 This is Russell Lee, you're one of your co-hosts for Think Tech Asia, and I'm along here today as Ray Tsuchiyama, my co-host, Ray, say hello, Ray. Thank you very much. Hello. And we're here today to explore some of the global issues that impact Hawaii, particularly issues of what's happening in Asia. Today on our show we're going to talk about the One Belt One Road initiative that many people are hearing, which has been actually undergone through many changes through the past couple years, and how it does affect Hawaii and U.S. And we're going to talk about some other issues that affect Hawaii, for example, the proposed hotel room tax increase, and how does it affect our Asia travelers, especially those coming from Japan and from our new markets from China. And so today we're going to first talk about the One Belt One Road initiative. And One Belt One Road initiative is proposed by China. It's actually a proposal that has been ongoing for the past few years, which proposes a major shift in a paradigm and a business model, and it proposes to involve many countries, a lot of money, and building infrastructure through the old China Silk Road that brought trade from China through the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. And we're also going to talk about the other Silk Road, which is the New Silk Road, which is the Maritime Silk Road. So Ray, you're a great historian. Why don't you give us a little background of your knowledge, as we were discussing earlier, about the Silk Road? Well, you go back when an Italian man named Marco Polo came back from China talking about a society that had grand canals, and they used paper money. They had all kinds of security throughout the land, and there was an emperor called Kubla Khan at that point. And he traveled to China from Genoa and over Venice at that point, Italy, the city states that were major center of the trade. And they went through what we now would see as Turkey through the Middle East, Kazanstan, through the old cities, Samakan, Tashkent, all these areas that were beautiful, gleaming cities with hundreds of camels coming through with silks and jewels and all kinds of tea and incense, all kinds of products from China going to Europe, and things coming from Europe to China. So they had a long overland route that took many, many months to get to, and they landed in an unbelievable civilization of that time under the emperor of China. Yes, fantastic story. You know what? I mean, the museum is in China, Ray. I actually see figurines from that period. It was the height of the Tang dynasty. And you would actually see figurines that would have people with big nose, light colored hair, and also the African culture. You could see all these figurines. So you know that the Silk Road has been an economic route. And people from many cultures have been involved. So again, the Silk Road is something that China is its initiative. And it is a very big and bold and vicious plan because it's going to really boost the unbuilt infrastructure and trade along the corridor from through China, through Kazakhstan, Middle East, and then through Europe. And in fact, Ray, a few months ago there was a first train that came from, actually started near Yiwu, China, went all the way to London for two weeks, and it went through all these different countries. So we're seeing as part of the dry run, the Silk Road that's being recreated. And imagine if you're on this train from China and traveling all the way to London and all the cities you pass through, like you say, Kazakhstan and through Turkey, through the former Yugoslav republics going up to Vienna and then to Paris and London. And you could get off and then you could talk to other traders in those cities. There's a lot of interaction that takes place. You can just have all kinds of interaction through this train system that really wasn't there until just recently, you know, high speed freight carrying and passenger carrying trains. And these are really an area where China is putting a lot of research and design efforts. You know, one of the things that strikes me also is that we're having a lot of discussion these days about China's presence in the South China Seas and for people who are not up to speed and being in Beijing, I'm there a lot of times, they're actually going to have a home there. You know, the concern really is more economic focus that they're looking to making sure the international shipping lanes are open and that's probably going to be part of the Maritime Road, which will start in southern China and will go down to Southeast Asia. This is the old route that goes to Africa, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Ocean, then to Italy and up through Europe. So there's historical basis. I know, Ray, you're the historian buff and you may recall. And it was the last great adventure, a naval fleet that China organized, like you say, went down through Malacca Straits and then westward towards India through Ceylon and managed to get to the eastern coastline of Africa and what is near now, Tanganyika and Kenya and they still uncover pottery from the Chinese ships that came by. So it occurred during the Ming Dynasty at last and then they came back and then they never went out again China