BEIJING: The Barack Obama love fest may have waned in the United States since he took office in January, but when the US president arrives in China next week, he will find his popularity is as strong as ever.

Obama, who will visit China from Sunday until Wednesday, is especially well-liked among the youth in the world’s most populous nation, who see the US leader as a symbol of the American dream.

In Beijing, where Obama will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the latest fad in the tourist areas is the unlikely “Obamao” T-shirt — Obama dressed in a olive green Mao Zedong suit and red-star cap, Cultural Revolution-style.

“Most Chinese people really like Obama. They think he’s nice, funny and he’s the first black president,” explains Liu Mingjie, the creator of the popular shirt, at his shop near Houhai Lake. A quick search on Google China for “Obamao” yields nearly five million results — more than the four million entries that pop up for Hu. Internet users have also created “Comrade Maobama” — a kitsch portrait in muted colours of the US president with a wide forehead and a haircut like that of the founder of the People’s Republic.

In a sign of the widespread enthusiasm over Obama’s visit, universities across Beijing appear to have battled for the honour of hosting the US leader during his stay in the capital. On Tuesday, students at the University of International Business and Economics handed senior State Department official Robert Hormats a copy of an invitation signed by numerous students and sent months ago to the White House.Lu Dongkai, a finance student at the university, said he admired Obama’s tenaciousness, and viewed him as a shining example of an America that is still the stuff dreams are made of. “He’s black, and he worked hard to get to where he is. This is an accomplishment that the Chinese people can appreciate. After taking power, he initiated policies that benefit the average citizen,” Lu said.

Vendor Liu agreed, saying he viewed Obama as someone who was “close to the working classes,” which is why “normal people like him so much.” The university students also lauded the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s oratory style.

“Obama’s speeches make people want to listen to them, or read them. It gives us a sense of what the American dream is all about,” Lu said.

“In China, it is more difficult to realise one’s dreams. In the United States, you just have to be willing and able.” The Chinese translation of Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, released here shortly before his election, has so far sold an impressive 140,000 copies.

Ahead of Obama’s visit, an additional 5,000 copies were printed. Analysts said Obama’s popularity here can also be explained by his political pragmatism.

“This administration is more active and confident in terms of establishing productive ties with Beijing, especially on the issue of the global financial crisis,” said Zhu Feng, an expert on Sino-US relations at Peking University.

Rights group critical of secret ‘black jails’

BEIJING: Chinese state agents regularly abduct citizens and detain them for days or months in secret, illegal “black jails”, subjecting them to physical and psychological abuses, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. The US-based rights group in a new report called on China to shut the detention facilities, many of which it said were housed in state-owned hotels, nursing homes and psychiatric care units, and bring their managers to justice.

“The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of the Chinese government’s rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting the rule of law,” said Sophie Richardson, the group’s Asia advocacy director. Human Rights Watch said it had compiled the report from research carried out in Beijing and several other Chinese cities in April and May this year, including interviews with 38 people who said they were held in black jails. - AFP