China seeks mutual support, co-op with Islamic world

BEIJING, June 18, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met here Friday with Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, pledging to enhance cooperation with the OIC.

Yang said the OIC is playing a more and more important role in international and regional affairs, and China is willing to further enhance exchanges and cooperation with the organization.

"China and the Islamic world shared a long-term friendship," Yang said. China hoped that the two sides would continue to support one another on issues concerning each other's core interests.

Yang also expressed hope that the two sides would strengthen coordination and cooperation on major international and regional affairs and continue to promote the nongovernmental contact.

Ihsanoglu hailed the traditional friendship and the broad prospects for cooperation between the two sides. He said the OIC attaches great importance to relations with China, and is ready to promote the development of friendly cooperation between China and the Islamic nations.

The OIC was established in 1970. The number of member states has grown from the founding 30 to 57, 27 of which are in Africa. 

Editor: Mo Hong'e

Muslims leery of US and Barack Obama: poll

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Daily Times, Pakistan, from the Associated Press

* Pew Research Centre poll reveals just 17% see United States favourably in Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey and 21% in Jordan

WASHINGTON:

Muslims around the globe remain uneasy about the US and are increasingly disenchanted with President Barack Obama, according to a poll that suggests his drive to improve relations with the Muslim world has had little impact.

Even so, the US image is holding strong in many other countries and continues to be far better than it was during much of George W Bush’s presidency, according to the survey.

There is one glaring exception, Mexico, where 62 percent expressed favourable views of the US just days before an Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigrants was signed in April, but only 44 percent did so afterward.

The findings by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, conducted in April and May in the US and 21 other countries by the non-partisan Pew Research Centre, come amid a global economic downturn and US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The poll has been measuring the views of people around the world since 2002.

Favourable impression: Among the seven countries surveyed with substantial Muslim populations, the US was seen favourably by just 17 percent in Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan and 21 percent in Jordan. The US’ positive rating was 52 percent in Lebanon, 59 percent in Indonesia and 81 percent in Nigeria, where Muslims comprise about half the population.

None of those figures was an improvement from last year. There were slight dips in Jordan, and even in Indonesia, where Obama spent several years growing up. Egypt saw a 10-point drop, even though Obama gave a widely promoted June 2009 speech in Cairo aimed at reaching out to the Muslim world.

In all seven of those countries, the percent of Muslims expressing confidence in Obama has also dropped since last year.

Only in Nigeria and Indonesia do majorities of Muslims voice confidence in him; in Obama’s worst showing, just eight percent in Pakistan do.

The survey found that the majority of people in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon and Pakistan say the US could some day be a military threat to their country.
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Obamania helps U.S. image in Europe, not so in Muslim nations: survey

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2010 (Xinhua) --

A major survey released Thursday showed U.S. President Barack Obama's popularity remains high abroad than at home, and the continued Obamania, thought tempered, has helped U.S. image in Europe and elsewhere, however, the country's image in Muslim nations took a beating and saw a sharp decline in the past year.

According to the global attitude survey done by the Pew Research Center in 22 nations from April 7 to May 8, Obama remains popular in most parts of the world, although his job approval rating in the U.S. has declined sharply since he first took office. He is especially popular in Western Europe and Japan, where his approval ratings generally exceed 70 percent in the category of whether he will "do the right thing" in world affairs.

In turn, opinions of the United States, which improved markedly in 2009 in response to Obama's presidency, also remained positive. U.S. favorability rating is 85 percent in Britain, 65 percent in France, and 73 percent in Germany.

Although the figures declined somewhat from last year, and still lag behind those found at the end of former president Bill Clinton's years in the White House, they are far more positive than they were for much of George W. Bush's tenure.

Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who co-chaired the Pew global attitudes project, said in a Washington news conference Thursday that Obama's popularity and U.S. favorability abroad "make a big difference, not because we want to be liked, but because it makes a difference in the way that we are able to fulfill what the policies are and what is good for the American people, and operate in a globalized world."

However, the survey showed Muslim disillusionment with Obama and U.S. policies. Among Muslim publics, the modest levels of confidence and approval observed in 2009 have slipped markedly. In Egypt, the percentage of Muslims expressing confidence in Obama fell from 41 percent to 31 percent, and in Turkey from 33 percent to 23 percent. Last year, only 13 percent of Pakistani Muslims expressed confidence in Obama, but this year the figure declined even further to 8 percent.

The most criticized aspect of U.S. approach to world problems is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war in Afghanistan also remains largely unpopular.

"There's clear sign of disillusionment in Muslim world," Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut said, as many aspects of U. S. foreign policy are still seen as unilateralism.

U.S. image in the Latin America also slipped, especially in Mexico, where a controversial Arizona immigration measure was met with a backlash.

Editor: yan