China reacts to Obama victory

(MKM watched the election results come in with hundreds of Chinese who all gathered at a Beijing hotel. Was the crowd all Chinese?) it was about half Chinese and half American, a gathering put together by the U.S. Embassy. (Were these all Obama supporters?) Not at all, in fact a mock election there had Obama winning handily. (Why?) The younger people there were impressed with Obama’s race and also that he had a different take on what America’s role in the world is. There were McCain supporters in the crowd too, but one supporter said he was still happy that Obama won. He said he preferred McCain because he knew it would be the same foreign policy towards China, whereas Obama is an unknown. (So I’m curious about his views on U.S. protectionism there.) Yes, another man expressed this view too�a Hong Kong politician. He said he’d recommend that Obama should send a message to China that he’d place the relationship with China at the heart of U.S. foreign policy and he wouldn’t be protectionist. (Define for us the issue of protectionism between the U.S. and China.) Labor in China is much cheaper than labor in the U.S. but there are towns that have seen factories close down and some in office feel they need to address those concerns. (How much of China really paid attention to the U.S. election?) Those were are paying close attention are paying very close attention and there was a lot of emotion expressed today. Others just expressed wonder that an African American president could be elected. (What does that mean to them?) They relate to Obama because he’s not white, and it says something profound to them.