US embassy cable - 05PARIS963

UNCLAS PARIS 000963 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR IO/T (BOOTH), EB/CBA, EAP/CM AND EUR/WE 
 
COMMERCE FOR U/S ALDONAS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON, BEXP, AORC, FR 
SUBJECT: BIE: NEW PITCH FOR U.S. TO REJOIN 
 
REF: A) MERTEN-BOOTH TELCON, 11 FEB 05 
 
This contains a request for guidance, see para 5. 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Wu Jianmin, the President of the 
International Exhibitions Bureau (or BIE, the organization 
responsible for organizing World's Fairs and other global 
exhibitions) has requested that the USG reconsider its 2002 
withdrawal from the organization.  He said that within the 
past six months he had been in touch with Senators Biden and 
Hatch and that he had received encouraging comments from 
Commerce Undersecretary Aldonas.  He also implied that a 
U.S. decision to re-join would be particularly welcomed by 
China and other Asian countries.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) On 14 February, Ambassador and Econ Chief met with 
former PRC Ambassador to France (1998-2003), Wu Jianmin. 
Ambassador Wu said he was operating in his capacity as 
President of the International Exhibitions Bureau (which 
goes by its French acronym BIE).  Wu said it was a pity that 
the U.S. was not part of an organization of which it was a 
founding member and which was growing and uncontroversial. 
Wu said he had been successful in increasing the size of the 
organization, which would soon have 100 members.  He 
emphasized that BIE maintained a small permanent staff of 
nine and operated very efficiently.  The annual dues of less 
than thirty thousand dollars per year were an extremely good 
value, he suggested.  Without being a member, Wu added, the 
U.S. was ineligible to host an exhibition.  The 2010 
Shanghai exhibition, for example, would attract as many as 
17 million visitors. 
 
3.  (SBU) Wu said that he had discussed U.S. re-entry into 
BIE with senators Biden and Hatch, both of whom were, 
according to Wu's characterization "pretty positive."  Wu 
also noted that he had discussed the issue with Commerce 
Undersecretary Grant Aldonas in September 2004 at the "Asian 
Summit."  He too was encouraging according to Ambassador Wu. 
Wu passed a follow-up letter to each official to Ambassador 
Leach and asked him to forward the letters to the senators 
and U/S Aldonas. 
 
4.  (SBU) Wu noted that he was also currently president of 
the China Foreign Affairs University and Vice President of 
the Foreign Affairs Committee (a committee he characterized 
as being "above the Foreign Affairs Ministry").  He said 
that he and many of his colleagues were pleased that "China 
was not an election issue" in the 2004 elections.  He said 
he hoped that the U.S. and China could further consolidate 
their relationship over the coming four years.  He added 
again that U.S. membership in the BIE would be something 
that would bee seen as positive by China and other Asian 
countries where the organization is very popular. 
Ambassador Leach said he would enquire about the USG views 
on re-entry into the BIE. 
 
5.  (U) Request for Guidance:  Embassy would appreciate an 
update on USG policy towards the BIE, including particularly 
any prospects for re-entry.  Wu said we would be contacted 
shortly by the BIE Secretary-General to determine whether 
Wu's interventions with Senators Biden and Hatch and other 
officials had been effective in encouraging the USG to re- 
join. 
LEACH