Posted on 11/26/2003 8:14:10 PM PST by maui_hawaii
WASHINGTON, : Neil Bush, a younger brother of US President George W. Bush, has a 400,000-dollar-a-year consulting contract with a Chinese computer chip manufacturing firm, The Los Angeles Times reported on its web site.
Citing court documents filed in the course of Neil Bush's divorce proceedings in Houston, Texas, the newspaper said the president's brother had agreed to strategize with China's Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp at the same time the Bush administration is trying to help US firms compete more effectively against the Chinese.
There is no indication he has done anything improper, according to the report.
However, the arrangement could attract attention during a presidential election cycle in which Chinese business practices have become a hot button issue, The Times said.
"There's certainly the appearance of influence being sought," the paper quotes Charles McMillion, a Washington business consultant who advised a congressional commission on US-China policy as saying. "If nothing else, it doesn't look good."
Bush's divorce from Sharon Bush was finalized in April.
According to the consulting contract, Neil Bush was to receive two million dollars worth of Grace Semiconductor preferred stock over five years, issued in annual increments of 400,000 dollars, the paper said.
In return, Bush agreed to "provide GSMC from time to time with business strategies and policies; latest information and trends of the related industry, and other expertized advices," the report quotes the contract as saying.
- AFP
That isn't nessesarily a bad thing.
Niel's story is a bit more complex that a simple business deal, though.
If he was in Italy, would anyone be questioning the relationship?
If I am not mistaken rather recently the US Chamber of Commerce issued a report talking about how China has flunked on many parts of their WTO agreements.
Being head of the Chamber of Commerce isn't an indictment.
Knowing what one is talking about doesn't equate to being a patsy or a puppet.
This article is sickening... same old, same old... the wheel goes round and round... like turnstiles on a subway gate.
Is this not a stroke of genius on China's part. (How stupid can we be?)
Rake in all manner of concessions as hung on the Westerners' hope the "saving graces of Western materialism" will bring them around to our way of thinking ... all the while having no "membership" that actually requires they play by anyone's rules but their own? Much like Russia enjoys having its limited membership in NATO ... the entire organization liberally salted with Russians thanks to the likes of President Bush who didn't even wait for the dust of the Wall to settle before installing our new "former Soviet" friends not only in NATO but as partners in all manner of US operations.
In 1989 edition of the National Drug Control Strategy, President Bush made it official:'We must be prepared to share our knowledge and our concern with the Soviet Union and Eastern European nations and be willing to engage them in cooperative counterdrug activities". (36)In this strategy document, there was no recognition of the role of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries in drug-trafficking and in creating the very sickness the strategy was designed to cure.Towards the end of 1989, the DEA made a formal proposal to the Soviets for the DEA to conduct 'advanced narcotics investigations' for about 30 anti-narcotics professionals from Soviet customs, the Ministry of Interior and the KGB. As one DEA official, Paul Higdon, explained: 'We're looking at them as policemen - these guys are cops with a mission similar to ours'. Not to be outdone, US Customs is proposing a formal information-sharing agreement, similar to the ones we have with most of our Western allies'
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