Dear Slate, yes there are chocolate bars in China
How AIDS in China is spreading
Shanghaiist Scrabble: We have a winner!
New sex change rules for China
Coming soon to a police checkpoint near you
So why is it that the United States might risk “global humiliation for the American people” by not showing up at the Shanghai World Expo? Well, partially because they don't really know what a World Expo is... and partially because it's awfully hard to raise $61 million without any government help.
From the AP:
Amid the worst recession in decades, U.S. organizers are struggling to raise $61 million for a national pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, expected to be the biggest ever.The U.S. exhibit is struggling because, unlike those of most other countries, the American exhibit must be privately funded. A 1991 U.S. law prohibits government financing of such events.
"We're doing the best we can, but we are in the midst of an economic crisis," said Ellen Eliasoph, a Beijing-based lawyer who was in Shanghai this week wooing potential sponsors of the pavilion in the American business community.
As a double whammy, many of the largest businesses from America (and thereby the best would-be sponsors) are opening their own pavilions or have their own sponsorship deals set up already. This includes General Motors Corp., Coca-Cola Co. and IBM Corp.
Does all this waffling matter to the Chinese? Most likely not - it doesn't matter what the reasons are, the U.S.'s lack of participation will probably be seen as a slap in the face to one of its largest trade partners.
"I'm sorry to say it is just unbelievable that the richest country in the world would decide to ignore the Expo," said Shen Dingli, who directs the Center of American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University."We all know these may be the most difficult times for the U.S. now, but that surely doesn't mean they can be so stupid as to miss the chance to showcase American products to the world's biggest potential market," Shen said.
Harsh, man.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
post to facebook
So what if the US doesn't have a World Expo pavilion. We've got the movie pavilions, music pavilions, clothing pavilions, sports pavilions and food pavilions around the world.
fuck the expo.
nanhe boy,
you definitely need another 8 years neo-con rule which served you f*ckin right.
nanhe boy how could i forget to inform you of best market performers: the shanghai composite index was up year-to-date to 27.5% while shenzhen index was up 35.4%.
now you can become a bit smarter.
good night.
Even if it's seen as a slap in the face, let's get real, money talks...when factories need to get clients to stay afloat in these turbulent coming months, they're not going to give a flippin f*** whether or not said client's nation participated in this giant waste of capital, it'll all be margins, dollars and kuai's as usual.
The only one's who'll end up caring are thick-skulled online flame-throwers who fly off their handles regardless of rhyme or reason anyways.
LOL! Can't the US buy a few less M1 Abrams, or one less F-16, and voila, there is your cash for the Expo. Maybe Cheney or Rumsfeld can subsidize the pavilion, afterall, they made a lot of buck under the Bush administration. Damn, the US is beginning to sound like a third world country.
Yet something else Chinese may see as "a slap in the face". It seems hardly anything does not hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
The only thing that doesn't hurt the feelings of the Chinese people is being continually bullied by the thugs in charge...
Who cares about this Expo thing?
We all have better things to do than worry about holding the World Expo, which was an outdated rusty model on the junk-pile of history in the 1960s already.
If there is a single taxpayer cent going into this, I will never vote for the governing party ever again. A democratic promise.
If I remembered right, the previous expos are all held by democratic countries. Canada held one, Germany held one. Japan held one and the LDP is still in power. So much for democratic promise. BTW, I am going to the expo ;)
The one in Japan was canceled, because it was considered economic nonsense. That has nothing to do with LDP or not, it was the peoples voice.
what's better things to do for you? i only know you americans can not live a single day without M1 Abrams or F-16 and am looking forward to the day when obama satisfy you all with a new war.
Eastman, why does the Chinese government not pay for it in full anyway. After all, it is a domestic propaganda exercise, just like the Olympics.
--"just like the Olympics"?
now i fully understand why usa is reluctant to come, considering the great number of golds you got last august. so you are allowed not to come and anyway only thing you can show in expo is the greatest panza which world is so familiar with.
Elaine Chow tells us, "Well, partially because they [the US] don't really know what a World Expo is".
Elaine, where did you get that idea from? How old are you?
And please - without Google - name the locations of the last five world expos. Even one. You can't, and you know it. And for good reason. Because they don't matter, and they never have.
All that comes to mind is Hanover, which apparently was a ghost town.
Seriously...this Expo thing only has guys working hard to get companies involved because they get some serious cash remuneration out of it. Why else would they waste their time? It's like "nonprofits"... there's huge money in them if you're on the administrative side (like Elaine Chow's days with United Way)
I'm an American, which is why I can say (and link to other Shanghaiist articles saying) that we don't really know or care about the World Expo.
