THIRTY YEARS OF SURINAMESE CHINESE DIPLOMATIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000340

SIPDIS

NOFORN

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR LLUFTIG


SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2016
TAGS: PREL CH NS
SUBJECT: THIRTY YEARS OF SURINAMESE CHINESE DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS

REF: Paramaribo 305

CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR MARSHA E. BARNES, REASONS 1.4 b & d


1. (C/NF) The Chinese government continues it high
profile activities in Suriname and the Surinamese
government, if not the general public, is responding
warmly. Chinese Ambassador to Suriname Chen Jinghua hosted
a reception may 26 to mark thirty years of diplomatic
relations between the PRC and Suriname. The GOS turned out
in force, underscoring the importance it attaches to the
relationship. The President, four of his Ministers and the
Speaker of the National Assembly attended. The President
is visibly ab
sent from events hosted by the US, France, the
Netherlands and the EU.


2. (C/NF) While national anthems played, guests could
contemplate the tableau of 70 year President Venetiaan,
clad in his habitual Mao suit, standing next to Ambassador
Chen Jinghua, turned out in a business suit with snappy
tie. The attire seemed to speak to the pace of change in
each country in the last thirty years. Each extolled the
virtues of the relationship, with the Ambassador mentioning
Suriname's adherence to a one china policy and the
assistance provided by doctors temporarily assigned to the
military hospital.


3. (C/NF) The relationship has produced, however, few
results in terms of trade and investment. Chinese exports
totaled only US $31,3 million in 2004 and Suriname exported
only $US 1,06 million to China last year. Asked at the
reception if the Controversial Patamacca palm oil deal was
on track (reftel) the President told the Ambassador the A
combination had campaigned against it and he had told them
they now needed to get their followers on board leaving no
doubt that he expects it to proceed.


4. (C/NF) China has however provided the Surinamese a
series of highly visible projects. The Chinese built the
national sports hall, completed several years ago, was the
only place large enough to accommodate the People's United
Assembly when it gathered to elect a President last August.
The Chinese built Foreign Ministry is scheduled to open
June 15, although we understand with only limited fanfare
in deference to victims of flooding in the country's
interior. A Chinese company has a large government
contract for road paving. The laborers who come to build
stay on joining the ranks of recently arrived Chinese.
(Note: Embassy attempts to obtain information on the
numbers of Chinese immigrants arriving over the last five
years have always been rebuffed. End note)


5. (C/NF) The President and his NPS political party
have been big supports of increased Chinese immigration.
Many members of its Hindustani based VHP coalition partner
view this support for the Chinese as an attempt to
undermine the Hindustanis' traditional commercial
dominance. While grousing about the recent Chinese influx
was mostly done in private, of late the questioning of the
number of Chinese arrivals as has become more public. The
gruesome murder of two young Chinese boys last years
unleashed a spate of complaints picked up by the local
papers about the "new " Chinese bringing criminality to
Paramaribo. There is criticism of the new arrivals failure
to assimilate and learn Dutch. In the murder case those
whom the police sought to question apparently spoke only a
Chinese dialect, handicapping their investigation. A
recent article noted that at a traffic control point, of
fifteen persons who were stopped for not having a driver's
license, thirteen were Chinese.


6. (C/NF) Bio note: 55 year old Ambassador Chen Jinghau
expects to leave Suriname this year. He will return to
Beijing, but he said because he is nearing retirement he
expects to be posted abroad again shortly. He has
occasionally shared his frustration with pace of GOS policy
formulation and told Ambassador he hopes to go someplace
where there is more going on. Jinghau who previously served
in Washington and as Ambassador to Fiji, thought he might
be reassigned in the region, possibly to Jamaica.

BARNES