Chinese President Xi on Friday took in the natural beauty of Alaska
Friday after meeting with President Trump at his resort in Palm Beach,
Fla.
The two leaders said they made progress, but there
were no breakthroughs regarding North Korea or trade. Trump announced
that he launched an airstrike into Syria moments after dinning with his
Chinese counterpart.
Xi requested time with Alaska’s Gov. Bill Walker as
the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Anchorage. His
wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were
greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries. The Anchorage Daily
News reported that the Alaska visit was kept under wraps until earlier
this week.
The visitors and their hosts drove off in a line of
SUVs, limos and other vehicles in 40-degree weather under blue skies.
The sightseeing tour will include a stop at Beluga Point, a pullout on
the scenic Seward Highway about 15 miles south of Anchorage.
The pullout offers a stunning view of the snow-capped Chugach
Mountains and Turnagain Arm in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The waters are home
to the endangered Beluga whale.
Walker said he was eager to tell Xi about the abundance of Alaska's resource development opportunities.
"We have tremendous potential in our oil and gas,
tourism, fish, air cargo and mineral resource industries," Walker said
in a statement issued before the meeting.
For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of the world's largest country can pay dividends.
China is the state's top export market, buying nearly
$1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly $820
million, followed by South Korea, at $730 million.
Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's
Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a
"once-in-a lifetime opportunity."
"We're not even shown on the map for the United
States," he said, a nod to Alaska and Hawaii often being left off of
maps of the U.S. "I think this is an extremely valuable opportunity to
meet with our largest trade partner face to face."
The state's top export product to China? Fish,
accounting for 58 percent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut,
topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen
salmon and pollock.
A distant second on the export list are minerals and
ores, accounting for 27 percent. Included in that last year was about
$130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from
the Fairbanks area.
Lower-tier exports included oil, wood, scrap metal and airplane parts.
Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska
coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their
visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow
up," Hladick said.
Having your largest trade partner drop in for a
meeting is fortuitous when the state is in tough financial straits
because of a prolonged period of low oil prices. Hladick said he'd be
happy to get a 45-minute meeting with the Chinese trade minister.
Walker has been courting Asian markets --
particularly Japan and South Korea -- in trying to drum up interest in a
liquefied natural gas project the state is pursuing. State officials
wouldn't say if Walker would bring up the natural gas pipeline, which is
in its early stages, during his visit with Xi, but it seemed unlikely
that he wouldn't take time to tout the multi-billion dollar project that
would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to a plant on the
state's coast, where it would be liquefied and shipped.
Xi is the second major world leader to spend time in
Alaska's largest city in the last few years. U.S. President Barack Obama
used a three-day trip to Anchorage in 2015 to showcase the impact of
climate change. King Harald V of Norway also made an official visit to
Anchorage a few months before Obama.
Alaska's location provides a natural stopping point
for world leaders to make refueling stops, and Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage has hosted many presidents over the
years for these short stints.
President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in
1984 during refueling stops at the airport in Fairbanks. Their paths
were crossing as one finished and one began trips to Asia.