As a well-timed prelude to his travels with Governor Tim Pawlenty's trade mission to the Indian cities of New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai, State Representative Erik Paulsen (R - Eden Prairie), explored China and India in July and August. Paulsen was there with 19 other recipients of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership.
The Aspen Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that promotes leadership through seminars, policy programs, and conferences. Paulsen was selected for the two-year program with other emerging political leaders between the ages of 24 and 45.
While traveling, Paulsen blogged about his experiences at paulsentravelogue.blogspot.com as he met with public officials in Beijing, China, and dined with village elders in Agra, India. Paulsen has taken an active interest in promoting Minnesota's economic and cultural connections with these two countries. He has been promoting Mandarin language opportunities in Minnesota schools. More recently, he introduced legislation for creating an India Center at the University of Minnesota, which would provide economic, government, and academic research resources, and facilitate educational exchanges and training in the same manner as the university's successful China Center.
Social Sketches
August 1, Beijing, China. I met with Li Fan, the nation's leading democracy activist. He is a very inspiring individual. Fan speaks of his goal to directly elect the Chinese president by 2020. His approach is to accelerate a political-reform process that is lagging behind the economic changes already remaking the country. It's these economic changes that are evident when you look around: new cars, Internet cafes and coffee shops, and many restaurants fueled by increased numbers of middle-class consumers.
Other interesting tidbits:
China's population is aging. Today, there are 16 workers for every retiree, but in 15 years there will be 1.5 workers for every retiree. In this area, the one-child-per-family policy has had grave repercussions for social security—there aren't enough workers to support the system.
China's biggest foreign policy concern is not allowing Taiwan to declare independence, but instead to seek reunification.
Energy Demand
August 2, Beijing, China. Coal is abundant in China, which is both blessing and a curse. Large coal reserves provide a cost-efficient method of generating electricity, but this comes at a price. In China, every 7 to 10 days in construction for a new coal plant begins to provide energy for a small city.
I met with Dr. Pan Jiahau, executive director of sustainable development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and he shared these energy statistics:
Consumption of coal in China:
1990 650 million tons
2000 1.3 billion tons
2006 2.6 billion tons
In the past three years alone, coal use in China has doubled. And during the same time frame, steel production has more than tripled. China is now the world's largest steel producer and exporter—and has surpassed the United States as the largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the world.
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