and there was isolation with China. But you're correct that China does have a great maritime tradition going outside and they went all the way to the east coast of Africa. You know, they're interesting because many Western critics are saying it's going to be a bust and being in China for now 14 years, whenever the government sets their mind on something, it happens. So I'm pretty confident it's going to happen. But what are your thoughts on this new Silk Road coming? Do you think that there are opportunities for Americans? I think so. I think that there are a lot of, well first of all, as you know, the American tradition of trains is not that stellar that Amtrak and so forth really hasn't, we didn't really develop a high speed train network until very recently we're just exploring at this point. Why is there a train system from a high speed from San Francisco to Los Angeles or San Francisco to Vegas or to Seattle, for example. And so you have a lot of freight trains still but they're very slow and not really good networks. I think for the United States or Americans looking at this initiative, I think it's something that unless we become part of it, we may become excluded from it. Because when you look at all the stops that the trains are making that are going eastward from China to London, these will be soon populated by Chinese traders. They're going to be in those little cities all along the way and they may be catalysts for economic development in those areas, for industry. And also for opening new markets, as you know, the rising middle class wants a lot of things. All kinds of good designer retail, things to adore their homes, they're finally going out and driving around in China and this did not occur until very recently. There's a whole network of freeways. Also there's a tourism boom when you think about it. For the maritime areas, now that's a more complex question because the old British and American looking at the sea is for cooling stations, refueling stations. Singapore was very, very important. Many important bases, Pearl Harbor is very important for the Spanish-American War. Going out to the Philippines, they had to have a station to refuel our ships and so forth. But again, the seaports along the way to Africa and then going to the Suez Canal and so forth may experience a boom also. So I would say unless American companies or entrepreneurs really look at this and really become part of it, they may be left behind. And it's very interesting that what your comments are here because I feel the same way. If we don't get involved, we're going to be left out. And one of the things that's very different than the American model, the American model was the TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was an agreement, an agreement that bound nations that were allies to the U.S. and excluded China, of course. And it was focusing on the Pacific-Asia region area. And the differences that the 1.1 Road is not based on agreement, it's initiative. And rather, it's a network based on infrastructure development, trade. And it's not any kind of agreement that's passed around because there are 60 nations involved, 60 percent of the world's population is involved under the 1.1 Road versus 800 million people that were involved in the TPP. It's very interesting because we're having a lot of thought about it because President Trump hit the policy for the Americans as we stay out of it, which means, again, that we don't join it, we may be excluded from this thing that's going to really happen and it's going to be over a 50-year period. To me, also, trade is not only about agreements, it's about people and people becoming experts in markets and products and so forth. And one of the great stories that hasn't been told completely is about Chinese traders going to areas that didn't really have trade or industry like Africa. They're everywhere. They're in South Africa, there's a China town there, a lot of places in East Africa, West Africa. There's a lot of people from China not living and really doing trade and manufacturing in those countries. So that's a story that really has not been told. Well, I think you have a good point before we go to break. It's a culture and if we look at the history of the Chinese migration based on economic opportunities, they went around the world. They settled. They localized rather than a regime change or political change. So this one belt one row, the Chinese are stressing it's not here to impose any political will. It's not, we're going to do something because we want you to change and become a communist country. None of that's there. And it's interesting because the question after the break will be, how can Hawaii benefit? And let me give you some thought Ray. Let me give you some thought. One of the things that I've noticed is that the new one belt one row initiative is going to open a lot of opportunity in the service area, accountants, logistics, insurance, massive opportunity. That's a key thing we're going to talk about after the break. Second thing is that it not only is that interesting is that China is starting to develop relationships, trade agreements in Central and South America. Out of the countries, Peru, Brazil, all of these countries. And you know, remember