Washington State, said they will discuss with their
Chinese hosts economic and other issues including possible
cooperation on space programs.
Kirk said the US and China could investigate possible
cooperation opportunities to enable their astronauts to help each
other in emergencies.
Kirk and Larsen and their entourage began their visit on Monday
in Beijing, they will also visit Shanghai and the
satellite-launching center in Jiuquan in Northwest China's Gansu
Province during their 10-day stay.
They have met Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's
Congress Standing Committee, Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, and
senior economic officials.
Kirk said the tour would also be an educational opportunity for
them.
"I feel we (the US congressman) need to educate ourselves more
about China," he said on Wednesday during a lunchtime speech
organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
He said part of the feeling came from the reflection on the
highly controversial case of Chinese offshore oil company CNOOC
Ltd's bid to take over American company Unocal.
CNOOC dropped the bid due to heavy opposition from many US
legislators. However, a number of facts that many "emotional"
opponents used were actually not true, said Kirk.
He said the 35-member China Working Group of the House aims to
build stronger political and economic relations with China.
He said that Chicago, the largest city in his home State of
Illinois, plans to hold a Year of China in 2010.
Chicago plans to make a bid to host the 2016 Olympics, Kirk
said.
In addition, the city also wants to learn from Beijing's
experiences from bidding and hosting the Olympics.
(China Daily January 13, 2006)
