Foreign governments must not gain control over
ports of entry into the United States.
It is ”’false”’ that the U.S. government will handle
security at these seaports. The U.S. Coast Guard
and Homeland Security have regulatory authority.
Companies and ship lines submit security plans for
approval by those government agenciesl, with
occasional spot inspections. But the actual
implementation of security procedures is carried out
by the private companies themselves, through self-
reporting and voluntary compliance. To a tremendous
extent, seaport security is on the ”’honor system”’
in which port and shipping companies are trusted to
carry out security procedures which they develop for
themselves. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter
reluctantly admitted this to ”’The Washington Times”’ on
Wednesday. Furthermore, ships selected for
inspection as high risk sometimes sit overnight waiting
for inspectors. So high risk cargo would sit in the
custody of the foreign terminal operator at night, with
no one else monitoring the ship. And foreign executives
will have the authority to wander at will through major
U.S. seaports.
The U.S. Seaports Commission urges Congress to
over-turn the internationalist decision of a secretive,
little-known government panel allowing the takeover of
six major seaports by a company owned by the
government of the United Arab Emirates. For
exactly the same reasons, we urge eviction of
communist China’s Chinese Overseas Shipping
Company from Pier J in Los Angeles harbor.
Realistically, Congress should phase out all foreign
ownership of ports over a five year period.
Dubai Ports World would have direct day-to-day
management control over harbors less than a mile
away from the wreckage of the World Trade Center
in New York City and in busy Baltimore harbor —
only a 90 minute rented-truck drive from the
nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.. As with China’s
COSCO from operating Pier J in Los Angeles harbor,
employees of Dubai Ports World physically inside the
United Arab Emirates will have access to all of the
United States’ state-of-the art security procedures
for our seaports, as well as all information about
on-going shipments.
The Middle Eastern government-owned company
would know everything there is to know about
security systems and procedures we use to
protect U.S. seaports. Even if the company
itself is completely honest and sincere, Islamic
terrorists could steal U.S. security plans from
out of the company’s headquarters in Dubai,
the United Arab Emirates, coerce or torture
information out of Dubai executives inside the
UAE, or have low-level employees photocopy
them in Dubai offices. Islamic terrorists would
know exactly how to defeat security at all
American seaports.
We sharply dispute that the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviewed
this transaction for dangers to national security.
Senate testimony revealed that only one CFIUS
meeting on this was ever held. In government, 30
days is barely enough time to write a final report,
when coordinating 12 different agencies. After 5
years as a federal bureaucrat, I say no actual
investigation took place in 30 days. CFIUS did not
invoke the second, 45 day review period, yet is
thoroughly scrutinizing an Israeli company CheckPoint
seeking to buy a small Maryland software firm. A
$6.8 billion transaction involving ports of entry into
the U.S. was not taken seriously.
Did we forget the hundreds of billions of dollars that
9/11 cost the U.S. economy? One terrorist act
involving U.S. seaports could easily cost the American
economy a trillion dollars. As a foundation of economics,
private parties must not shift their costs to the
taxpayer. Seaport security must be paid for by the
companies that profit from international trade at the
expense of domestic manufacturers.
This is not anti-Middle Eastern. The country
is shocked to learn that any foreign companies
control U.S. ports of entry after 9/11. The
U.S. Seaports Commission has been warning for
years about Pier J in Los Angeles harbor
controlled by an arm of the Chinese military,
COSCO. Foreign governments don’t have to
actually control U.S. ports of entry to sell
us their products.
We are told that Americans are doing most of
the work at the seaports. Super. Why not let
Americans do all the work, and keep the profits
here at home? If Americans are actually
running our seaports now, and have the real-
world experience, why would they need a
foreign company supervising Americans?
American firms are fully qualified to run these
ports. And these are ports of entry. A “port of
entry” historically and legally (and even under
the privatization concepts like OMB Circular A-76)
is an inherently governmental function, reserved
to the U.S. government. Yet these are arms of
foreign governments now controlling U.S. points
of entry. America’s policy encourages privatization,
yet these are government-controlled firms.
Government control is not pro-business.
Astonishingly, China’s COSCO controls Pier J in
Los Angeles harbor, even after Chinese Gen.
Xiong Guang Kai threatened to “rain nuclear bombs
on Los Angeles.” Should Los Angeles feel secure?
COSCO is owned 100% by the communist Chinese
military, and COSCO ships have been deployed in
Chinese military exercises and are designated as
zhanjian, or “warship.” Hong Kong’s Ming Pao
newspaper reported that China’s Navy is stepping
up its refitting of China’s COSCO ships for use in war.
Just last summer, yet another Chinese General
threatened a nuclear attack against the U.S.
Curiously, the General did not lose his job…!
Delivery of a nuclear bomb on board a cargo ship
would offer no warning and leave no trace of its
Chinese origins after the ship was vaporized.
U.S. Customs caught the Chinese Overseas
Shipping Company smuggling 2,000 fully
automatic AK-47 assault rifles — destined for Los
Angeles street gangs — aboard The Empress
Phoenix. The guns were manufactured by China’s
Poly Technologies, which is owned and managed
by the Chinese government. Court documents
reveal that Poly Technologies planned to expand
their smuggling into the U.S. to Chinese-made
hand grenades, mortars, RPG-7 anti-tank rockets
and hand-held anti-aircraft missiles capable of
knocking commercial airliners out of the sky.
The U.S. Seaports Commission and its parent
organization have warned about Communist
China’s control of vital U.S. seaports for many
years. We have distributed 2 million copies of 3
books, including Stealth Invasion by Roger Canfield
and China Beachhead, by John Stoos, and various
special reports. We will continue reminding Washington
policymakers that the national security of the United
States should not be sold out to contributors or
business interests beholden to either Beijing or Dubai.
”’Jonathan Moseley is the Executive Director of the United States Seaports Commission. See the Web site at:”’ https://www.USSeaportCommission.org ”’The Commission was originally the U.S. Intelligence Council and now a project of the U.S. Public Policy Council. He is also the author of Cold Peace. See:”’ https://www.ColdPeace.com
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