CHINESE PARTICIPATION IN ASEAN MEETINGS: TWO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 007126 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2027 TAGS: PREL PGOV CH BM SUBJECT: CHINESE PARTICIPATION IN ASEAN MEETINGS: TWO PREVIEWS BEIJING 00007126 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Officer Ted Lyng. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei and MFA Asian Affairs Bureau Deputy Director General Yang Yanli separately previewed Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Singapore for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus 3 meeting and other ASEAN-related events November 18-22. AFM He said the ASEAN meetings will reaffirm neighborly, friendly ties and specifically address regional environmental issues, including sustainable growth and climate change. AFM He said Burma was not on the agenda but discussion of Burma is "highly possible." China's highest priority in Burma is stability, he said. Yang said the ASEAN plus 3 will be the "main vehicle for East Asian community building." China's top priority in this year's ASEAN plus 1 meeting is progress on a China-ASEAN FTA. She said the East Asian Summit (EAS) is "very confused at this stage." End Summary. AFM He on ASEAN Meetings -------------- ¶2. (U) China hopes the ASEAN meetings will reaffirm neighborly, friendly ties and specifically address regional environmental issues, including sustainable growth and climate change, AFM He said during a press conference November 14. Burma is not specifically on any of the ASEAN-related agendas, he said, but it is "highly possible" Burma will come up during discussions. China is not aware of any plans to issue a statement on Burma, he said. China's highest priority in Burma is to encourage stability. "Despite what others think," Beijing, as Burma's neighbor, will never allow Burma to disintegrate into chaos "like Iraq," he said. Imposing sanctions on Burma would be counterproductive and China is committed to helping Burma, which has now calmed and is moving in the right direction, to achieve "stability, democracy and development." The Burmese people themselves must determine what kind of democracy is appropriate for their country, although "stability is a necessarily precursor" for democracy and economic development. Establishing a timeline of days or weeks for Burma's progress towards democracy is "unrealistic," and the international community should be patient. DDG Yang on ASEAN Plus 3 -------------- ¶3. (C) MFA Asia Department Deputy Director General Ambassador Yang Yanli on November 13 gave Poloff a separate preview of ASEAN-related meetings and the EAS meeting. She said leaders should confirm that the ASEAN plus 3 "should be the main vehicle for East Asian community building." She said the first joint statement in 1999 served as a roadmap that laid out priorities for cooperation in the following order: economics, social/cultural, and security and political. She said this year's session should reorder and supplement priorities to: political/security, economic and finance, energy, environment, sustainable development, and cultural exchange. This year's session will also bless a 2007-2017 ten-year working plan that includes "hundreds" of cooperative projects. Yang said Japan and the ROK wanted to consolidate some of these projects, stressing quality over quantity. China's ASEAN plus 1 Meeting -------------- ¶4. (C) Yang said China's top priorty in this year's ASEAN plus 1 meeting is progress on a China-ASEAN FTA, which she described as "China's initiative." In addition, this year's session will discuss deepening relations in ten priority areas, including, inter alia, agriculture, human resources development, infrastructure, energy, and investment. Yang said that the South China Sea might also be discussed, but that the situation there was "progressing pretty well." She said China's goal is to see the South China Sea "secure and peaceful" with countries "concentrating on joint cooperation." Yang said China was looking forward to hearing ASEAN's briefing on the ASEAN summit meeting, including the adoption of the charter, which is the "big splash." EAS Meeting -------------- ¶5. Regarding East Asian Summit (EAS) meetings, Yang said that there will be a leader's lunch and an afternoon meeting. She said the afternoon session would be devoted to energy, environment and climate change, and would also include discussion of the future direction of the EAS. She said Australia wanted to institutionalize the EAS and Japan had BEIJING 00007126 002.2 OF 002 ideas for specific projects, but China prefers that the EAS be a forum for leaders to discuss strategic issues, similar to the G8. She acknowledged that the future direction of the EAS is "very confused at this stage." Yang said Australia's wants to raise Burma in the EAS, but China's position is that Burma should not be on the agenda. Yang said ASEAN countries are "pretty cautious" in terms of discussing Burma in the EAS because they do not want negatively to affect UN Special Envoy Gambari's mission. She said China believes it appropriate at this stage to focus on Gambari's efforts and to avoid "making the situation complicated" by taking actions outside of that scope. PICCUTA