EDITORIAL - On a plane to China ... and elsewhere

We are given in Jamaica to frequent bouts of contrived outrage and navel-gazing over the spending on foreign travel by members of the Government. It has come early this year.

Towards the end of last year, for example, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller felt compelled to go to Parliament to itemise the value of loans, grants and potential investment deals that were concluded on her visit to China to justify the approximately J$20 million spent on the trip. Apart from a handful of ministers and support staff, Mrs Simpson Miller was accompanied to China by a delegation of business leaders.

In the Senate, K.D. Knight, a government member and former minister, urged his colleagues in the Upper House against making the PM's travel "a political football".

Mr Knight, and others of that mind, including this newspaper, are likely to face a difficult, uphill battle against those who would be purveyors of facile notions of modern diplomacy and how it is intertwined with global economics.

This crowd has been having a field day with a report last week by this newspaper that government ministers had spent upwards of J$75 million on foreign travel, of which about two-thirds of the amount was by the prime minister.

Partisan politics

Part of the problem, of course, is the deeply partisan nature of our politics which causes people to be sceptical of any undertaking by the 'other side'; there is concern, too, about perceived and real corruption; and there is also genuine ignorance about the potential value of overseas travel by officials. Indeed, there was a time when it was assumed that modern communication technology would remove the need for face-to-face diplomacy and gatherings of political and economic leaders.

In that regard, we support those who call for greater transparency and public discussions about the travels of members of the government, acknowledging the fact that officials cannot negotiate in public and that some information will, at times, have to remain private.

It might be useful, too, if Jamaicans pay attention to the aggression with which other countries, some far wealthier than Jamaica, conduct economic diplomacy, which is an increasing focus of Jamaica.

Follow Britain's example

Take the case of Britain and its approach to China, a country which we, too, are courting for investment. Jamaican diplomats know that business with Chinese is usually the outcome of personal relationships, better accomplished face-to-face.

Last October, George Osborne, the UK's chancellor of the exchequer, spent a week in China smooching that country's political and business leaders. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London was there. So, too, was a large group of British business leaders.

By the time he left Beijing, Mr Osborne had undertaken to change the UK banking rules to make it easier for Chinese banks to operate in London, thereby enhancing the city as the world's leading financial centre. He also made it clear that Britain would also welcome Chinese ownership of nuclear power plants.

Reeko, the Chinese gaming company, during that visit announced that it would set up an operation in London's Tech City, its first off-shore move. Huawei, the mobile phone company, which already has a US$2-billion operation in Britain, disclosed that it would establish a US$200-million R&D centre in the British capital.

These are a small sample of Chinese investments in Britain.

Guess who is planning a trip to China? David Cameron, the British prime minister.

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