U.S. Investment in Shanghai Expo Called “Debacle”
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle will depart Friday for a two-week trip to China and Japan to promote tourism, trade and investment. A highlight includes Lingle officially kicking off Hawaii Week at the USA Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai on June 8.
All told, the state is spending half a million dollars for Hawaii’s representation in Shanghai, hoping that it attracts Chinese visitors to the islands. Civil Beat took a look at the potential pool of Chinese tourists Hawaii could see.
But critics like Bob Jacobson of Huffington Post say the USA Pavilion is a nearly $100 million “debacle” despite a heavy publicity campaign from the U.S. government.
Jacobson May 31, “So much false propaganda has been flooding cyberspace, most of it produced by an enormous PR effort but much of it also emanating from the State Department, it’s all I can do to stay abreast of the sickening-sweet self-congratulations and continuing attempts to rewrite the history of the pavilion.”
As an example of the pavilion failing to live up to its billing, Jacobson pointed to San Antonio, which spent $500,000 to be featured there in late May and sent its mayor, councilmen and others to promote the Texas city. An investment event at the expo sponsored by San Antonio was poorly attended, wrote Jacobson, who suggested that delegations from Hawaii, Tennessee, Chicago and other U.S. locales may face similar letdowns. Jacobson cited a post from San Antonio Express-News blogger David Hendricks, who May 26, “Only 11 people attended the 70-minute event.”
Part of the problem with the expo, say critics, is the USA Pavilion was planned late and funded only at the last minute. The result is a rather poor representation of the United States, especially when compared with far grander pavilions from nations like Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iran — even North Korea.
Ezra Klein, a Washington Post blogger, a video presentation at the USA Pavilion that ends with NBA star Kobe Bryant extolling teamwork as “a fundamental American value.” “It’s like me being the poster child for keeping your opinions to yourself,” Klein wrote May 24, adding that Citibank’s sponsorship of the pavilion is ironic given its recent federal bailout.
Meanwhile, a Foreign Policy reporter who accompanied Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Shanghai last month Clinton loved the expo but was “not as impressed” with the USA Pavilion. The Foreign Policy post links to a Washington Post reporter also on hand for the Clinton visit who the pavilion as dark, ugly and “larded” with corporate advertising.
“No messages about democracy or freedom of expression or religious beliefs or association marred the program,” the Post reporter, John Pomfret, wrote.
Still, Pomfert said the USA Pavilion was a “hit” with the Chinese, noting that about 700,000 have visited since the expo opened May 1.
It’s those kinds of numbers that make Hawaii officials believe it’s well worth the state’s time and money to have a presence at the Shanghai expo, where 70 million Chinese are expected to visit by the time the expo closes in October.
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