U.S. Is Hiring Hong Kong Company To Do Nuke Scans

An issue related to the Dubai ports controversy suggests the issue of port security may still be alive as a controversy after all:

In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

If you recall, when the Dubai ports firestorm broke you saw various gradations of opposition to it. Some objected to an Arab country being involved in any management whatsoever of American ports (no matter how indirect) due to security reasons. Then there was another segment of the opposition in Congress and elsewhere that wanted to nix American ports being run in the future by foreign companies.

Critics got assurances from the administration. But the focus was on major U.S. ports. The question now will be whether the issue of who handles the cargo that goes into U.S. ports will also become an issue in an election year, given the firestorm over the Dubai ports deal:

The administration is negotiating a second no-bid contract for a Philippine company to install radiation detectors in its home country, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. At dozens of other overseas ports, foreign governments are primarily responsible for scanning cargo.

While President Bush recently reassured Congress that foreigners would not manage security at U.S. ports, the Hutchison deal in the Bahamas illustrates how the administration is relying on foreign companies at overseas ports to safeguard cargo headed to the United States.

Hutchison Whampoa is the world’s largest ports operator and among the industry’s most-respected companies. It was an early adopter of U.S. anti-terror measures. But its billionaire chairman, Li Ka-Shing, also has substantial business ties to China’s government that have raised U.S. concerns over the years.

“Li Ka-Shing is pretty close to a lot of senior leaders of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Larry M. Wortzel, head of a U.S. government commission that studies China security and economic issues. But Wortzel said Hutchison operates independently from Beijing, and he described Li as “a very legitimate international businessman.”

So the first issue that sparked bipartisan outcry was a deal where a Dubai-based company would be involved in managing major U.S. ports. Will a deal involving a Hong Kong company being put in charge of nuke scans become a big controversy as well? And, if it does, what will it say (again) about the quality of political prep work being done at the White House?