Case joins congressional
delegation on trip to China

U.S. Rep. Ed Case and 11 other members of Congress left yesterday for a 10-day trip to China.

"Nobody with even passing familiarity with China's history or with its explosive economic, military and social growth can doubt that China is today playing a major role, and over the next decades will play a pivotal role, in writing the history of our world into the 21st century," Case said in announcing the trip.

The group will hold meetings with high-ranking government officials and others in Shanghai, Tibet, Yunnan and Beijing. The exact itinerary of the group is not being released for security reasons.

Case and most of the bipartisan delegation are members of the U.S.-China Working Group, which seeks to elevate national awareness of China issues ranging from economic policies to space exploration, a release from his office said.

Case said he will be looking closely at China's military buildup, as well as opportunities for Hawaii to export agricultural and "niche" products to China and bring Chinese to Hawaii for tourism and as students.