Beijing puts foot down on ‘Oba Mao’
BEIJING – Liu Mingjie expected that President Barack Obama’s first visit to China would bring more business to his little boutique shop in Beijing’s popular Houhai area, a lakeside district filled with trendy restaurants and bars, souvenir shops and lots of tourists.
Until last weekend, Liu had been interviewed by both Chinese and foreign media about what he was selling: T-shirts that superimposed Obama’s face over that of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong on the front, and the words “Oba Mao” on the back.
But Lui’s brisk business was suddenly terminated by local government officials, just days before Obama’s arrival in China, without any explanation. He says he was simply told, “No, you cannot sell Obama T-shirts anymore.”
A survey by China’s leading Web portal Sohu.com and the English newspaper China Daily asked, “What’s your viewpoint on Obama’s visit to China?” Almost 40 percent of respondents said “I don’t care” or “I have no expectations.”When asked “On what issues do you think China and America will reach more agreements after Obama’s trip?” 56 percent answered, “I don’t think the two countries will reach any more agreements.”
And when our NBC News team went to Wangfujing, one of Beijing’s most popular shopping areas, to speak with people about Obama’s visit, more than half of the people we approached were unaware he was coming.
Oh and Still, out of all of China’s 1.3 billion residents, there is one who may be looking forward to the big arrival most: Mark Obama Ndesandjo. He is Obama’s half-brother, a Kenyan businessman who lives in Shenzhen, in southern China, just 15 minutes from Hong Kong.
Beneath the spotlight of both Chinese and Western media, Ndesandjo published his first book in China last week, “From Nairobi to Shenzhen.” The semi-autobiographical story is about his personal journey from Kenya to China, with a lengthy account of the allegedly abusive father he shared with Obama. Ndesandjo is reportedly already on his way to Beijing to meet his half-brother.
