Iowa’s deputy governor is planning a trade mission to Taiwan, an announcement that comes less than three months after Missouri Governor Jay Nixon was allegedly forced to cancel a similar visit to Taiwan following threats of economic reprisals from China.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds announced plans on Monday to make two trade promotion trips to Asia this year. According to the announcement, Branstad will visit South Korea and China in June, while Reynolds will visit Japan and Taiwan in September.
Both have invited Iowa companies, farmers, organizations and the media to accompany them.
A spokesman for Branstad said he did not know if any consideration had been given to possible threats from Beijing.
Iowa, an agricultural powerhouse, is a key state in the US electoral system because it is the first to hold both Democratic and Republican presidential caucuses. The winners of the Iowa caucuses automatically become the presidential frontrunners. As a result, the state is considered to be one of the most politically powerful and holds considerable sway.
The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) signed an agreement with Taiwan in 2009 to sell Taipei between 110 million and 118 million bushels of soybeans last year and this year for between US$1.35 billion and US$1.4 billion.
ISA chief executive Kirk Leeds said at the time that the deal reflected the long-term friendship between Taiwan and Iowa “in freedom, democracy and trade.”
He said the deal showed the continued commitment of the Taiwan soybean crushing and feed industry to purchase and use US soybeans.
“As the fourth-largest export market for US soybeans, Taiwan remains an important market for Iowa. We appreciate the friendships and business relationships that the US has enjoyed with Taiwan since 1949,” Leeds said.
Reynolds said there were massive opportunities in Asia to increase Iowa’s exports, particularly in pork and soybeans.
On Dec. 1, Nixon announced he would bring a trade delegation to Taiwan. Soon afterwards he scrapped the plan when a Chicago-based Chinese diplomat warned the trip could imperil a project by China to turn St Louis airport into a hub for Chinese cargo in the US.
During a visit to Taipei in late January, American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt said Chinese pressure on Nixon was unacceptable and inconsistent with Beijing’s claims it sought to improve ties with Taipei.
Eight US governors have visited Taiwan over the past two years.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique