U.S.-CHINA POLICY PLANNING TALKS: CHINESE (AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 007262

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2032
TAGS: PREL PHUM PARM SENV IR KN JP IN AU CH
SUBJECT: U.S.-CHINA POLICY PLANNING TALKS: CHINESE (AND
U.S.) FOREIGN POLICY

REF: BEIJING 7253

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson.
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) China's foreign policy must contribute to domestic
economic development and be non-ideological and based on
interests, not values, China's top policy planning diplomat
told visiting U.S. Policy Planning Director David Gordon.
U.S.-China relations have transcended the purely bilateral
and are now strategic and global in nature, and we should
cooperate on key issues where we share common interests, such
as climate change, energy security and denuclearization of
the Korean peninsula. The Chinese acknowledged that "we have
a lot of work to do" on Iran. End Summary.


2. (C) U.S. Policy Planning Director David Gordon and James
Green of the Policy Planning Staff visited Beijing November
12-15 for Policy Planning talks with Chinese MFA Director
General for Policy Planning Ma Zhaoxu. On the Chinese side,
Counselor Tang Guocai, Division Director Zhou Jian and First
Secretary Yin Chengwu (of the North American and Oceanian

SIPDIS
Affairs Department's Fourth Division) also participated.

Chinese Views of PRC Foreign Policy
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3. (C) DG Ma opened the talks with a review of Chinese
foreign policy. China's current foreign policy, he said, is
based on six key points, all of which are "grounded" in the
Political Report of the 17th Communist Party Congress (held
in October 2007). These six points, which represent
President Hu Jintao's "major signals" to the world, are:

First: China is pursuing a "socialist road." Socialism with
Chinese characteristics will be the "core value" of China's
future development. China will develop its "socialist market
economy" as well as its socialist democracy, socialist
culture and "harmonious society." China's goal is to be
"prosperous, strong, culturally advanced and socialist."
This should not be confused with Soviet Union-style
socialism, DG Ma cautioned: China's "socialist road"
incorporates "the world's experiences of development,
including the example of the United States."

Second: The Chinese concept of socialism, and its foreign
policy, is actually "higher and more comprehensive" than
traditional Soviet socialism because it incorporates the idea
of "scientific development." Scientific development includes
the economy, the social life of the people, environmental
sustainability and energy security.

Third: China's foreign policy is fundamentally related to
its domestic policy of building a "harmonious society." This
harmonious society will include material wealth and the
constant improvement of living conditions, but will also
guarantee social equality and justice. Rule of law,
democracy, honesty and integrity of government, and "vigor
and vitality" of society are all key components of harmonious
society, DG Ma said.

Fourth: Upholding a peaceful international environment to
allow China to develop is at the core of China's foreign
policy. "At a certain time" in the future, China will be
able to contribute more to international peace and stability,
DG Ma said, but for now China's top priority is its own
peaceful development. "This answers the international
community's question as to what kind of road China will
travel as an emerging power," he said.

Fifth: China's vision for the international community can be
expressed as "harmonious world," and this is how China
intends to be a "responsible country." Politically,
countries should respect each other; economically, they
should cooperate; culturally, they should learn from each
other; on security, they should trust each other and use
peaceful means to resolve diplomatic problems; and on the
environment, they should help each other to address
challenges and "take good care of the Earth."

Sixth: China's foreign policy is "win-win." This is a
strategy of opening up China to the world and continuing to
contribute to regional and global development through China's

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own development. Under China's "win-win" foreign policy,
China will accommodate the legitimate concerns of other
countries, will never seek to benefit at the expense of
another country, and will not shift its rightful burdens onto
another country.


4. (C) Under the guidelines of the six concepts of Chinese
foreign policy, the basis of Sino-U.S. relations is becoming
clear, DG Ma said. China will continue to strengthen
strategic dialogue, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation,
deal with difficulties and push for stable, long-term
relations. The United States is one of China's most
important relationships, he added. All of the six concepts
could be brought to bear in the Sino-U.S. relationship, but
"harmonious world" offers the broadest opportunities to seek
common ground and recognize mutual interests. Cooperation on
trade and investment, energy and climate change look like
especially fruitful areas to explore, he said. Sino-U.S.
relations have "transcended" the merely bilateral and have
become strategic and global; "to some extent, all of our
cooperation has a strategic nature," he said, because U.S.
and Chinese concerns have become so similar.

