Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BEIJING3058
2007-05-08 09:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:
New Ministers of Water and Land Resources Named
how-toVZCZCXRO8517 RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD DE RUEHBJ #3058 1280914 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 080914Z MAY 07 FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING TO UEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7600 INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMNT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE RUCPDOC/SDOC WASHDC RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7571 RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 7940 RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 8264 RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 2870 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 9310 RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 6442
UNCLAS BEIJING 003058
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR OES/ETC - A. COVINGTON
STATE ALSO FOR OES/EGC/VALDEZ AND EAP/CM
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL/PUMPHREY
USDOC FOR NOAA/OFFICE OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL - NGUYEN AND CHENG
STATE PASS TO CEQ CONNAUGHTON AND NSC PEEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV PREL ENRG KSCA CH
SUBJECT: New Ministers of Water and Land Resources Named
UNCLAS BEIJING 003058
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR OES/ETC - A. COVINGTON
STATE ALSO FOR OES/EGC/VALDEZ AND EAP/CM
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL/PUMPHREY
USDOC FOR NOAA/OFFICE OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL - NGUYEN AND CHENG
STATE PASS TO CEQ CONNAUGHTON AND NSC PEEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV PREL ENRG KSCA CH
SUBJECT: New Ministers of Water and Land Resources Named
1. (U) China announced the selection of Xu Shaoshi as the new
Minister of Land and Resources and Chen Lei as Minister of Water
Resources following confirmation by the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress April 27. Minister Xu was previously
Deputy Secretary General of the State Council, where he was a
coordinator of the Strategic Economic Dialogue team on the Chinese
side. He graduated from the Environment and Resources Department of
Jilin University.
2. (U) Minister Chen returns to Beijing following two years as
Executive Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the
kind of brief provincial posting that would indicate that Chen was
being groomed for future promotion. He is a hydraulic engineer with
over 20 years of government experience, including ten at the
Ministry of Water Resources. Minister Chen was previously Vice
Minister of Water Resources from 2001 to 2005.
Comment
--------------
3. (SBU) Our contacts at MWR as well as on the NGO side said they do
not believe Minister Chen, who has worked his way up MWR's ladder,
will take a different track with the United States than that taken
by his predecessor, former Minister Wang Shucheng, who had good
relations with his U.S. government counterparts at the Environmental
Protection Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation.
4. (SBU) We have little direct experience with Minister Xu; as SED
coordinator, he primarily worked behind the scenes.
RANDT
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR OES/ETC - A. COVINGTON
STATE ALSO FOR OES/EGC/VALDEZ AND EAP/CM
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL/PUMPHREY
USDOC FOR NOAA/OFFICE OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL - NGUYEN AND CHENG
STATE PASS TO CEQ CONNAUGHTON AND NSC PEEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV PREL ENRG KSCA CH
SUBJECT: New Ministers of Water and Land Resources Named
1. (U) China announced the selection of Xu Shaoshi as the new
Minister of Land and Resources and Chen Lei as Minister of Water
Resources following confirmation by the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress April 27. Minister Xu was previously
Deputy Secretary General of the State Council, where he was a
coordinator of the Strategic Economic Dialogue team on the Chinese
side. He graduated from the Environment and Resources Department of
Jilin University.
2. (U) Minister Chen returns to Beijing following two years as
Executive Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the
kind of brief provincial posting that would indicate that Chen was
being groomed for future promotion. He is a hydraulic engineer with
over 20 years of government experience, including ten at the
Ministry of Water Resources. Minister Chen was previously Vice
Minister of Water Resources from 2001 to 2005.
Comment
--------------
3. (SBU) Our contacts at MWR as well as on the NGO side said they do
not believe Minister Chen, who has worked his way up MWR's ladder,
will take a different track with the United States than that taken
by his predecessor, former Minister Wang Shucheng, who had good
relations with his U.S. government counterparts at the Environmental
Protection Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation.
4. (SBU) We have little direct experience with Minister Xu; as SED
coordinator, he primarily worked behind the scenes.
RANDT