Why Obama is winning the hearts and minds of Chinese people

I didn’t quite like Obama at first.  The more I know him the more I like him.  The all-inclusiveness in his background, black, black from an African country, white, white American, Asian.  He is the embodiment of the world.   Most of all, he is very very intelligent against all the stereotype of African Americans.  Yet he is very athletic, but he is not that stupid looking athletic type with bulk muscle and blank looks, those fed by hormones.   I really like this man and his ideas.

No matter what will happen in his governance, this is a great reboot for the USA.  Admittedly, not every reboot can solve a nagging system problem if the system has been plagued too deep by viruses.  But there no other way to make the system back to normal.  So let’s hope that this reboot will work.

Following is the original article:

Chinese publisher’s Obama instincts proved right

12 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — Young publisher Han Manchun was so taken by US
president-elect Barack Obama’s ideas that he decided to have one of his
books translated — and created an unexpected hit in China.

Han,
27, fell under Obama’s spell after reading "The Audacity of Hope:
Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," written in 2006 by the then
Illinois senator.

When Han devoured the book at the beginning of
2008, Obama was still a candidate in the Democratic Party’s primaries,
and many expected he would lose to a determined Hillary Clinton.

But
the inspired graduate of Tsinghua University’s law faculty, in Beijing,
was so impressed by what he read that he was certain Obama would win,
and that this presented an opportunity in China.

"When I read his
book, in which he expresses his views on the constitution and the
separation of powers in the United States, I completely subscribed to
these," said Han, sporting a white shirt, black jacket and jeans.

"At
the time, I thought he could become the US president, his knowledge of
the American Constitution is very deep," added Han, who works for a
state-owned publishing house that specialises in legal and
constitutional issues.

Han sought and won the rights to publish the book for what he said was a reasonable sum, although he would not elaborate.

He
also delved into debates between pro-Clinton and pro-Obama netizens on
one of the main Chinese web portals, then helped create a support-Obama
group on a Chinese social networking site.

The Chinese version of
the book — identical to the original, according to the wishes of
Obama’s representatives — was published in September.

The first 30,000 copies were snapped up rapidly, and the publishing house has had to re-print it several times.

A
total of 100,000 copies have now been sold, without taking into account
the pirated versions on the streets, and it is now one of at least 10
books on Obama available for sale in China.

According to a survey
released before Obama’s election win in November, the former senator
was popular with urban Chinese because he represented "the ‘American
dream’ due to his vitality, black skin and special upbringing."

"A
lot of Chinese people have an American dream," said Han, who has now
also published a Chinese version of the biography of Michelle Obama,
the US president-elect’s wife.

"Obama grew up in a family of
common people, and the Chinese want to understand how an ordinary
citizen battled to become president of the United States."

According
to Han, Obama’s election could "change the catastrophic international
situation and at the same time improve the development of Sino-US
relations."

"He even wants to talk to totalitarian powers," Han said.

"And as he has African roots, I think that he will also change relations between Africa and the United States."

Han said that Chinese leaders, who would soon be dealing with Obama, should read the book.

"I
think that leaders above district-level (a Chinese administrative
level) must read it," he said, adding an insight into Obama’s thoughts
could only help them in their own jobs.