I was fortunate to be among the generation of Chinese who grew up untouched by war or hunger. My grandparents who vanished in the bombings of WWII and the famine in the 50’s are only fuzzy memories kept in black and white pictures.
Ten years have passed since Mr. Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, made a historic visit to the heartland of America.
Mr. Xi was returning to Muscatine, IA, where nearly a quarter-century before, he had spent six months as a young county-level cadre member of the Hebei Shijiazhuang Prefecture Corn Processing delegation. Chinese officials said Mr. Xi was grateful for the hospitality of his hosts and enjoyed his time living in rural America. He wanted to visit with old friends and relive those memories.
As we begin the year 2022, I am focused on the fact that February 15 – 16 will mark the 10th anniversary of then Vice President Xi Jinping’s historic return to the American Heartland.
During that trip, President Xi first visited the home of Sarah Lande in Muscatine, Iowa, one of the individuals who had welcomed him in 1985 when, as a county level official from Hebei Province, he made his first visit to the United States.
Vice President Xi then came to Des Moines for a “state dinner” at the magnificent Iowa State Capitol hosted by Governor (and future Ambassador to China) Terry Branstad.
During the summer of my freshman year at college, I was taking a career preparation course and the instructor asked all of us a novel and provoking question: “What’s your epitaph after death?” I thought twice and gave my answer: “To burn passion for an admirable cause.” This answer aligns with the goal I chose before entering the college, which refers to a sentence from a Chinese writer Zhiyuan Xu: “Students learn from the books in the high school. When they enter the college, they should broaden their vision and learn from everywhere.”
Thank you Ambassador Cui!
Ambassador Cui Tiankai, China’s top diplomatic representative to the US for the last eight years, departed Washington in late June in time to return home for the centennial anniversary celebration of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1.
It was during a succession of events in the Heartland, and in particular in my home state of Iowa, that I had a number of opportunities to interact with Ambassador Cui and to join in promoting “citizen diplomacy” efforts to enhance friendly relations between the Chinese and American peoples.
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The first time I visited China was when I studied and interned in Shanghai during the summer of 2019. I vividly remember observing young boys buying Mao’s Red Army hats from street vendors using WeChat Pay. When commuting to and from work, I was struck by the efficiency and cleanliness of the subway and bus systems.
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