MEDIA REACTION: Obama in Iraq, Shanghai 2010 World Expo,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000950

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C
HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007)
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR CH PREL ECON

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: Obama in Iraq, Shanghai 2010 World Expo,
Moldova protest, IMF

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Editorial Quotes
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1.Obama in Iraq

"The 'inspection' focused on troop withdrawal"
The official Communist Party People's Daily(Renmin Ribao)(04/09):
There were 3 reasons for Obama's visit. First as Commander in Chief
Obama needs to show he cares about American troops in Iraq.
Although he is against the war in Iraq, he has to gain support from
U.S. troops in Iraq. Second Obama is concerned that the worsening
situation will have an impact on his troop withdrawal plans. The
"responsible" way of withdrawing from Iraq means to avoid making
Iraq a shelter for terrorists. Third, Obama is anxious about Iraq's
political reconciliation and rejuvenation progress. He expressed
that a lot of pending issues should become the priorities now. In
general his visit is focused on whether or not the U.S. can withdraw
troops on time.


2. Shanghai 2010 World Expo

"88-year old Chinese businessman helps the U.S. participate in the
world expo"
The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao) (04/09):
So far the U.S. pavilion has not even started construction in
Shanghai, while France, Germany, Luxembourg, Australia, and Spain
have already started their construction. The current company
authorized by U.S. Department of State to build the American
exhibition pavilion failed to raise sufficient money due to the
financial crisis. Many companies promised to donate for the 2010
World Expo couldn't meet their words after the outbreak of financial
crisis, including Disney, Pepsi, and some Chinese-American
businessmen. April 15, 2009, is the deadline for the foreign
governments or organizations to sign contracts with the organizing
committee of 2010 World Expo to officially confirm their attendance.


In fact, there were several times when America was absent from World
Expos. The construction work of U.S. pavilion for 2010 World Expo
has to start by this June. But the lack of money makes the
situation chaotic.

In the eyes of those "utilitarian and pragmatic" Americans, the
influences of World Expos have already faded away. That's why the
U.S. Congress put a ban on using government financial money for
World Expos. However, there are different opinions in the U.S.
BH&L Group, a non-profit organization for building the U.S. pavilion
in World Expo, claimed in December, 2008 that "U.S. should confirm
its attendance in the 2010 World Expo as soon as possible;
otherwise, the U.S. may make a 'diplomatic mistake'. If America
cannot participate in the 2010 World Expo it will not only humiliate
China but also humiliate the American people in front of the world.
It will also affect American products and services exporting to the
huge Chinese market and the negative impact will keep coming in the
following years." The founder of "World Expo Museum" website also
expressed that U.S. should not miss the Shanghai World Expo. British
media also said the America's absence will affect the China-U.S.
relations.

Amid the concerns over whether the U.S. can be part of the World
Expo, Chinese-American businessman Jiang Yicheng is trying to set up
a new company to represent the United States. This 88-year-old
businessman told the International Herald Leader that based on his
rich experiences of successfully holding the World Expo and network
of relations in the U.S., political and business circles, he had
raised a US$100 million investment for the 2010 World Expo. He
indicated that he had communicated with several U.S. Senators and
relevant officials in the Department of State. He plans to make a
report to Secretary Clinton in person after she finishes her oversea
trips. He is very confident of being chosen by President Obama to
be the chief Representative of the U.S. at the Shanghai World Expo,
which he believes is a position having the same level as the
out-posted Ambassador.


3. Moldova protests

"European "small red country" undergoes disturbance"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao) (04/09):
Protests in Moldova became serious on the 7th and the current
situation remains unclear. Almost all the western media stressed
that this was a protest "against the Communist Party". Some even
called this a rebellion. But Russian media quickly responded this
protest was a new round of "color revolutions", thinking that
western powers intervened. A Chinese professor from China Foreign
Affairs University says that Moldova is not a socialist country. It
adopted the western political system. The Party has played great

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role in promoting economic development and improving the living
standards. But western society is still very sensitive about the
"nature of the Party" and it is their natural reaction to criticize
any socialist-related countries. This riot, therefore, is called
"revolution" rather than a revolt.
The Moldova protests bring attention to the color revolutions again.
But most of the experts believe that there is not likely to be
another revolution. Judging from the previous conflicts between
Georgia and the Ukraine, color revolutions do not have a good
reputation. Currently western governments keep cautious attitudes
towards this protest. According to Lu Nanquan from the Chinese
Academy of Social Science, because of the current global financial
crisis, the western countries are busy with solving the economic
problems rather than creating more conflicts in Moldova. Therefore,
this protest is not a signal of another color revolution [against
Communist Parties] agitated by western countries. It's just a
disturbance that the pro-west people want to let off their
dissatisfaction when the Communist Party was re-elected.



4. IMF
"A financial body in need of urgent reform"
The official English-language newspaper China Daily (04/09)published
this Editorial by Xiao Lian, director of the Center for American
Economic Studies, Institute of World Economies and Politics,
affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
Needless to say, China's contribution to the IMF and its voting
share should be commensurate with it rising economic status in the
world. The IMF's existing 85 vote mechanism has to be changed to
make more representative and to ensure that the voice of emerging
economies and developing countries, including poor African nations,
carries more weight... The reform of the IMF and the World Bank
should also ensure that emerging economies and developing countries
have a greater say in electing heads of international financial
institutions, and that the elections are more transparent... Since
China has increased its contribution to the IMF dramatically, it
should link it to member economies' recognizing it as a market
economy... It is not fair for some IMF member economies to enjoy
the benefits that China's contribution will bring even as they
refuse to recognize the country's market economic status.


Weinstein