Citizen Diplomacy and Iowa on International Stage with Xi Jinping Visit

Citizen diplomacy has once again moved to the forefront in Iowa and national news and is now being recognized for its significant role in developing and fostering relations between nations. This week, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will visit Iowa for the second time (first was in 1985) in his political career. Having risen from a provincial party member to Vice President of China, and soon to be President, Xi's visit to Iowa highlights the importance of diplomatic relations between Iowa and China, a relationship that began back in 1979 when Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, then governor of Guangdong, visited Iowa with a delegation.

The relations established back in the mid-1980s were the result of a lot of hard work put forth by the Iowa Sister Cities, a citizen diplomacy organization committed to creating city to city partnerships and exchanges. Both Governors Branstad and Ray helped to establish the Iowa Sister States connection between Iowa and China's Hebei province.

Xi visited Muscatine, IA in 1985 and has never forgotten the hospitality of the people he met during his trip. When Branstad visited China last fall, he extended an invitation to Xi to return to Iowa. Xi responded by accepting the invitation and is bringing with him about 200 delegates to experience the hospitality of the state that has a long history of serving as an arena for citizen diplomacy.

The visit by Nikita Khrushchev to the Garst farm in Coon Rapids over 50 years ago during the heat of the Cold War serves as a parallel example of citizen diplomacy in Iowa. Even as two superpowers challenged eachother on the world stage, the farmland of Iowa served as peaceful ground to cultivate people to people relations, and with the help of citizen diplomacy, relieved tension between the United States and former USSR. Iowa will again provide such a contribution as Xi visits Iowa farms and citizens to talk about agriculture, and perhaps relive some old memories from 1985.

Citizen diplomacy seems to be a buzzword in regards to Xi's trip to Iowa this week. From a Des Moines Register op-ed piece:

This momentous visit stems from our history that may be surprising to many: Iowa's long tradition of citizen diplomacy. With a rich heritage of innovation in agriculture, manufacturing and financial services, Iowans are much more than citizens of our great state. Indeed, Iowans are citizens of the world. But we don't just tout our global citizenry. We live it. Iowa has been front and center in volunteer, people-to-people diplomacy for the past 50 years through our long tradition of sister state-sister city relationships.

The column was written by three of Iowa's most prominent business leaders: Larry Zimpelman from Principal Financial, Paul Schickler from Pioneer, and James A. Israel from John Deere. The visit not only provides economic opportunities for these 3 companies (all of which do business in China), but also provides opportunities to engage as citizen diplomats in the business world. The US Center for Citizen Diplomacy commends these business leaders for their recognition of citizen diplomacy and how it plays a positive role in developing and maintaining friendly relations with other nations.

The Des Moines Register echoed the importance of people to people diplomacy through this op-ed piece as well as through a follow up article which stated that citizens make the best diplomats. We couldn't agree more!

We take our global responsibility very seriously. Together our three organizations employ more than 26,000 people in the state and another nearly 89,000 around the world. Iowa companies exported more than $10 billion in manufactured and value added agricultural goods in 2010. Exports to China alone increased 13 times over the past decade.

These economic opportunities also lead the way to increased cultural and business exchanges.

Xi Jinping is expected to ascend to the top leadership post in China, becoming the next President this fall. With such rich and memorable experiences in Iowa, his leadership may illuminate the importance of people to people diplomacy and encourage more trips and citizen diplomacy delegations in the future. Perhaps some August he'll enjoy a pork-chop-on-a-stick at the Iowa State Fair.

Photo credit: http://www.desmoinesregister.com

Posted Monday, February 13, 2012