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.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
RSS