HOTSPOTS: IRAN, DPRK, MIDDLE EAST, CLIMATE CHANGE
-------------- --------------


5. (C) China's foreign policy can be distilled down to three
key words, DG Ma said: peace, cooperation and development.
The fundamental goal of China's foreign policy is to build
the foundation for China's domestic economic development.
With that in mind, China is particularly interested in how to
address "hotspot" issues, such as Iran, the DPRK, the Middle
East and climate change.


6. (C) Looking at geographic hot spots, it is a "mixed
picture," DG Ma said. Big-power cooperation on the DPRK
issue is strengthening, and China sees that situation as
positive. Iran is less positive. "We still have more things
to do" on Iran, and there are currently different tracks to
achieve those goals. "On some of these tracks we are
optimistic, on some we are not so optimistic," he said. In
all, China "takes note" of the increasing expenditure of U.S.
energy and resources in the Middle East, particularly Iran
and the Israel-Palestine issue, and sees that expenditure as
well as the "increasing willingness of the United States to
pursue multilateral solutions" as the most important
international developments of late.


7. (C) Climate change is the "hot issue" on the international
agenda, along with the related issue of competition for
energy resources. The key new variable in these issues is
that all sides must note and acknowledge the emergence of new
powers, such as China. This emergence, against a background
of globalization, is causing an adjustment of the
international system. There are already manifestations of
this, such as the "G-8 plus 5" grouping to address climate
change and the "flourishing" of multilateral institutions and
cooperation. The United States and China have "so much
common ground" on climate change and should consult more
closely. In particular, the United States and China should
work together on identifying common but differentiated
responsibilities, as well as a post-Kyoto way forward.


8. (C) Director Gordon noted that it is essential to build an
international coalition to pressure Iran and prevent it from
becoming a nuclear weapons state. Current international
cooperation is a good start, but we are not yet on a
trajectory toward achieving this goal. An Iranian nuclear
capability would be an extraordinary threat to peace and
development and would represent a huge threat of
proliferation within the region and into Asia. China's role
in preventing this is essential.


9. (C) Director Gordon agreed that the Six-Party Talks
framework for addressing the Korean nuclear issue has been
important and has enabled progress on denuclearization.
However, for now it is important, in the words of former
President Ronald Reagan, to "trust but verify."

Values vs. Interests
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10. (C) DG Ma reiterated that the emergence of new powers,
including Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico and
China, is among the most important new developments in
international relations. North-South cooperation and

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dialogue, such as the G-8 plus 5, is good and important.
However, some in the West have suggested the creation of
"values-based" groupings, such as the "Quad" made up of the
United States, India, Australia and Japan. Values-based
groupings represent a Cold War mentality, DG Ma said.
Throughout history, relationships based on shared interests
have been "more reliable" than relationships based on shared
values. In addition, DG Ma said, all countries share the
same core values through their membership in the UN. Drawing
distinctions between countries based on ideology is
dangerous, because it "creates splits." China no longer
makes foreign policy decisions based on ideology, ever since
Deng Xiaoping's "great foreign policy shift" in which he
stated that China would not create foreign
alliances based on ideology alone.


11. (C) Director Gordon noted that U.S. foreign policy always
integrates values and interests to some degree, and values
today are relevant. Organizations in the United States that
seek to influence politics are usually values-based, and as a
result, values will remain a part of U.S. policy. China
should not forget that the participation in politics of
values-based organizations and the influence of values on
U.S. foreign policy are among the strengths of U.S. society,
Director Gordon said. The United States has no desire to
recreate sharp ideological divisions in Asia and does not
want countries to feel that they must choose between the
United States and China. The United States will not support
any mechanism that would lead to that kind of division. We
share a similar political system with the ROK, Japan,
Australia and India that is significantly different from
China's. This shared political orientation provides a basis
for discussion among these countries.


12. (C) The importance of values as a component of foreign
policy is an issue China will have to address as it plays a
larger role in the world, Director Gordon continued. China's
current policy of maintaining a purely interests-based
foreign policy while claiming to be a responsible power
worldwide (reftel) may not be consistent. Burma's regime is
a major violator of human rights; reacting to this crisis
involves values rather than interests. Zimbabwe is a similar
case; ts regime has brutalized and destroyed the livelihoods
of its people. How can these issues be addressed in the
narrow frame of sovereignty? "The way out of this dilemma is
to forge an international system where every country can play
its own constructive role," DG Ma answered. "Then we will
have our harmonious world."


13. (U) S/P staff cleared this message.
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