In the race between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to emerge as the Republican Party’s leading alternative to Donald Trump, both sides are exaggerating their rival’s record on China. is making false and false claims. We have repeatedly given super PACs associated with these candidates a Pinocchio to fill the airwaves with absurd accusations and counterattacks. Added DeSantis, Haley and Trump to the list of 2023’s biggest Pinocchios for China-related claims.
It’s a new year, but the attacks haven’t stopped. The ad, which begins with the claim “Ron DeSantis is lying because he’s losing,” aims to counter specific attacks by the DeSantis camp using examples that mirror those used against Haley. It seems that it is.
For example, DeSantis has accused Haley of aggressively recruiting Chinese companies to South Carolina while she was governor, a claim supported by news articles and videos of Haley celebrating these deals. (Haley’s campaign argues that perceptions of the threat posed by China have changed since Haley served as governor from 2011 to 2017.) A super PAC associated with DeSantis also The company ran an ad claiming that it committed a grave national security lapse when it welcomed manufactured fiberglass. From the factory to her state. The ad falsely suggested that the factory was designed to scout military bases five miles away.
So this ad seeks to turn the tables — Mr. DeSantis claims that China is Florida’s most important trading partner and allows Chinese companies to operate near military bases. Neither claim is true.
“Mr. DeSantis called China “Florida’s most important trading partner.”
The ad features this quote along with an image of DeSantis smiling. However, the source in the ad is listed as “EnterpriseFlorida.com, accessed November 1, 2023.” The wording suggests that the quote is recent, but his website for Enterprise Florida Inc. (EFI) no longer exists, and a search on the Wayback Machine run by the Internet Archive can only be found by That’s because DeSantis signed a bill last May that incorporated elements of Enterprise Florida, a public-private partnership aimed at attracting foreign investment, into the new agency.
We found this quote on an archived webpage from 2021, which is not what DeSantis said. This is taken from standard marketing jargon. “Asia and Florida share more than US$30 billion in annual bilateral merchandise trade, and the region currently accounts for about one-third of Florida’s total trade with the world. Our trade relations with India, Vietnam, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries, which are our most important trading partners and export destinations in the region, have grown significantly in recent years.”
DeSantis became governor in 2019, and Enterprise Florida’s 2020 annual report notes that the agency participated in nine international trade shows and presented at three seminars in 2019, leading the agency to “lead Florida in the spotlight.” It has been positioned as an ideal business destination for Chinese companies.” Prior to Enterprise Florida’s liquidation, DeSantis served as chairman of the company’s board of directors.
However, after the coronavirus pandemic emerged from China in 2020, Mr. DeSantis is said to have taken a turn for the worse in lobbying Beijing. The governor’s office told RealClearPolitics that when DeSantis “became aware of the extent of EFI’s involvement in Chinese trade” in 2020, the governor “forced EFI to cut off all such relationships with Chinese companies.” Told. However, in signing the bill, DeSantis made no mention of China. And the bill’s lead sponsor said he was motivated by the fact that the agency had “overpromised and underdelivered for years.”
The SFA Foundation defended its use of the quote in a statement, saying that since Mr. DeSantis was the chairman of Enterprise Florida, “This ultimately means that Enterprise Florida’s statements regarding the importance of China as a trading partner are , meaning this is a statement that DeSantis not only encouraged, but essentially gave.” It held its breath until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. ” Enterprise Florida’s website was scrubbed just before Haley and DeSantis met in November’s Republican primary debate. The SFA has suggested this is suspicious, but the governor’s office insists it was a coincidence as the replacement agency came online.
Either way, this ad misleads viewers by quoting outdated marketing copy from the governor’s mouth. He never said that.
“DeSantis even allowed Chinese military contractors to expand just a few miles from a U.S. naval base.”
The word “permission” plays a big role here. The source of this claim comes from a November report that DeSantis “remained silent” when Cirrus Aircraft, a Minnesota-based personal aircraft manufacturer, added two locations in the Orlando area in 2022. This is an article from the New York Post. China National Aviation Industry Corporation purchased a controlling interest in Cirrus from a Bahraini investor in 2011.
The company provides maintenance services at one location at Kissimmee Gateway Airport and sales at an office at Orlando Executive Airport. The New York Post noted that the sale location was 20.4 miles from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, the Navy’s research and development arm. A total of 30 jobs will be added, the Orlando Business Journal reported, citing company officials.
Mr. DeSantis may have been quiet about the deal, but it’s hard to imagine an investment that would attract the governor’s attention in a state as large as Florida.
Moreover, there are significant differences between this deal and the one at the center of DeSantis’ attacks on Haley’s involvement with Chinese companies.
In 2016, Haley admitted that she actively recruited a partially state-owned fiberglass company called China Jushi. The South Carolina Economic Development Coordinating Council, chaired by the Secretary of Commerce, an appointee of the state’s governor, provided approximately $7 million in incentives to facilitate the Jussi Agreement. Under the agreement with Richland County, if the promised investment is made, China Jushi will receive approximately 200 acres of county-owned land for free.
Haley welcomed the announcement in a news release calling the agreement “a huge win for the state.” she declared on Facebook. China Jushi is creating her 400 new jobs and investing $300 million “right here in Colombia.”
In contrast, DeSantis appears to have had nothing to do with the Cirrus expansion. In fact, the first mention of the deal in the media was that a mystery company would arrive. “Anonymous Company Seeks Land Lease at Kissimmee Airport,” the Orlando Business Journal headlined. When we searched for news reports, we did not find any connection between DeSantis or his administration and the expansion. PolitiFact reported similar findings.
It doesn’t matter that Cirrus’ office is located about 21 miles from the Navy facility. The Naval Center is not on a list of about 200 sensitive military installations that require government approval for land purchases by foreign companies within one mile of the facility. So is Fort Jackson, South Carolina, eight miles from the China Resin plant.
This ad is a particularly desperate attempt to muddy the waters. Some of DeSantis’ attacks on Haley’s hiring of Chinese companies were misleading and unwarranted, including fabricated quotes and excuses to suggest DeSantis played a role in the company’s expansion in Florida. It won’t be. The SFA Foundation won him four Pinocchios.
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