Free Republic

China may pave way for imports PORTS: Foreign investors show interest in Southern California transportation projects. In a twist, foreign funds may be arriving to help build the roads and rails of Southern California. With congestion in Southern California and the Inland Empire threatening to slow the pace of imported goods, transportation officials are looking to draw overseas investment to help pay for improvements to the region's transportation network. China, in particular, may be a willing source. The fast-growing Asian nation, whose exports through the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have grown by 20 percent in four of...

Much has been made about high-profile, high-powered Democrats in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, from his wife, Maria Shriver, to his chief of staff, Susan Kennedy. Then there's Bonnie Reiss, a close Schwarzenegger friend who serves as one of his most trusted senior advisers, and Daniel Zingale, Shriver's chief of staff. But there is another Democratic powerbroker in the Horseshoe, a long-time Schwarzenegger confidant who is as influential in the administration as he is invisible to the public: David Crane. "He is involved in all of the key deliberations that I have been a part of," said Sunne McPeak, secretary of...

HONG KONG — Even in China, where local Communist Party officials asked for his autograph, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could not escape being master of a traveling celebrity opera in which politics frequently gave way to simply being famous. Schwarzenegger ended his six-day trade mission to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong King on Saturday without any substantial business agreements for California firms. A Riverside County pump company could soon have an announcement on expanding its China business. And there may be news from Aeros, a Tarzana blimp maker already established here. That company wants to sell more dirigibles to the authoritarian...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - After a humiliating election loss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this weekend jets to China and Hong Kong where he'll try to exchange his blistered campaign image for the role of celebrity statesman and retailer. Officially, the Republican governor's long-scheduled, six-day tour will take him to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to promote trade along the Pacific Rim. He'll arrive Monday with a retinue of nearly 80 corporate and business executives eager to sell products from pharmaceuticals to chardonnay to Mickey Mouse in the world's largest emerging market. A business-connected foundation is picking up part of the trip's...

GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger is making a high-profile trade trip to China this week. It's supposed to benefit you and me by opening up Chinese markets for California goods. But the guest list is a dead giveaway: Of the 80 businessmen, government officials and others accompanying the governor, about two dozen are big-bucks Schwarzenegger supporters who have together contributed more than $2.5 million to his campaign committees. For many of these Schwarzenegger donors, this China junket is more likely to help their own companies than California. And in some cases, that might actually do the rest of us harm. Consider venture...