WASHINGTON D.C. - Readers of the 1-million-circulation Yangcheng Evening News in southern China believe John Kerry would be friendly to Asia and George W. Bush is too tough.
In the Philippines, people often take umbrage to Bush's characterization of the country's efforts in the war on terror. And in Singapore, free trade and American outsourcing issues are of paramount importance.
The views were expressed by journalists representing media organizations in those countries. Those journalists and others are in the United States through mid-November as part of a cultural exchange program of the East-West Center, a Honolulu-based education and research center on Asian studies.
In China, newspaper readers want to know who's going to win the presidential race, and they focus heavily on U.S. foreign affairs, said Qian Kenjin, who writes for the Yangcheng Evening News.
Some in China worry "Bush and his team will wage war on other countries for religious reasons," Qian said. He was quick to point out that is not a universally held view.
Asian newspapers are following the U.S. presidential race by emphasizing issues that affect their readership -- from protectionist policies that would limit the outsourcing of jobs to India and other countries, to terrorism in Indonesia and the Philippines.
By and large, Bush and Kerry aren't saying a lot about Asian issues.
"The discussion about Asia; it's not there," said Chris McNally, a China expert at the East-West Center.
But when there is mention of a specific country -- such as Bush's statement in the first debate on Sept. 30 about the Philippines being on the front of the war on terror -- it registers in a big way.
Saying the war on terror was a "global effort," Bush said the United States is helping the Philippines bring "al-Qaida affiliates to justice." Two Philippine lawmakers said Bush's statement made it appear the Philippine government wasn't doing its job in fighting terrorism. A Manila Bulletin columnist wrote that Philippine reactions to the statement ranged from calling it a "false claim" to "unfortunate" and a "taint" on the country's image.
The presidential race is "always a story," said Hidenaka Kato, chief international news writer for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper in Tokyo. It's often called the "Wall Street Journal of Japan." Stories on the Democratic and Republican conventions and the presidential debates were played on the front page though other stories, including the vice presidential debate, were used on inside pages, Kato said.
In Japan, the campaign is watched for news about foreign policy. "What the new president will do in Iraq, what the new president will do in relations with China, Japan and western Europe, really matter in Japan," said Kato, speaking for himself not the newspaper.
The candidates' views on economic policy - Kerry is viewed as more protectionist - also are watched closely, Kato said.
"Outsourcing is a big issue in Singapore tied up with the issue of free trade" said Eugene Low, the Washington correspondent of the Straits Times. Singapore readers want to know if the election of Kerry would "mean more protectionist policy," Low said.
Low wrote an analysis based on Kerry's statements in the first two presidential debates that he would start bilateral talks with North Korea to curb that rogue regime's nuclear program. Bush had called that approach naive and said multiparty talks would continue. The story stated that analysts and North Korea watchers say six-nation talks are the best way to resolve the nuclear stand-off.
Open immigration policy should be the top concern of native Indians living in the United States, said the Times of India in an editorial. The more Indians who enter the United States, the more clout they'll have, the editorial stated.
Whether the United States is even-handed in dealing with Pakistan alsio is a prominent theme in Indian newspapers. Pakistan is an ally of the United States in the war on terror, but many Indians wonder why the U.S. isn't pushing Pakistan harder toward democracy.
