“They made it crystal clear that the ask was from Hillary”

[merrily]

5. Apparently, the US was not that anxious to get around to it.

The U.S. government had soured on the world’s fair idea after a scandal involving the American operation at the 1998 expo in Lisbon, and Congress had subsequently placed a nearly comprehensive ban on the State Department directly funding pavilions at future world’s fairs.

As for the charity:

. But the government generally doesn’t raise money from the private sector, in large part because of the potential for corporate donors to give with the expectation that they will get specific government actions in return.

and

But lawmakers had left a loophole for staff to raise money from private donors, corporations, NGOs, and foreign governments. That loophole was just the right size for Balderston and his new shop to fit through. Under federal law and ethics regulations, Hillary could even express her support to potential donors without making a direct appeal for money—a wrinkle in the law that would create great controversy when the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, helped raise private funds to promote Obamacare in 2013.

From the story, it doesn't seem Hillary was overly attached to the pavillion.

I remember a kerfuffle in 2008 about the Hillary campaign having accepted donations from China and her giving back the money after the story hit the fan. Whatever the story, I very much doubt this was done without a firm eye on what would benefit the Clintons.