Feinstein and Boxer sent a letter to National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger and Defense Secretary William Cohen, asking them to analyze a plan to turn over the closed base to China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO). They want to know whether there are any security considerations to stop the deal. Apparently there has been no security review.
Long Beach's harbor commission plans to build a $200 million cargo terminal on the base for COSCO, which will lease the facility for $14.5 million a year.This may turn out to be a perfectly legitimate arrangement, but it is surely worthy of note that a foreign government owns the shipping company that would occupy a former naval base on U.S. soil. Moreover, COSCO has been involved in other controversies.
One of its ships was used by arms smugglers to bring 2,000 illegal Chinese weapons into Oakland, Calif., last year. Another ship crashed into a crowded boardwalk in New Orleans in December. The Coast Guard stopped six of its ships in the past year, accusing them of violating international safety regulations. U.S. intelligence suspected one of the company's ships was carrying chemical weapons materials in 1993. However, nothing was found on the ship when it was searched.
Feinstein, a former mayor of San Francisco, may be particularly concerned about this deal because she sits on a Foreign Affairs subcommittee overseeing Asian relations. She returned $12,000 in donations from officials associated with the Lippo Group, an Indonesian-based conglomerate.
The city is in charge of selecting tenants for the former naval station, but that doesn't mean the federal government should wash its hands of the matter. It doesn't take much imagination to think of ways this deal could become a problem.
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