TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETERSQ MEETING WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002798 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE TRANSPORTATION FOR X1, X40 USDOC FOR ITA/OCEA/MCQUEEN USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF NSC FOR TONG, SHRIER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELTN BEXP PGOV KOLY OVIP SECRETARY PETERS CH SUBJECT: TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETERSQ MEETING WITH MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION WANG GUANGTAO: THE IMPORTANCE OF URBAN TRANSPORT ¶1. (SBU) In a meeting with Secretary of Transportation Mary ¶E. Peters on April 14, Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao stressed that public transportation is a priority in China. He announced his attention to visit the United States in June or July to discuss implementing the soon to be signed Memorandum of Cooperation. Peters congratulated China on its progress in public transportation. She offered to help arrange for representatives from United States cities with Olympic experience to share their expertise with Chinese counterparts. Wang and Peters signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for the purpose of promoting cooperation in the field of urban mass transportation. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao hosted Secretary of Transportation Peters, her delegation, the SIPDIS Ambassador and Embassy officers at a 35-minute meeting on Saturday, April 14. Public Transport a Priority -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Minister Wang said Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan instructed him some years ago to make public transportation a priority. Furthermore, they stipulated that public transportation should proceed in a way to promote fuel efficiency, environmental protection, and land conservation. ¶4. (SBU) Secretary Peters congratulated Wang on the progress China has made in the area of public transportation. She stressed the importance of new technologies such as signal preemption to encourage travelers to take public transportation. She offered to help arrange for representatives from cities in the United States that have recent experience with the Olympics such as Atlanta or Los Angeles to come to China and share their expertise. She also offered to help arrange a meeting between the Minister and Mr. Bill Milar, President of the Public Transportation Association. Wang thanked Peters for her offers and expressed a particular interest in meeting Milar. Cooperation on Urban Mass Transportation -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Turning to the soon to be signed QMemorandum of Cooperation between the Department of Transportation and the Ministry of Construction,Q Wang said it is important for both sides to consider commercial areas of cooperation in the implementation of the memorandum. Wang said he would like to visit the United States in June or July to discuss this, thereby also reciprocating the visits of Secretaries Mineta and Peters. China, Wang said, recently SIPDIS passed its first public transit law and numerous Chinese cities are working on rail transport and mass surface transport systems. China is also giving serious thought about the transportation requirements that would be necessary if a large scale evacuation were needed during the Olympic Games aQ World Expo. Wang said China should emulate the United States which stresses public transport even though it has the worldQs largest number of automobiles. The United States and China should strengthen their cooperation in rail transportation and the management of surface transportation. ¶6. (SBU) Peters and Wang signed a Memorandum of Cooperation designed to promote cooperation in the field of urban mass transportation. United States Participants -------------- ¶7. (U) United States Government participants in this April 14 meeting were: Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters SIPDIS Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr. Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Andrew Steinberg Deputy Chief of Staff Simon Gros Assistant to the Secretary for Policy Jana Weir BEIJING 00002798 002 OF 002 Assistant to the Secretary for Public Affairs Sarah Echols Embassy MinistQCounselor for Economic Affairs Robert Luke Embassy Economic Section Trade and Investment Policy Unit Chief Eric Madison(note taker) Embassy Foreign Commercial Service Officer Val Huston Embassy Economic Officer Kamal Latham (control) ¶8. (U) Ministry of Construction participants were: Minister of Construction WANG Guangtao Deputy Director General of the Department of Urban Development WANG Fengwu Director of Urban Transportation LAN Rong Deputy Director General of the International Department ZHENG Shulin ¶9. (U) Secretary PetersQ delegation has cleared this report Qmeeting. RANDT