Former WV Commerce Secretary drinks toast with Chinese delegation
From an Article by Brad McElhinny, WV MetroNews, November 18, 2018
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than a year after it was announced, details of West Virginia’s investment agreement with China Energy remain a mystery, but the court system could bring the arrangement to light.
Appalachian Mountain Advocates, a nonprofit law firm, sued this past summer for documents from the West Virginia University Energy Institute, which was heavily involved with the deal.
Appalachian Mountain Advocates sought any agreements West Virginia officials entered into with the China Energy Investment Corporation in 2017, any list of energy projects that West Virginia provided to China Energy and correspondence that Energy Institute staff sent or received that year that included the words “China” and either “energy,” “coal” or “gas.”
West Virginia University filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Appalmad, as it’s shortened, is fighting. Both arguments are to be heard at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the courtroom of Monongalia Circuit Judge Russell Clawges Jr.
West Virginia officials made a splash on November 9, 2017, with the overnight announcement that then-Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher had been in Beijing to sign an enormous agreement. The memorandum of understanding was said to be worth up to $83.7 billion.
When Thrasher returned, he and Gov. Jim Justice touted the deal but would not provide details or publicly share the memorandum. Over the coming months, Thrasher would be forced out and the investment would be called into doubt.
But the fight to see details of the deal remains on. WVU wants the judge to dismiss the motion to make the documents public.
The university argues that the documents are protected by economic development privilege. WVU contends the documents are actually the confidential possessions of the West Virginia Development Office.
WVU was sued because Quingyun Sun of its energy institute is also the governor’s assistant for China affairs at the Development Office.
The university also argues that Appalmad’s request is burdensome and isn’t specific enough. “Because Plaintiff has refused to narrow its FOIA request, the University would be forced to review, segregate and, as necessary, redact more than 15,000 potentially responsive emails,” wrote lawyers for WVU.
Appalmad claims WVU’s arguments are thin. It says the university provided no Vaughn index, which is a description of documents being withheld along with justification of non-disclosure — “no affidavit, no testimony, no evidence whatsoever.
“This is simply not the way it is done: a public agency cannot parry the Act’s general disclosure requirement merely by pointing to the Code book. “Rather it must put forth affirmative, clear and convincing evidence to sustain an exemption.”
Applamad argues that the university provides little support for its claim of an undue burden. “The court has no way of knowing whether the University is double-counting emails sent to multiple Energy Institute staffers,” lawyers wrote.
Appalmad also contends that exemptions meant for economic development don’t apply to the university. In part, that’s because the university doesn’t contend its primary responsibility is economic development.
“Because the pleadings alone demonstrate that the University is altogether ineligible for protection under the economic development privilege, judicial economy is best served by closing on that defense now.”
Led to an extreme, Appalmad contends, any entity that wanted to keep a document secret just make sure the state Development Office is looped in. “Under the University’s theory, the Development Office would become a clearinghouse for records that the government preferred hidden from the public,” wrote lawyers for Appalmad.
“Merely by copying the Development Office — or any of its employees — a state agency could transform a public record subject to the Act into a record ‘received by the Development Office’ and therefore immune to disclosure.”
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Regarding the China Deal with West Virginia
Any and all documents related to this “deal” should be made public and all interested parties — mainly the public, as the people will be affected by it more than anyone — should be able to access them and comment on them.
MOUs (memorandums of understanding) signed with the Chinese often end up in nothing, and are signed more than anything else “for the picture,” however, in this particular instance, I doubt that is the case. The Chinese are aggressively pursuing a strategy of what can be called economic imperialism. Although they claim the right to self rule and resent anything any individual or country may say in regards to their own doings and call everything and any such opinions outside meddling in the “internal affairs of China” they are stretching their tentacles and reaching out far and wide to meet their own interests.
The Chinese have a poor (lousy, absolutely appalling, to be more precise,) record when it comes to environmental policy and protecting people from harm; they simply don’t care and they hide the results of catastrophic environmental disasters, to keep people ignorant of what is really happening. Is anyone naive enough to think it will be different here?
They will come to WV and they will take over and they will ruin this great state — all the more, it’s not home for them, it’s on the other side of the world, so, who cares!?
WV will pay a high price for this deal!
The Chinese never, never, EVER, make a deal that does not benefit them far more than anyone else. What they leave behind in devastation and waste land. Thrasher decided to literally trash WV, Justice, does WV no justice at all, and all they see is the number being dangled in front of their noses like an ass follows the carrot, “Ah!, 80 + billion!” — but the price to pay will drag WV into environmental and economic bondage hell for generations to come; if the Chinese come to WV, it will happen!
There is no valid argument or excuse to hide records under the mantle of secrecy, and make them immune to disclosure. Those who fear nothing walk in the light; if it is good, show us why it is good, make it all public and disclose it all! If you want to hide it, it’s because something is not right.
Appalachian Mountain Advocates is right in wanting to FOIA this agreement and these documents into the light and see details, learn what it is all about.
I know from personal experience, having worked as a diplomat in China for more than 35 years and having dealt with the Chinese government and Chinese entities at many levels for that period of time, that they are not to be trusted when it comes to a deal like this.
Beware WV! If you think you know and have seen what devastation and destruction is, and what the natural gas pipelines are doing and what pollution of water, air, etc., is, all I can tell is, you ain’t seen anything yet!
KEEP THE CHINESE OUT OF WV! In fact, would be wise to keep them out of the USA all together — and no, this is not protectionism, I am speaking of, it’s protecting one’s right to life, to a cleaner environment, and not become another natural resources colony, another energy colony of China!
J. Barroso