Week of December 06, 2002The U.S. and China This Week
DOMESTIC: Shanghai gets the World's Fair
Shanghai has been chosen as host of the 2010 World Expo. Chosen over Yeosu, South Korea; Wroclaw, Poland; Moscow; and Quer Aetaro, Mexico; city officials look forward to the event and project visitors in numbers totaling in the tens of millions. The Expo, which is considered to be among the world's largest global events, is expected to be a significant boon to the Shanghai economy and with Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics, it is seen as yet another means of drawing world-wide attention and tourism to China. China is the first developing country chosen to host the Expo
and construction for the event is expected to be extensive. According to some
estimates, Shanghai's direct investments, coupled with various other infrastructure
development may exceed US $20 billion.
INTERNATIONAL: China and Russian Presidents issue statement on North KoreaAt the conclusion of last weekend's Sino-Russian summit, Chinese president Jiang Zemin and Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement calling for North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons development. Stressing bilateral cooperation and good relations between the two countries, the statement was reflective of Putin's goal of using the summit to reemphasize the shared concerns of both countries vis-à-vis the changing role of the U.S. since September 11th. The statement also calls upon the United States to work with North Korea, highlighting the importance of the normalization of relations between the two countries and emphasizing the importance of adhering to the US-North Korean Agreed Framework. In the 1994 Agreed Framework, North Korea agreed to halt its nuclear program in exchange for fuel oil and light water nuclear reactors. |
