Soybeans become a symbol of the US-China rivalry in a remote Chinese border town
A small farming community near Kaishantun illustrates how China’s reliance on imported soybeans has turned the crop into a geopolitical bargaining chip between the United States and Beijing.
Lea Sahay and Gregor Scheu report from the fields surrounding Kaishantun, where golden corn rows lead to a deserted railway and a North Korean border tower. Once a producer of soy, China now depends heavily on foreign imports. The timing of recent US soybean purchases, just before a summit between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, highlights the strategic weight of the bean in the broader US-China power struggle.
