Clinton Global Initiative meeting: Jessica Alba, but no China

Over 60 current and former heads of state attended the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual meeting to discuss the issues of clean energy, climate change, water shortage, poverty alleviation, and education.  But China’s leaders were missing. CGI held 6 Plenary Sessions with over 33 panelists, with a wide range of global participation, including: Michelle Bachelet (President, Chile), Kevin Rudd (Prime Minister, Australia), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (World Bank), Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank), Kofi Annan (formerly United Nations), and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (Jordan).  Only 1 of the 33 panelists were from China: Jack Ma, of Alibaba Group. After some gratuitous celebrity photos, I provide 7 possible reasons why China was underepresented at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.

If China was missing, Hollywood was not.

I personally spotted: Quincy Jones, Mira Sorvino, Ben Stiller, and Jessica Alba.  Brad Pitt, Alicia Keys, Ashton Kutcher, and Demi Moore were also in attendance.  Press attendance swelled when celebrities were present.  It appeared that a large number of photographers and media people were there just to cover celebrities.  The only two political or business leaders that enjoyed celebrity status were President Barack Obama and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah.  I attended a session on education and human capital in which Queen Rania spoke, and saw a number of photographers and media exit the session immediately after she finished.

For a few moments of the Clinton Global Initiative, I too became one of the detested paparazzi. I set aside my laptop–and my interest in US-China cooperation on energy, climate, and the economy–and picked up my rented Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L zoom lens, extended my Manfrotto monopod, and set my Canon T1i Rebel on continuous shot.  For a few moments, my sole purpose in life was to get a good shot of the smoking hot stunningly attractive Jessica Alba (whose involvement in CGI was covered by Kathy Ehrich Dowd at People Magazine).  Here’s my best shot (all photos available under Creative Commons on my Clinton Global Initiative Flickr set):

photo CC CN Reviews.  Feel free to use.  Credit as shown with link.

More Jessica Alba Clinton Initiative coverage (but of inane and/or catty quality) at Gossip Girls, Fafarazzi, and Daily Mail.

Queen Rania of Jordan also received star treatment by the media.

I got a blurry photo of Ben Stiller getting coffee about 15 feet away from me.  I hated myself for violating Ben’s privacy during his morning coffee ritual.

Why was China missing at the Clinton Global Initiative?

To be fair, many government and business leaders did speak about China’s role in climate change, the 5-year planning process and China’s initiatives in clean energy and energy independence, China’s successes in universal access to primary education, and China’s contribution to African development.  President Clinton also highlighted a partnership between Duke Energy and the ENN Group, one of China’s largest privately-held energy companies, to evaluate ways to cooperate in best practices around carbon capture technology and clean energy.

Here’s a few pictures of Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, and Wang Yusuo, Chairman of ENN Group:

Wang Yusuo and a woman who looks like his interpreter:

In my humble opinion, the subjects (even the interpreter) are much less photogenic than Jessica Alba, Queen Rania, or President Barack Obama.

Seven reasons (based entirely on speculation) on why China was underrepresented

1.  Limited integration into the international NGO “industry”

According to sources, its now possible to be part of entire internationalist community of NGO people in China that are creating job opportunities for both Chinese and foreigners in China.  However, NGO development has been hindered by a heritage of government monopoly on the sector, which is dominated by Government Owned NGOs (GONGOs),  analogous to the large State Owned Enterprises (SOE) in more heavily controlled commercial sectors.  I spoke to one source, who shared that most of the exciting activity in social enterprise is being done not by the large government controlled NGOs, but by unlicensed (or for-profit) entities skating beneath the government radar.  Recognition in a place like Clinton Global Initiative might only land them a big tax bill or even jail detention.  Who needs that?

2.  Heritage of independence in addressing “internal issues”

Related to the first point, my impression is that this government control has been motivated by the Party’s focus on maintaining power.  They just don’t want “foreign actors” (and I don’t mean of the Brad Pitt variety) meddling with internal issues like education, environment, women’s rights, health, and poverty alleviation. Many of these issues highlight China’s continued problems:  rural poverty, increasing rich-poor split, lack of opportunity for urban migrants, for example.  “Foreign actors” (including Brad Pitt) might come in, create unrest and instability, and fail to be effective in helping Chinese society anyway.

3.  Language

None of the speakers used a translator for the Plenary Sessions or even the breakout sessions.  All were fluent in English.  In Chinese government and business, the generation that holds much of the power probably went to college shortly after 1978, the year that colleges were reopened in China.  This generation is far less fluent in English that newer generations of Chinese.  When these new generations of Chinese take power, they will also likely engage in the Anglophone world.

4.  Expensive.

For businesses, the event costs more than $28,000 and you are expected to make a Commitment prior, during or shortly after the event.  Many Chinese companies may not want to spend the money to attend.

5.  Lack of interest in the subject among corporate players.

Despite a New York Times article to the contrary, most Chinese companies may not have that much interest in Corporate Social Responsibility, at least in the way that it is formulated in the West.

6.  No value seen in multilateral approaches.

The Clinton Global Initiative is about building multilateral partnerships among government, business, and NGO leaders to solve problems. Perhaps Chinese government and Party leaders don’t see any value in getting involved in international multilateralism on these issues.

7.  China’s doctrine of non-interference leaves it unprepared to lead.

Many people in the West expect China to flex its economic muscle and challenge American leadership of the world.  China’s lack of presence at Clinton Global Initiative may be just one sign that China is not ready to lead.  Jack Ma and Wang Yusuo notwithstanding, it lacks depth and bredth of government officials and private company executives who are interested and prepared to lead others from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and North America.  China’s “Go Global” imperative may very well be stalled out by the lack of native Chinese talent to carry out this imperative, at least for now.

These are just speculations on my part.  I don’t really know.  But I’d be curious to see how Bill Clinton can use his charm to pull in more government, business, and NGO leaders from China into the important work of the Clinton Global Initiative.