When the presidents of the United States and China meet in Washington, the world will be watching to see whether their two countries can make good on their agreement to work towards “constructive strategic stability”. In the sixth part of a series, Khushboo Razdan
looks at how a presidential appeal to America’s heartland is playing out. Of the countless preparations being made for Chinese President
Xi Jinping’s highly anticipated American trip, arguably the first came in the form of a personal letter.
On February 16, seven months before his White House visit, Xi wrote to friends in the midwestern US state of Iowa, sending a
Chinese New Year card across the Pacific.
In it, the Chinese leader repeated a line Beijing uses when official relations are strained, saying the hope of the relationship “lies in the people”, its foundation “is grass-roots connections” and its future “depends on the youth”.
