Shanghai will raise the curtain next month on the biggest-ever World Expo — where China’s most cosmopolitan city hopes to stake a claim to being in the same league as London, Paris and New York.
Army trucks and contractors buzz around the Expo site — which is more than twice the size of Monaco — completing pavilions where more than 190 countries will show off their best in the six-month extravaganza, which opens on May 1.
For China, the World’s Fair is the latest showcase for its growing global clout after the 2008 Beijing Olympics — and Shanghai has planned an Expo on an unparalleled scale to show it can rival the world’s greatest cities.
PHOTO: AFP
“What Shanghai stands to gain from the Expo cannot be measured simply in financial terms,” said vice-mayor Yang Xiong (楊雄), who is also an Expo deputy director.
“Expo will have a deep influence on Shanghai and will have an impact on several generations,” Yang said.
The massive Expo site is 20 times the size of the area used for the last Expo in Zaragoza, Spain, two years ago.
PHOTO: EPA
Officials initially said they aimed to attract 70 million visitors — 95 percent of them Chinese — to the World’s Fair, but as the opening draws closer, they have boosted that figure to 100 million.
Shanghai has been given a face lift ahead of their arrival. In the past month alone, the iconic Bund waterfront has reopened with a new look recalling its 1930s heyday, a new gleaming domestic airport has begun operation and the subway has been dramatically expanded.
“Shanghai completed the next 20 years worth of infrastructure investments in advance this year because of Expo,” said Chen Xinkang (陳信康), head of the Institute of World Expo Economy at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Shanghai residents will be treated to an Expo preview from April 20, allowing officials to test the facilities before the official opening. The city has declared April 30 to May 4 a holiday.
A record 192 countries are participating and national pavilion teams are racing — wiring, painting and setting up displays — to meet the deadline.
Despite the seemingly chaotic construction, Yang said fewer than 10 percent of the pavilions would not be ready by May 1.
“We will go all-out to reduce the number of pavilions that are unable to open on schedule,” he said.
Australia’s US$56 million pavilion is 99 percent finished, director Peter Sams said.
He said this Expo has special significance for Australia, as it does for many other countries, because it offers an opportunity to engage with people in the 21st century’s rising power.
“China is extraordinarily important to Australia and has been for a very long time,” Sams said. “Helping China have a successful Expo is a very important part of our bilateral relationship.”
For the director of Japan’s pavilion, Norishi Ehara, Expo will open a new chapter in Sino-Japanese relations.
Although Japan’s pop culture exports have long fascinated young Chinese, many also feel simmering anger over Japan’s World War II-era aggression.
“Historical is historical … now we are going to create new relations. This is it,” he said, gesturing around him inside the US$140 million pavilion, where violin-playing robots will serenade visitors.
Other countries are bringing national treasures to woo the Chinese.
Denmark has sent its Little Mermaid sculpture out of Copenhagen harbor for the first time, France is showing seven priceless artworks from Paris’ Musee d’Orsay and Italy will display two Renaissance paintings by Caravaggio.
In some cases, the pavilions themselves are modern masterpieces.
Britain’s “Seed Cathedral” stops people in their tracks — its 60,000 acrylic rods emanating from a timber cube creates a dandelion effect.
“This is the first time anyone’s done a project like this so it’s been quite scary and now I’m really, really happy. It’s worked out better than I’d hoped,” designer Thomas Heatherwick said during a site inspection.
“It’s thrilling that it’s actually come off,” he said.
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
PEACE AND STABILITY: The two nations called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Taiwan Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked France and Australia for voicing their support for Taiwan, saying that peace across the Taiwan Strait is crucial to the stability and prosperity of international society. France and Australia on Monday pledged to deepen ties with Taiwan and reiterated their support for its participation in international organizations at this year’s Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Paris. The meeting between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles was the second
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would