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“Old Friends”: The Xi Jinping-Iowa Story Media Talking Points
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Press may contact us at: xijinpingiowastory@gmail.com

 

  • “Old Friends”: The Xi Jinping-Iowa Story” is memoir compiled and told by Sarah D. Lande.  

  • It is self published, and printed in the United States.

  • The Memoir is written in Chinese and English side by side.

  • The intent of this Memoir is to capture the power and impact of friendship between the peoples of China and Iowa by illustrating their personal journeys between 1979 and 2015.  

  • This Memoir was compiled to inspire U.S.-China relations and inspire citizen ambassadors of any age, long into the future. 

  • We established the Sarah D. Lande US-China Friendship Education Company to receive funds to produce the Memoir.  

  • We have sponsors from both United States and China.  See list on our program.

  • Any net profits from sale of Memoir go into an account at the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine.  

  • This is not a commercial venture.  Interest on these funds will provide scholarships for business and cultural exchanges between Iowa and China.  

  • Writers and editors were all volunteers.  Our core team includes:  Sarah Lande, the author; Joni Axel, the project manager; Amy Bakke, the designer; and Sarah Minor, the editor.  

  • This is a project cooperated between the “Old Friends” in China and Iowa.  The “Old Friends” in China provided many images, notes, memories in written and voice interview recordings.  

  • “Old Friends” is a special phrase coined by President Xi Jinping during Governor Terry E. Branstad’s visit to Beijing in 2011. It specifically refers to the five delegation members in 1985: President Xi Jinping, Mr. Bai Runzhang, Mr. Yu Xiqing, Mr. Liu Luqing, and Mr. Xia Wenyi, and all the Iowans who hosted the Delegation in 1985 with Sarah Lande and Luca Berrone as the key representatives. 

  • Governor Terry E. Branstad, now the U.S. Ambassador to China is a key character in this story, and he wrote the Forward.  

  • Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn is also a key character of this story, and he contributed Chapter 2:  The Journey in Retrospect. 

  • We have a sense of pride in the State of Iowa and wish to share with the world our special bond of friendship with President of China Xi Jinping and how our friendship has grown with former Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad now serving as U.S. Ambassador to China.

  • From 1988 to 1998, Sarah Lande served as the first Executive Director for Iowa Sister States, a state supported, nonprofit organization that builds Iowa’s cultural, economic, and educational partnerships with the world including Hebei Province in China.  

  • Iowa Sister States (ISS) provided information and images to this book, and the Memoir dedicates significant coverage and emphasis on the role of ISS in the Iowa-China friendship development.  

  • Sarah Lande was awarded the title of Honorary Friendship Ambassador in 2013 by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.  

  • This book will be published in China, we believe, within this year.  The “Old Friends” in China have recommended a well know publisher as our partner.  We cannot tell you who the publisher is, and it will be announced when the time is right.  

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