QINGHAI GOVERNOR EMPHASIZES BALANCED DEVELOPMENT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001792 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2032 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CH SUBJECT: QINGHAI GOVERNOR EMPHASIZES BALANCED DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND TRANSPARENCY WITH AMBASSADOR Classified By: Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) China's only female governor, Song Xiuyan of Qinghai Province, emphasized the need for balanced development that promotes rapid economic growth and raises living standards while also protecting the environment during a March 11 lunch with the Ambassador. Protecting Qinghai's environment benefits the entire world, as the province is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong Rivers, as well as glaciers with a global impact on climate. The goal of government should be to serve the people in a transparent way, she stated. Qinghai's primary interest in the ongoing National People's Congress session is continued central support for the "Great Western Development" Program, which over the past six years has spurred the fastest growth in the province's history. Qinghai nevertheless remains extremely poor. To help turn this around, Song repeatedly said she welcomes increased United States investment and more American tourists. End Summary. Balanced Development: "The Greatest Challenge" -------------- -- ¶2. (C) Song Xiuyan, China's only female governor, took a break from ongoing National People's Congress (NPC) events to join Ambassador Randt for lunch at his residence on March 11. Emphasizing the need for balanced development, Song said her greatest challenge is to promote rapid economic growth and raise living standards while also protecting the environment. Qinghai is a relatively undeveloped and backward area, and the pressure to improve the "hard" lives of its many poor residents is great. In this regard, development is absolutely essential, but not at the expense of the environment. One example of achieving balanced development is Qinghai's decision to emphasize environmental protection above all else in the area containing the headwaters for three of Asia's most important rivers -- the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong. Given these rivers' significance, economic growth in the headwaters region is not a priority, and the province has stopped mining activities and reduced animal husbandry activities there. Our goal is "scientific, harmonious and sustainable" development, Song concluded. Environmental Protection: Qinghai's Global Responsibility -------------- ¶3. (C) Governor Song repeatedly underscored her "heavy" responsibility to China, the region and the entire world in protecting Qinghai's "unique" environment, including the "three rivers" and glaciers that have a global impact on climate. Qinghai Lake is also a major global transit point for migratory birds. Fortunately, the province's preservation efforts have paid off, as Yellow River water levels have risen and wildlife in and around Kekexili Nature Reserve has increased. In response to the Ambassador's question about avian influenza (AI) in Qinghai, Song said birds which carry AI are "international" birds that bring the AI virus into Qinghai. While those birds sometimes die in Qinghai, that does not mean that they acquired the disease there, she pointed out. Governance: Serve the People, Transparently -------------- ¶4. (C) The Qinghai Government's policy is to serve the people in a transparent way, Governor Song told the Ambassador. The involvement of the public in policymaking is welcome, and transparency is on the rise so people know what decisions were made and why. "There is nothing we cannot tell the people," she declared. People have the right to comment on policies, which serves to improve the government's plans and popular support for them. Governor Song outlined four channels through which she keeps in touch with popular opinion. First is local governments, from the provincial down to village levels. Second, the Governor has an "open" phone line and e-mail in-box that residents can use to register their opinions. Third, she talks directly to a wide variety of people on a regular basis. Finally, BEIJING 00001792 002 OF 003 reporters are another great source of information, providing the Governor with information on the public mood gleaned from interviews and provincial travel. (Note: Song did not specify, but could have been referring to journalists' reports for internal government consumption, which paint a more realistic picture of their findings than their published articles. End note.) ¶5. (C) Qinghai residents are unhappy about a number of issues, Governor Song said, especially the province's relatively low standard of living. Urban incomes in the province lag 3,000 RMB behind national rates; rural incomes by 1,000 RMB. Desire for better housing, access to medical care and improved education are other demands. In the coming year, Qinghai has a number of policies it wants to implement for the people, including an allowance system to guarantee a basic standard of living for poor rural residents; a program to pay the boarding costs of certain rural school children so parents don't have to choose between food and books; and a program to build housing for destitute nomadic farmers who hitherto had no housing whatsoever. Song conceded that people's demands continue to rise along with their standard of living and China's development. The government's goal is to meet those new demands so that all of China can develop even further. NPC: Focused on "Great Western Development" Program -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Qinghai's primary interest in the ongoing National People's Congress session is continued central support for the "Great Western Development" Program, which over the past six years has spurred the fastest growth in the province's history. The entire Qinghai delegation was pleased to hear Premier Wen Jiabao emphasize this policy in his Government Work Report. Despite the fact that Qinghai remains extremely poor, this policy has been a boon for the province's economy, especially in the areas of transportation and communications infrastructure. Though dependent on central support, Qinghai still aims to improve its own resources and advantages in order to enhance its own ability to develop. Other issues of interest to Qinghai in the Premier's work report include environmental protection, poverty reduction, education and health care. Governor Song was confident that government support for western China would "only increase," given the center's expanding fiscal resources. U.S. Investment, Tourism: More, Please -------------- ¶7. (C) Governor Song repeatedly said she welcomes increased United States investment and more American tourists as a means to boost the provincial economy. Introducing the head of the Qinghai Provincial Commercial Office, she stressed that Qinghai is eager to work with the United States to boost the current low levels of American investment. Though the Governor declined to describe in detail investment opportunities in Qinghai, she mentioned that Qinghai has a number of natural resources, including the largest salt lake in China. Hydropower, non-ferrous metals and high-nutrient plants unique to Qinghai are other resources and possible investment opportunities. Though tourism numbers remain low, things have improved since Tibet-Qinghai railway opened last year. Eight million people traveled to Qinghai in 2006, including 4,000 Americans. Qinghai enthusiastically welcomes more tourists, the Governor reiterated. U.S.-China Relations -------------- ¶8. (C) U.S.-China relations are "developing well," Governor Song said, remarking that the positive state of bilateral ties is of direct benefit to both our peoples. China's development is peaceful and benefits the entire world. The improvement in the lives of the Chinese people, one-fifth of the world's population, is bound to contribute to global growth and has presented numerous opportunities to American firms. William Chang, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Beijing Office, outlined three NSF programs in Qinghai related to international bird migration, environmental protection and ecological conservation and cooperation on tundra research in BEIJING 00001792 003 OF 003 Qinghai during the International Polar Years of 2007- ¶2009. Governor Song said these projects are valuable, again emphasizing the importance she attaches to environmental protection. She welcomed increased cooperation between American and Chinese scientists. Terrorism -------------- ¶9. (C) In response to the Ambassador's question, the Governor said Qinghai is "relatively stable," and does not face the same threats from terrorism as Tibet and Xinjiang, given that the province is located inland with no international border. Nevertheless, terrorism exists "everywhere." One source of Qinghai's stability is the long-standing harmonious relations among the province's ethnic groups, which include 1.3 million Tibetans and 1.2 million Hui Muslims and which traditionally played complementary, rather than competing, roles in the local economy. Bio Info -------------- ¶10. (C) Governor Song Xiuyan is a dynamic interlocutor who came across as open, articulate and energetic in the Vice Premier Wu Xi mold. She is currently China's only female governor; there are no female Party Secretaries. Song said she has one child, a daughter, SIPDIS who is studying medicine (ophthalmology) in Beijing. She likes sports, particularly ping pong and badminton, which she described as both a source of relaxation and exercise. Song recently traveled to the United States, visiting Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. RANDT