What country are you from, Gary? I don't like your tone.
Zaragoza 2008 - Clean Water and Its Preservation
Aichi 2005 - Intellectual Promise
Hanover 2000 - The EU's Coming Out Party
Lisbon 1998 - Exploration
Sevilla 1992 - Culture
The next two Expos, after Shanghai 2010 -- sustainability, community, and urban quality of life -- are:
Yeosu 2012 - Preserving our oceans
Milano 2015 - Ensuring Food and Health for the World
Each Expo was attended by tens of millions of people and this one in Shanghai will be present on the Internet. We are planning for up to 2 billion unique visitors over six months.
The AP article that Elaine is quoting from got the story half right. A US team selected by the Bush State Department in 2008 has struggled to find funding. Another team, of which I am a part, is working with the current Administration. We are doing well, behind the scenes. Our plans are much like those that resulted in the NY Worlds Fair of 1939, which most people from that era remember. America hasn't participated in an Expo since 1986, so it's unlikely anyone here will remember it or any of its predecessors. In fact, they were each remarkable and decisive demonstrations of national cultures. But in these desperate, disappointing, and threatening days, it's difficult not to be cynical about any creative or positive act. My advice to the cynics: stay home and sulk. The rest, come and celebrate.
So you know what you're talking about:
http://en.expo2010china.com/
B.
And one more: the online Expo Museum
http://expomuseum.com/
by Urso Chappell.
What's up with France spending so much on this expo.
Bob: No one in America cares about the expo and it is an unprofitable venture. And no one in America cares about the feelings of the Chinese people. Fuck'em.
Leastman: The only reason that mainland exchanges are rising is because Beijing is funneling money through major banks, insurance companies and investment houses. Beijing is allowing wealthy Chinese to invest overseas, including real estate, to preserve their current wealth and to diversify. The rest of the poor mainland cousins just have to suck it up. Bad, bad China.
no matter how bad china is as you think, you know a sh*t about china stock market.
the reason that made 44% of listed companies rise over 100% in short time is M1 (presuming you know what it is) of jan. 2009 which amount to 1650 billions equalizing 50% of 2008's total.
lets forget gdp, cpi or ppi, now most encouraging is imp which has risen for 2 months running. do you know what it means when usa economy is still going down? it not only indicates china is recovering but also will change its export-oriented economic structure.
i am pretty sure you'll curse china 500% more after 18 months. lol!
"The only reason that mainland exchanges are rising is because Beijing is funneling money through major banks, insurance companies and investment houses. Beijing is allowing wealthy Chinese to invest overseas, including real estate, to preserve their current wealth and to diversify. The rest of the poor mainland cousins just have to suck it up. Bad, bad China."
This sounds very familiar... is it the American way??? Oh it is!
Uh, Bob's based in Santa Monica, which last time I checked was in North America... More stellar thinking from skewer boy...
Much like soccer, the World Expo doesn't matter to a huge chunk of Americans. And much like soccer, no one should really care what Americans think of it.
Why would you wish them to "sulk"? That's rude. Maybe they just have better things to do. Or, phrased economically, there are other activities that they value more. By getting money from the government, you will be forcing dollars away from things Americans do value and channeling it towards something they don't. I'll refrain from expressing my emotional reaction to that activity and just say that I hope you fail.
But I do wish you success in obtaining voluntary donations.
We've all had this out before on the previous posts here about the Expo.
Bob, you can't seriously tout the expos as models for sustainability and culture. That's a complete joke.
They are models of unsustainable and soulless global business culture and under the current economic conditions are borderline offensive.
Shanghai expo = massive gentrification project that eats up acres of previously cheap land. Land that could have been renovated and used for cheap rents for real cultural projects. Yuyintang used to be down there and it was great. Now it's just gets bulldozed and after the expo gets rented at sky high prices, finally remains 80% vacant and then gets bulldozed again.
Kicking everyone out of a huge district, flattening it and then building big pavilions there is not development.
It also will lead to a massive roll back of civil and artistic freedoms ..like the Olympics (which also led to record losses for small business and hotels around the country).
Expo = evil.
Booo hissssss
Think of all the carrots that could have been grown on the site in a hydroponic, organic environment...
Just wait till the US dollar collapses...yes you read it here.
And a million other places. What's your point?
If the US can obtain the funding privately, then nothing is wrong with the participation. Those who lament the fact that government funding can be used should be pilloried.
As for slaps in the face, the offended parties should recall that Chinese are so fond of saying that their own government should act in its own interests before caving into pressure from foreigners. Why should they expect other countries to act differently?