China takes spotlight in Nevada political campaigns

Las Vegas is more than 6,000 miles from Beijing, but that hasn't stopped criticism of China from emerging as an issue in Nevada political contests, which could be bad news for a state that relies on Chinese visitors to spend hundreds of millions of dollars.

In recent days, candidates and activists looking to influence campaigns for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate sought to score political points by scaring voters about the prospect that China could hurt the American economy.

The most recent instance came Wednesday when Nevada union leaders called a news conference to criticize insurgent Democratic Senate candidate Byron Georgiou over reports a company in which he invested manufactures products in China.

Georgiou is running in the Democratic primary for Senate against Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who has backing from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the Democratic Party establishment.

The union criticism was based on news reports that highlighted the company, Xtreme Green, a scooter, motorcycle and ATV company based in Las Vegas, which buys parts made in China and hired employees there to coordinate purchasing and assembly efforts. A company statement said Wednesday that Georgiou resigned from the board.

"You should be doing everything you can to create jobs in America, not China," said Danny Thompson, secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO. "I don't know if I can support anyone who is doing business in China and then wants to represent me in the United States Senate."

Thompson said America is at an unfair disadvantage to China because Chinese factories don't have to follow the same child labor, environmental and safety standards.

He said American politicians should push for trade agreements that would level the playing field to avoid losing more manufacturing jobs.

"We have exported our children's future to this place," Thompson said. "They own us."

Union criticism of Georgiou's China connections followed on the heels of a provocative ad from Mark Amodei, the Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District, that suggested government debt owed to China puts U.S. sovereignty at risk.

"It is not too late to stop this nightmare," Amodei said, following images of Chinese soldiers marching on Washington, D.C.

It's no surprise to political observers that stoking fears of a distant power would be a useful campaign tactic, especially during lousy economic times in America.

"Obviously it is easier to get people to be scared than it is to get people to be hopeful," said David Damore, a professor of political science at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. China "is an easy scapegoat."

But economic and tourism experts say Nevada benefits from a strong relationship with China and, financially speaking, is better off building alliances, not acrimony, with that country.

"I think Nevadans in particular need to be very cautious when they criticize the Chinese marketplace and people," said Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, whose job includes being chairman of the state's economic development and tourism commissions.

Krolicki said exports from Nevada to China increased from $13.5 million in 2001 to $456 million in 2010.

"The international marketplace is one of the few bright spots in our economy," Krolicki said.

The number of visas the Chinese government issued annually for travel to America increased from about 100,000 to 1 million over that same time, Krolicki said.

More than 100,000 of those visitors come to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. And Chinese visitors are some of the biggest-spending tourists, dropping about $7,200 on an average visit to the United States.

"The Chinese have created many job opportunities in Nevada, and that includes union jobs," said Krolicki, citing efforts by resorts on the Strip to cater to Chinese guests.

Stephen Brown, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said China isn't to blame for America's economic woes.

"Global free trade creates wealth. If somebody makes money somewhere, Las Vegas is a place they like to come and spend it," Brown said. "In general, I think Las Vegas should be in favor of free economic trade."

Brown also said Amodei's fears of China leveraging ownership of American debt into some sort of political or economic takeover are overblown.

"We could do a lot more harm to them by not paying than they can do to us by the fact that they own our government bonds," Brown said.

He added that the American government is responsible for taking on excessive debt and that China is merely buying bonds on the open market.

"Just because our government is incurring a big debt there is really no reason to blame the Chinese for that," Brown said.

Krolicki said he has sought to soothe concerns with Nevada's Chinese business and tourism contacts and assure them the state harbors no ill will toward China.

"I think they understand American politics. I think they understand that sometimes it is full of hyperbole," Krolicki said of the Amodei ad, which has been reported by a number of major news organizations.

"I assured them the criticism was about American fiscal policies."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.