Xi Jinping will meet with a group of 'old friends' in the US

President Xi Jinping will meet with US President Joe Biden on November 15 in San Francisco, California. The event will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Xi Jinping (third from right) during his visit to Iowa in 1985.

SCMP SCREENSHOT

According to Bloomberg, Xi invited “old friends” from Iowa to attend the party with the US leader. Sarah Lande, an 85-year-old resident of Muscatine, Iowa, who was one of the people who met Xi when he first visited the US in 1985, said the invitation was sent by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the US-China Business Council, in coordination with the Chinese embassy in the US.

Terry Branstad, former governor of Iowa and former US ambassador to China, was also invited to the event.

In 1985, Mr. Tap, then 31 years old and Secretary of the Zhengding County Party Committee (Hebei Province, China), first set foot in the United States and coincidentally visited San Francisco. Mr. Tap led a delegation of 5 people to visit how Muscatine people in Iowa farmed .

Xi Jinping poses for a photo in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 1985.

SCREENSHOT OF XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

According to Xinhua, Ms. Lande was the one who helped with this trip. And Mr. Xi's view of the American people is always influenced by first impressions during the trip.

According to Ms. Lande, Mr. Xi was always smiling and curious about everything, asking a lot of questions. The itinerary included visiting a corn processing plant, a pig farm and a vegetable farm, interviews with local press, and a boat trip on the Mississippi River. Mr. Xi was arranged to stay in a homestay owned by Eleanor and Thomas Dvorchak to better understand the culture.

Twenty-seven years later, Xi reunited with his American friends in Iowa during a visit as China's vicepresident . During one meeting, someone asked him, "Why did you come to Iowa?" Xi replied, "You are the first group of Americans I have met. To me, you are America." That same year, Xi invited more than a dozen of his Iowa friends to China.

Mr. Tap and old friends in Iowa in 2012

"It was a journey we could not have imagined. We don't know why he liked us but we wanted to see him. We are just normal people," said Ms. Lande.

Gary Dvorchak, the Dvorchaks’ son and owner of the room where Xi stayed, is also among the guests at the upcoming party, along with his sister Paula. Another is Luca Berrone, a former Iowa economic development official who has been driving Xi around to companies like Monsanto, Cargill, Quaker Oats, and Iowa farms.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-tap-can-binh-se-hoi-ngo-nhom-lao-bang-huu-o-my-185231113223331333.htm