why America stopped at Honolulu, Hawaii? It was a shipping refueling, restocking. Now think about it, if South America, Central America brings back things to China, that's a big ocean. They're going to have to stop somewhere. The Pacific Ocean is a wide area. Honolulu can be a very important place, but we need to think about it. We need to strategize, and we need to think not politics, but business, international, global business. And I think it's going to be a very important thing that we should not overlook because we become sort of like the middle guy, the broker, you know, and it brings stability to Asia. So we play an important role for America because it brings stability to trade. And being a stopping point here, so how do we change our laws? How do we keep with this in mind? How do we attract investment for Chinese to start coming in to our community, help us build ports, public-private partnerships, with all of this anticipation because as Central and South America trade and China grows, in fact, one of the BRICS members, China's a member, is Brazil. So they are lending money. The BRICS is lending $50 billion, I believe, to this project. So part of that one-about-one role is not going to just be the maritime route that goes from China to Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe, and overlaid from China to Europe, but it's also going to be the Pacific back to the U.S. I think we're neglecting that. And so we're going to have a break shortly, but that's what we need to focus on after the break. Okay. Hi, and thanks for watching Think Tech Hawaii. My name is Justine Espiritu, and I host the Hawaii Food and Farmer series with my co-host Matthew Johnson of Iwaku Fresh. Every week, we bring on farmers as well as all the other individuals and organizations that help support a thriving, sustainable food system. In fact, it's interesting to learn what others are doing, so you don't have to be a Hawaii resident or producing food on Hawaii to be featured on the show, like today's guest, Wyatt Bryson of Jewels of the Forest and Michaelab Solutions. Aloha. Thank you. It's been a pleasure being on the show. I love seeing what you guys do, and I really support your mission. And it's really nice being back in Hawaii. And thank you again. It's an honor. So, you can see guests like Wyatt every Thursday at 4 p.m. on Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Russell Liu, along with my co-host, Ray Tsuchiyama. We're Think Tech Asia, and today we're talking about the One Belt, One Road initiative proposed by China. And more specifically, we're going to talk in this part of the show about how does it relate to Hawaii, and what are the opportunities to Hawaii? As we just before the break mentioned, Ray, you were about to say something. Well, I mean, thinking about what you just said, and there are great opportunities. What has happened, though, was that, like the refueling analogy just made with ships, there was planes coming here from Japan or Asia and from the mainland, and refueling here up to the 80s. Remember, they had to stop someplace, or Alaska and so forth, the 707s. And then came the 704s, and then they had to refuel anymore, and they went overflight. And a kind of overflight also occurs in the container ships. For example, when I moved back to Hawaii, it was cheaper for me to send my household items in the container to LA, or Long Beach, because to Honolulu, they had to make a stop in Long Beach and come back again. You see what I mean? Because everything was going to the great markets, cars, electronics, all kinds of finish goods to the mainland markets. Nothing was coming here over ships. There has to be a reason why ships come here, reason why they have to refinished or for design centers or fabrication, something for them, for planes and ships to come here. So I think that's a great point that you have. How can Hawaii, because of a mid-Pacific location, take advantage of the trade going back and forth and becoming a middleman, a broker, and so forth? Just like Singapore does it for the globe, and think about it. They have an airline, Singapore Airlines, that's global. They go to London, they go to the Middle East, they go to South America and all over the globe. Think of the flights that you want to go to Asian capitals for Honolulu, and you can't. It's really a challenge. You have to go through a hub, like Incheon or Tokyo or whatever, Hong Kong. So it's really tough. And again, how do you leverage that? And of course, building up our port infrastructure. Because instead of the art, it can unload and put back on ships when you finish products for markets in Asia very quickly or vice versa. So you come up with, and again, you talk about people who can speak other languages, can have business and finance, and a lot of expediting markets who are like people who can deal with logistics, like you say. This whole flow supply chain, which is a major area of research and study even today for semiconductors, for electronics, for cars, it's a huge area. We're not in that. The last place that had manufacturing here was Dole Pineapple, where they shut down. That was the end of manufacturing here. So we have to get back into developing a base of expertise in that area. And it's