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
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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"
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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
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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
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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,

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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
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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
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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
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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

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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
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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
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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,

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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