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Visit from China could be held up by quake, Games

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham
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An effort under way to welcome a delegation from Wanzhou, China, to Waynesboro later this year could be in jeopardy.

“They’re considering it, but there’s a point where they’re asking all the provinces to conserve as much as they can in the event that they can divert the money to help the earthquake victims,” Tom Sikes, a member of the Waynesboro delegation that visited Wanzhou in April, told Waynesboro City Council at its meeting tonight.

An invitation has been extended to city leaders in Wanzhou to visit the River City during the annual Fall Foliage Festival in October, said Sikes, the director of global logistics at the Waynesboro-based Reo Distribution, which sent several of its employees along with the local delegation to China.

The Chinese government is currently consumed with its efforts to aid victims of a spring earthquake that killed tens of thousands of Chinese and of course with the 2008 Summer Olympics that begin on Aug. 8, Sikes said.

Sikes presented city council with a framed copy of a Friendly Cities agreement between Wanzhou and Waynesboro that was approved by the two cities earlier this year.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].