World welcomes Obama with (mostly) open arms

Global reaction to Barack Obama's inauguration yesterday brimmed with optimism, though many cautioned that the new US president faces huge challenges – and vaulting expectations that will be hard to meet.

In an editorial titled "Let change be contagious," The Japan Times urged Tokyo to seize the chance to change a policy of "blindly following" its US ally, especially in the fight against terrorism.

With a new president at the U.S. helm, it is important that Japan shed its habit of passively following the course set by Washington....

If Japan merely obeys the will of the U.S. and ignores its own principles, it will not only arouse suspicion among neighboring countries but also invite disrespect from the U.S.

In the fishing village of Obama, Japan, a group of self-styled "Obama girls" performed a hula dance in honor of the president's state of birth, Hawaii, Agence France-Presse reported.

In China, Reuters and others reported that state-run TV station CCTV censored references to communism and dissent in its simultaneous translation of Mr. Obama's inauguration speech.

In an editorial in the China Daily, Yuan Peng wrote that Obama's administration and China "should make joint efforts to prevent potential problems from hijacking bilateral ties."

Yuan wrote that the two nations would face "thorny" economic issues and warned of possible trouble due to the US Democratic Party's close ties with the Tibetan leader-in-exile, the Dalai Lama, and because of US arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a wayward province. "On the Tibet issue and the Taiwan question, the US should avoid intervention in China's internal affairs," Yuan wrote.

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