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 -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- 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 BEIJING 00000950 002 OF 002 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