Thursday, February 16, 2012

Iowa corn

Xi Jinping was in Iowa. Iowa, it seems, is a must spot to visit for foreign dignitaries especially if they come from a Communist country and represent an 'existential danger' to the US.
Nikita Krushchev came there more than a half century. Few remember he had tried to raise farm output in the USSR. Cyrus Eaton, powerful financier and businessman, hosted the Soviet premier.
Few also remember that it was in Iowa, Mr. K. threatened to bury the US in the Cold War game. His boast or threat set the US ruling class' teeth to clatter.
For his words, the Eisenhower administration, in a mean spirited act, wouldn't let Krushchev visit Disneyland. That decision almost sank the premier's tour.
Now Xi has come and gone from Iowa. He didn't threatened; he didn't boast; he even recalled more halcyon days of his first visit to America where he spent time in 'hawkeye/corn state'.
The future leader of China did something more, he left us$4.3 billion behind by purchasing Iowa soybeans at a time when the US economy is still on the ropes.
After Iowa, off he went to Los Angeles. Will he visit Disneyland, even though he easily could do so in Shanghai or Beijing?
Why wouldn't he? Xi is here on a charm offensive.

No comments:

Post a Comment