very interesting because Donald Trump says our presence is make America great again. And I think we have to use the term here, remake Hawaii again. We need to reinvent ourselves. And getting back to that, Ray, it's a very important point is that today's world, we don't need heavy manufacturing. But what we need to do is set a clear signal that we have the ability to do things here to provide value in the supply chain. For example, you were in the software industry. We talk about software development here, but we have to build capacity. We have to get back in our university, bring all these Chinese students who would not get an MIT, but are smart enough, that can come to UH and our engineering and our high tech, work alongside, study with our own local kids, who then become more global and they bring relationships. And we can slowly build on that. But again, this One Belt One Road means that trade also is to this specific corridor, ships to stop here. There's federal legislation, which prevents the ship from stopping here. They have to go to Long Beach, unload, come back here. But maybe we need to revisit this. We need our legislative group to take action. But we need to come to a master plan. And this One Belt One Road can mean a lot because, as you coined the term, we can really be an important middleman, a broke up, because the ships will have to stop here. They have to. Especially if they're going to new markets in South America, Central America. And I know the Chinese are slowly going to South and Central America. They're starting to invest in not only the infrastructure, not only getting supplies in South America, but actually they're looking to building Chinese manufacturing centers in Central and South America. So the global paradigm shift means that we have to figure where our value's going to be. Well, you're absolutely correct. I mean, South America has gone through ups and downs. One economist used to say, it's a half joke that Brazil is the country of the future and always will be. Or look at Venezuela, that's having extreme difficulties. And they do have a market. They do have very talented people. But South America really needs a kind of a focus on how they transform a very rich region when you think about it in terms of not only material capacity in minerals and timber and so forth, but also a human capital. They have great universities in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and so forth. And Brazil, Peru, and as you know, many countries look like the United States. They have a wide range of immigrants and entrepreneurs. How do you link that up? Well, it's like Africa also. I think you're correct at where Chinese traders go. And then one of the most interesting things is they also give scholarships for African or South American students to study back in Beijing and then learn Mandarin and come back. And they become like liaisons between Chinese companies and their host countries. And that's something that is really part of a dynamic plan. And something that I don't think we understand in the U.S. that they're building a people-to-people base. Yes, yes. And that's important because of people to view. As you know, Ray, I'm also up to teach law at Beijing Ford and Southern University where 93 languages are spoken. And 10% of the student population are international. They come from Europe. They come from Africa, Japan, other places in Asia. But we're seeing that there is a global shift in paradigm and change thinking. And only until this year I've got two Hawaii friends, parents, who are actually sending their kids out there to learn language and study international business in Beijing. So as you pointed out, we need the people-to-people exchange. And if there's a call to action, I would think the first summary list is we need to get language capability here. I was talking to a very famous physician here who is from here many years from Shraab. And he retired. And he actually is on the academic side now. He goes in Wisconsin. And the number of Chinese students are amazing going to these schools. And they're starting to go out. We need to actively push. We need to work together as a community to do people-to-people relationship. We cannot be afraid because when you think of language in Mandarin, it's not going to be a Mandarin, so ethnic cultural, it's a language of business. In China, I'm in meetings-many times I'm with meetings with a Korean, an African, and a Russian. And I'm sitting there and not always speak English. So we speak in Mandarin. It's becoming a language of business. So there's a paradigm shift. But so again, language capability. We need to have our students and kids here embrace it to learn the language. We need to have that because business can't stop here if you don't have language. And it's sort of like the Japanese investments here in the 80s and 90s, where we have a great language capability. Many Japanese speaking. Oh, yeah. Right. We don't have it here, but we need to do that. What are your thoughts on that? Well, Japanese still is the number one foreign language in many, many schools. But it's a kind of an interesting reason for that. And my sister teaches Japanese at Farmington High School. Many of the students are children of families working