Tourism chief: It’s great PR

No less than the Northern Marianas tourism chief is thanking his lucky stars for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s unexpected decision to choose Saipan as the venue to plead guilty to a charge under the U.S. Espionage Act.

Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Christopher A. Concepcion said the CNMI, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, is expected to have a public relations windfall brought about by Assange’s not-even-a-day judicial excursion to this little dot in the middle of the Pacific.

“OMG it’s great PR for Saipan and the CNMI! We are getting tremendous international media coverage on Julian Assange’s expected visit to Saipan tomorrow to appear in federal district court to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act. So far, we’ve seen news coverage from Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, Qatar, Israel, Canada, France, Germany, USA, and other nations, all of them mentioning Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands,” he said.

Concepcion hopes the media frenzy brought about by Assange’s arrival—and eventual sentencing for time served after cutting plea deal with the U.S. government—will translate to a buzz that would eventually attract more tourists to the CNMI.

“As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I do think that because of the massive attention Saipan is getting, we will be seeing an increase in media inquiries and visits in the immediate future. We’ve been advised that there are international reporters arriving on flights tonight from Tokyo and Seoul. We hope to see an uptick in tourist arrivals as people’s curiosity has been piqued due to all the coverage we’ve been getting. They are interested in knowing more about Saipan and the Marianas. The MVA has already been contacted by foreign reporters interested in knowing more about our islands,” he said.

Asked why he thought Assange ultimately picked Saipan to finally have his day in court, Concepcion repeated what’s already reported by the media.

“We understand that Julian Assange insisted that he not step foot on U.S, mainland soil as part of his plea agreement with the U.S, Department of Justice, so the next logical place for him to come before a federal judge is in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as we are the closest U.S. commonwealth to Australia where he is a citizen of,” he said.

Hotel executive Mike Babauta initially said that Assange’s presence in the CNMI might “bring assassins to our islands—LOL—and lots of media. He knows a lot of secrets.”

Then he turned serious and said the high-profile nature of Assange’s plea deal on Saipan could ultimately bring international attention to the islands and boost tourism.

“Media coverage might pique interest on Saipan, encouraging people to visit out of curiosity or interest in its legal and political significance.”

Babauta added that Assange’s decision to have his case heard on Saipan might have strategic legal considerations, jurisdictional issues, or procedural advantages, but at the of the end of the day could benefit the CNMI in the long run.

Poet laureate of Tinian, Joey Connolly, can’t help but wax poetic—with some dash of history—on the strange happenings on Saipan yesterday.

“To a far-flung bastion of American democracy Julian Assange flew across the sea and pleaded guilty. To the island of Saipan where President George H.W. Bush was shot out of the sky into the sea in nearby Chichijima. Bush was saved by a U.S. submarine, the only one of his four-man bomber crew to survive. Julian flew to the beaches of Saipan where thousands of American soldiers died in the Battle of Saipan. A memorial service was held here with survivors and members of their families a few weeks ago. To the CNMI where on Tinian, 14 miles away by air, atomic bombers flew to Japan resulting in death inglorious. He flew to Saipan where democracy prevailed and prevails. Now Julian Assange, the notorious, receives poetic justice/irony victorious. Further questions and answers my friends are blowing on Saipan’s typhoon winds,” he said.

Independent U.S. delegate candidate Oliver “Bolis” Gonzales said Assange choosing Saipan was easy because it’s far away from the paparazzi in the U.S. mainland that would surely swarm him if he decided to make his plea deal there.

“I suspect he needed to assuage his final efforts to own up to his mistakes in violating the U.S. Espionage Act and he felt it is best to do so at the most strategic location closest to his homeland of Australia and perhaps to avoid mobs of paparazzi and fanfare if he were to face charges in the continental United States. The uncanny location of our home in Saipan of all places may well be because he simply desires to plead guilty without any more fanfare than necessary in order to end his long legal debacle and immediately return home south to Australia to reunite with his wife and children. Of course, I very much appreciate and welcome the spotlight of our island home from and with global, international, and regional media attention to augment our relentless efforts to promote our Northern Marianas as an island resort destination and the presence of U.S. legal institution through our political affiliation,” he said.

Another candidate running for U.S delegate, Kimberlyn King-Hinds of the CNMI Repulican Party, said Assange pleading guilty on Saipan “marks the end of a very complex and nuanced issue involving freedom of the press, government transparency, the protection of classified government information, and international cooperation.”

“At the end of the day, all that people want is the truth, especially from our government and that is why the freedom of the press is guaranteed under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The struggle, however, especially today, in the advent of digital platforms, is how do we as a society define the press. We are evolving with technology and we haven’t leveled up in terms of how we legally define these terms in light of these changes.”

She also chimed in on the obvious windfall Assange’s notoriety has unexpectedly brought to the CNMI.

“That said, any publicity for the CNMI is welcomed and Mr. Julian Assange can now be said to have officially paid his dues—and then some—and can finally go home to his family, where he belongs.”

CNMI Sports Hall of Famer Jeff Race, meanwhile, said while the CNMI definitely got its 15 minutes of fame with the district court hosting Assange’s legal proceedings, he won’t be in a hurry to create a WikiLeaks anytime soon.

“Everyone (or every place) gets their 15 minutes of fame! I reckon Saipan was chosen to make it more difficult for the press to make a spectacle of it on short notice…Australians are wonderful people, with a few exceptions. I don’t think that the Julian Assanges and Rupert Murdochs have much to do with making the world a better place,” he said.

Former Saipan resident Dirk Sharer, who now lives in Thailand where Assange’s first stopover was before jetting to Saipan, said he has no love lost on Assange.

“I still don’t fancy selling out classified information to the general public or highest bidder like Trump. Those assets are irreplaceable. I remember when Valerie and Joseph Flame were outed by [George] Bush Jr. because they called bullshit on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction which was utter BS in and it itself.”

Despite him not approving Assange’s actions, Sharer did find logic in the Wikileaks founder picking Saipan to essentially stamp his ticket back to the Land Down Under.

“He didn’t want to step foot in contiguous USA just in case…I’d feel the same way…the NMI gambit was a good step and a closer flight to OZ… [It’s] less pomp and circumstance than all the news outlets in ‘Merika…He just wanted to go home the fastest way possible without fanfare…The NMI did him a great service to that effect,’ he said.

Content creator Patrick Fieldad, meanwhile, said Assange training a spotlight in the Northern Marianas, in a way, could expose corruption in American’s far-flung territory in the Pacific.

“Hopefully, now that Saipan is at the center a lot or most of dirty works on Saipan will be uncovered. It’s very disturbing how Saipan is being ran every time. Especially with China’s influence arising on Saipan,” he said.