WA native who was former consul-general to China to speak at Badger Club | Guest Opinion

On Thursday, June 17, the Columbia Basin Badger Club will present an important community forum on US-China relations. The program, entitled Tiger By the Tail: U.S. China Relations, will feature Jim Mullinax who, until last July, was our Consul-General at the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, China.

On Friday, June 24, 2020, the Chinese gave American diplomats and their staff 72 hours to clear out of the 35-year-old consulate. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that the closure was a “legitimate and necessary” response to the U.S. shutting the Chinese consulate in Houston and consistent with diplomatic practice. U.S. officials say the Chinese consulate in Houston had been involved in espionage and theft of intellectual property.

Mullinax’s new job at the State Department reflects its intensifying focus on espionage and intellectual property theft. He is now the Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Office in the Economic Bureau at the Department of State and the Coordinator of the Economic Bureau’s China Team.

China is arguably America’s most important bilateral relationship. The Biden Administration is charting a new course for the U.S. relationship with The People’s Republic of China following a tumultuous four years during the Trump Administration. Secretary of State Tony Blinken recently noted that China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to seriously challenge the stable and open international system – a system that the United States has spent the last 75 years building and developing.

The relationship is complicated. The two nations are geo-political adversaries, worldwide economic competitors, and sometimes partners when our goals align. The administration intends to compete where we should, collaborate where we can, and confront them where we must. In all these, the common thread is that we must engage China from a position of strength.

Our fundamentally different political systems and values make finding common ground on strategic, security, and economic issues challenging.

China is also Washington State’s largest trading partner, but trade flows fell dramatically between 2018 and 2019 due to the drop of exports of Boeing aircraft and parts. Other major exports include Soybeans, Wheat, petroleum products, corn and potatoes, many grown right here in the Columbia Basin. Until recently, China has also become an important source of inbound investment, including foreign direct investment and household spending on real estate. Recent Chinese capital controls and tighter federal regulations on inbound investments have stymied these flows of capital.

Mullinax has been a Foreign Service Officer for over 27 years. His career has taken him to assignments in the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, and China. He is a native of Tacoma, Washington, and a 1991 graduate of the University of Puget Sound. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Ohio University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

You can register for this event at columbiabasinbadgers.com to receive a confirmation and link to join the forum. Cost is $5 for nonmembers, while club members can join for free.

This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 2:58 AM.