in Waikiki. And if you know Japanese, you can get ahead. Because still, there's 1.8, 1.9 million Japanese visitors come to Hawaii annually. So that's an added kind of skill that you have. But I think the state has to look at the future and really create a cadre of Mandarin speaking, not only people in the hospitality industry, but in business, in technology, many service industries, and so forth. What happened during the 80s when the Japanese came as a wave was that there were enough people who spoke Japanese. My mother was one, for example, who came from Japan. And others just enough, and the Japanese speaking lawyers, that kind of met the demand. But it was not planned. It just happened by chance. And here, we have an opportunity where we can design our future better than other states of the Union. However, other states, as you know, Fairfax County, Aminitonga, and Minnesota are doing immersion programs in Chinese from kindergarten up. They're doing a lot of things dealing with exchanges. And they're ahead of us, Vegas, and San Francisco, and Seattle, and so forth. They're ahead of us. They're also trying to attract wealthy Chinese to do medical tourism, also, that's part of that. So there's a whole, kind of, not one thing, but multiple ways of attracting people to do business. And then, when they, therefore, stay at a Mayo Clinic or in Seattle or San Francisco, then they look for a place to stay. Maybe they buy something, they have their children attend college there. There's a whole kind of acceleration of interaction. So I think that's getting back, we've got just a few minutes to go here. I think what we're both saying is that we need to get the language capability quickly. We need to bring in Chinese students here at TOH who are in the technical field, who will bring us a platform for our local kids to be more global. And I think it's important that we look at the tourism. Now, there's a local issue recently, the tourism tax, a proposed tax. That's right. We're coming to that. That's TAT, the Transit Accommodation Tax, the 12.5 proposed. And so that's going to affect tourism. And on the new market for the Chinese, they have many options because they're so internet savvy. They're FIT travelers. Many of them will choose other destinations. But they never had a hearing for people, experts in the industry to tell them what the Chinese tourists are thinking about. Yes. And that's very important. And what strikes me as important is that I think people, there's taxes and taxes we're building. But what it goes on to a vision is we need to do something to bring in business. We need to bring business. Tourism is not going to last forever because of the internet and because of air travel that can bypass this place. We have to make a reason for people to come here, especially the Chinese who will see the place like the place, want to buy a house, invest, bring the professionals here, the lawyers, let them open bank accounts or local banks so there's a connection. A relationship begins. But always becomes that we need to look at a larger long-term vision. So do you also add to that, Ray, before we close our show today? Well, you're absolutely right. I think this kind of tax that pays for rail is not a great argument to present to Chinese tourists who have funds to go to the Maldives or Vietnam or Korea or San Francisco or Vegas. So I think we really have to think, what is our brand? What is our strategy? How can we really make this not only for tourists, but two steps ahead? And you're correct. That could be a center to develop the economy of Hawaii with an access to the market in China. Yes. And I agree with you, Ray, and we're going to show you an ender show. But again, we hope that our viewers out there would digest some of these issues is a very important one. One road, one belt is going to be a very important. And you need to figure out how we're going to get Hawaii is going to get in there. That ties in with tourism also. And it's very important that we think global and we really start acting on as a community together, working as a community. Because the opportunities with the Chinese are going to be less and less because they're going to invest elsewhere. It's like a pie of money. There's so much money. And I think we need to, as a community, figure how we're going to be a middle man here and how we could attract investments here to help join that one belt, one road initiative. And so, Ray, I have no further thoughts. And you have any further thoughts to tell our audience, Chip? I think we just have to be very close to what's happening because this may change history in a huge way. Yes. And it's going to change history. And we're going to have to be on top of it. We're going to have to be ahead of it, in fact, because the planes will file over us. The internet will also, the Chinese will not come here. And so, again, to our audience, again, this is Ray Tsuchiyama and Russell Liu from Think Tech Global, Think Tech Asia. And we're live in our Honolulu Studios. And in the next series, we are going to be part of it. We will be in Beijing again. So we'll get to see what's really happening on the ground in Asia. Again, thank you very much for being and watching our show this evening. And good night.