Cool the China Rhetoric

By ART CULLEN

We would do well to momentarily sheath our sabers and consider China’s place among Iowa’s biggest food customers, along with Mexico and Canada. The mainland’s military in April was conducting aggressive exercises around Taiwan as that island’s leader just concluded a visit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Earlier, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan despite great anxiety in the Communist government.

Also recently, the Chinese made major purchases of US corn. Since March 16, China bought nearly three million tons of US corn and also made record purchases of soybeans on world markets. China has an insatiable appetite for pork, with a big serving coming from Iowa. China needs the United States to help feed its people.

Food security is China’s foremost concern. The government watched with alarm as protests broke out during the pandemic over food shortages. China has set a goal of self-sufficiency in grain production that it cannot meet because of soil degradation from erosion and over-application of chemicals. It is trying to rebuild a swine herd cut in half by African Swine Flu, during which time the Trump Administration launched a trade war that eroded our position as a reliable food partner. There’s a lot of jingoistic talk among Republicans and Democrats in Washington who want to restrain trade with China — Rep. Randy Feenstra is among those calling for prohibitions on Chinese ownership of farmland (even though foreign ownership of Iowa agland already is prohibited).

China has turned to Brazil and Argentina, among others, to fill its import needs. It has made significant investments in South America in infrastructure and land to satisfy its food needs. That’s the principal reason that farmers are burning down the Amazon rain forest and endangering the entire planet. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil is making warm overtures to China, and recently suggested that Ukraine (a major wheat producer) should give up on Crimea. Do not underestimate the role of food production in geopolitics.

Also, note that of the three big meatpackers in Iowa, one is owned by the Chinese (Smithfield), and another is owned by Brazilians (JBS). Tyson is the only one owned by Americans. Smithfield is the biggest pork producer in the USA. JBS is among the biggest beef producers. (As a practical matter, foreign-owned farmland or corporations can be domesticated, or even nationalized with the swipe of a presidential pen.)

We should take a more realistic approach using food and agriculture as our first tools of diplomacy, not gunships and trade wars. As the hay bale diplomat Roswell Garst of Coon Rapids said during the height of the Cold War, “Hungry people are dangerous people.”

You cannot talk about human rights if you are shouting at each other. Why should China convince Russia to step back from Ukraine, a vital grain supplier, if we are openly hostile? And, what leverage do we have, without China, to convince Brazil to quit burning down the rain forest?

The US should pipe down on Taiwan. If China wants to, it can overrun the tiny protectorate of the US in no time. Nobody wants that. President Joe Biden reportedly has tried unsuccessfully to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping. If he can ever get through, Biden should lead with discussion of food and agriculture. It is China’s chief concern. We can help provide for Asia’s rising protein demand while working together on self-sustaining systems that help cool the planet and adversarial tensions. China can influence Brazil and Russia. We can influence China while recognizing that it is already a major investor in American food production. China wants and needs better ag technology to feed its own people. No place can supply it like Iowa. We should be collaborating closely on livestock disease, but China is in a defensive crouch over the origins of COVID that helps nobody. Iowa State University is unrivaled in soil science and has much to share about better approaches to conservation.

We suggested before that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and former Chinese Ambassador Terry Branstad should do a goodwill tour to promote agricultural cooperation. Branstad is said to be a friend of President Xi from his days as governor, when Branstad hosted Xi at a farm near Muscatine. It’s not so corn-pone. That’s what Roswell Garst did in melting the ice of the Cold War with Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev during a picnic on the farm. Krushchev saw the practical benefits of acquiring US farm technology in feeding his own people. It helped to avoid nuclear war. The idea of ag diplomacy gets better as the shouting grows louder. Calmer voices should prevail, talking about food instead of air power. Don’t make Xi lose face over Taiwan, a game we cannot win. We best protect Taiwan by avoiding war or the talk of it. and by promoting trade, which is a more secure path to peace and human rights.

Art Cullen is publisher and editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot in northwest Iowa (stormlake.com). He won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 2017 and is author of the book “Storm Lake: A Chronicle of Change, Resilience, and Hope from America’s Heartland.” Email times@stormlake.com.

From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2023

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