had stopped paying its rent 16 months earlier. It also owed the city of Duluth back rent, which the city has indicated would be forgiven in exchange for job creation. In February 2011, Cirrus was sold for US$210M to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China. The announcement of the sale was met with mixed responses. The Duluth News-Tribune labelled it "a sinking feeling of impending loss", while Russ Niles of AvWeb said "Chinese participation in the aviation industry isn't necessarily a bad thing and the folks in Duluth and Grand Forks could have suffered a worse fate. In the absence of a sale, bankruptcy was a real possibility for Cirrus and it might have been hard for a trustee to justify operating the business with the numbers it was showing. As for where it leaves current Cirrus owners and those thinking of buying one, the sale is probably a positive thing." In mid-March 2011, aviation industry analyst Brian Foley indicated that he was trying to organize a group of US investors to make a counter-offer to the Chinese buy-out to keep Cirrus as a US-owned company. Foley stated that he had seen an "overwhelming response" from the U.S. aviation community, indicating that Americans want Cirrus "to be owned and operated on American soil, period." Foley's counter-offer did not materialize. In late March 2011, freshman Minnesota congressman Chip Cravaack urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to exercise "extreme caution" over allowing the sale of Cirrus to the Chinese government, indicating that he was concerned that company technology would be used for Chinese military programs. Cirrus spokesman Todd Simmons responded to the congressman's remarks with surprise, responding that, "the CAIGA transaction is an investment in Duluth and our local communities." On 30 March 2011, at the Sun 'n Fun airshow, company co-founder Dale Klapmeier provided reassurances that Chinese ownership would not result in production being moved out of the US. Klapmeier also expressed disappointment in the political issues raised, particularly by Cravaack. Klapmeier explained, "His concerns are unfounded," detailing that Cirrus did not have any unique technology that could be employed in military applications. Former 18-term Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar also came out in support of Cirrus and the acquisition, saying Cravaack was "undermining" the situation, and that "we