US territory offers to lease land to China
In an attempt to combat the cash shortage:
US: The cash-strapped Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory
in the Western Pacific, has offered to lease land to China as long as it
is not used for military purposes. Northern Marianas Governor Benigno
Fitial made the offer during a US-China Governors Forum in Beijing this
week which discussed potential investment and job creation
opportunities.In a statement released Saturday, Fitial said his
island-lease offer referred to land in uninhabited islands which “can be
leased except for military purposes.”
The Northern Marianas already leases an island to the US military
which uses it for regular live bombing exercises.
A self-governing commonwealth of the United States since 1976, the
islands are in the grip of a severe budget crisis following the collapse
of their garment industry.
In an attempt to combat the cash shortage all government departments
are now shut every Friday, with essential exceptions such as the public
hospital.
A spokesman for Fitial, Angel Demapan, said the governor wanted to do
business with the Chinese to alleviate economic hardship. Fitial pitched
the Northern Marianas as a prime destination for Chinese tourism, real
estate development, agricultural, education and technology investments.
In his statement, Fitial said the acting governor of the Chinese
province of Yunnan, Li Jiheng, planned to make an exploratory visit to
the islands, while Anhui Governor Wang Sanyun said he was committed to a
partnership.
The Northern Marianas consists of 15 islands, with more than 90
percent of the population of 54,000 living on Saipan and only four other
islands being populated.
AFP |