习近平或将访乌克兰

choi

习近平或将访乌克兰. VOA Chinese, Apr 3, 2016.
www.voachinese.com/content/voa-n ... 160403/3266777.html

My comment:
(a) "本首相安倍晋三去年6月访问乌克时向基辅的乌克兰大饥荒纪念碑，以及独立广场上的示威英雄纪念碑献了花圈。日本在加强同乌克兰的关系。"
(i)
(A) Holodomor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
(Ukrainian (word); Since 2006, Ukraine officially marks a Holodomor memorial day on the fourth Saturday of November)

Quote: "killed an estimated 2.5–7.5 million Ukrainians, with millions more counted in demographic estimates. * * * Scholars disagree on the relative importance of natural factors and bad economic policies as causes of the famine * * * in the spring of 1932[44] and from February to July 1933, with the greatest number of victims recorded in the spring of 1933. * * * From the 1932 harvest, Soviet authorities were able to procure only 4.3 million tons as compared with 7.2 million tons obtained from the 1931 harvest.

That is all you need to know from this Wiki page. Go directly to (B).
(B) National Museum "Memorial to Holodomor victims"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_"Memorial_to_Holodomor_victims"
(section 2 Architecture and symbolism)

* All I can tell from this photo
SBU Archive director: "Cause of Death -- Ukrainian" in 1993 registry. Nov 19, 2015
euromaidanpress.com/2015/11/19/sbu-archive-director-cause-of-death-ukrainian-in-1933-registry/#arvlbdata
, is that the statute "Bitter Memory of Childhood" is close to the "Candle of Memory." But I can not see the statute in other photos taken from afar.
(ii) Maidan Nezalezhnosti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidan_Nezalezhnosti
(Ukrainian literally: Independence Square; section 1 Names)

(b) "中国与乌克兰的经贸和其他领域的关系仍然发展迅速。乌克兰目前已经取代美国成为中国最大的玉米进口国。"
(i) I wish to inform you that a major reason is that over the years, US dollars has strengthened and Ukraine currency tanked (due to the strength and weakness, respectively, of the two nations).
(ii) The statement is correct, but China does not import much corn in the first place -- even though it has imported more and more corn in recent years. See next posting.

choi

Tony Wesolowsky, Cultivating Ties: Ukraine Feeds China's Growing Appetite For Crops. Radio Free Europe Radio Loberty, Aug 16, 2015
www.rferl.org/content/china-ukra ... ussia-/27191556.htm

Quote:

"Despite that [war and shrunken economy], Ukraine's total crop production in 2014 reached 63 million tons, a post-Soviet record

"China is the world's second-biggest consumer of corn, which Beijing needs mainly to feed livestock as the Chinese population's appetite for a Western diet -- including lots of meat -- grows.

Note:
(a) Regarding quotation 2. My first impression is that China is the second largest IMPORTING NATION of corn in the world. But I can not find any evidence to support this statement, despite thorough research. Then I realize that China is the second largest CONSUMER.

China as the second largest consumer is readily acceptable -- because China is world's second largest producer of corn (after the US, but well ahead of Brazil). See maize
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize
(section 7 Production; section 7.2 quantity; ranking)

(b) As for corn exporting or importing nations (China is insignificant in either category to be listed separately -- as opposed to being lumped together with many nations and presented as "others"). See
(i) World Corn Exports/Imports 2015-2016*(million bushel). National Corn Growers Association, undated
www.worldofcorn.com/#world-corn-exports-imports
(footnote: "* Marketing Year Oct 1, 2015 -- Sept 30, 2016" / Importing Nations: EU-27 > Japan > Mexico> South Korea >Egypt> Iran > Columbia > Algeria> Taiwan (161m bushel; 3.2%; as No 9) > Saudi Arabia> US)
(ii) Bushel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushel
(section 1 Name)
is a measurement of VOLUME. This Wiki page states, "The imperial bushel established by the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 [in UK] described the bushel as * * * 8 imperial gallons."  However, with Weights and Measures Act 1986 US went further with metrication and dropped bushel and many other measurement units.
(iii) A bushel of something weighs variously, depending on what it is. See

William J Murphy, G4020 Tables for Weights and Measurement: Crops. Department of Agronomy, University of Missouri, October 1993
http://extension.missouri.edu/pu ... layPub.aspx?P=G4020
(Table 1 Weights per bushel: Corn, shelled  56 pounds per bushel; Corn, ear  70 pounds per bushel)
(A) shell (vt): "to separate the kernels of (as an ear of Indian corn, wheat, or oats) from the cob, ear, or husk"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shell
(B) Taiwan is forecast to import 161 million bushel of (shelled) corn -- or 4 million metric tons.

(c) Mr Wesolowsky's report quoted "Fred Gale, a senior economist at the US Department of Agriculture."  See next posting.

choi

(3) Fred Gale, James Hansen and Michael Jewison, China's Growing Demands for Agricultural Imports. Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, February 015.
www.ers.usda.gov/media/1784488/eib136.pdf

My comment:
(a) View graphics and charts only, which are interesting. No text.

(b) I call your attention to
(i) the Box in page 6 whose heading is 'China's Agricultural Export Growth Diminishes':

"China's agricultural exports are chiefly labor-intensive, high-value (per unit of land) products that often require processing. US imports from China include farmed fish and shellfish, canned mandarin oranges, garlic, mushrooms, soybeans for food use, apple juice concentrate, pet food, chicken feathers, noodles, tea, and spices (appendix 2). While products from China comprise a small share of the US food supply, some of China's agricultural products have gained a significant share of the US market" such as certain farmed fish.

(ii) "Figure 6 China's net trade in grains, 2000-14[,] Million metric tons," whose footnotes state: "DDGS refers to distillers' dried grains. DDGS is not included in the traditional definition of grain since it is a byproduct of corn processing. However, it has emerged as a major US export to China that is now bigger than any single grain."
(A) distillers grains
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillers_grains
(section 1 section 1 Wet and dry distillers grains; Section 3 See also: Sake kasu [Japanese for 酒粕; both Japanese pronunciations for each kanji])
(B) "Corn distillers dried grains/solubles (DDGS) are recovered in the distillery and contain all the nutrients from the incoming corn minus the starch."
(C) Compare
United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un ... ip_reclassification
(destroyer: DDG)
(D) In this figure, you can see China in 2014 had a net import of 3 million metric tons of corn.  Compare with Note (b)(iii)(B) in the previous posting for Taiwan (2015-2016).