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 LIANYUNGANG, China (AP) - As the propaganda head of Lianyungang, Wu Jiaqing's chief mission is to carry the Chinese Communist Party's message to the people in the economically struggling port city.
But lately, he has overseen a different campaign. From an office, this stocky career official has run an aggressive lobbying effort to get Beijing to select a local icon — a mischievous magical monkey from Chinese folklore — as the mascot for the 2008 Olympic Games. Wu and his colleagues have traipsed to the capital a dozen times to persuade Olympic officials and heads of important government entities to "make the beautiful Monkey King as universal as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck."
While the panda, China's best-known animal, might seem the odds-on favorite to be the pick for 2008 when the selection is announced Nov. 11, sharp competition has erupted among a handful of relatively poor areas vying to have their local symbols chosen. At stake is a hoped-for boost in name recognition, tourism and investment.
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