Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BERLIN1612
2007-08-24 15:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

GERMANY LOOKS EASTWARD: CHANCELLOR MERKEL'S TRIP

Tags:  PGOV PREL CH JA GM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9446
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHRL #1612/01 2361538
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 241538Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9099
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0892
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1501
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 001612 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH JA GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY LOOKS EASTWARD: CHANCELLOR MERKEL'S TRIP
TO CHINA, JAPAN

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. John M. Koenig for reasons 1.4(b)
and (d)

-------
SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 001612

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH JA GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY LOOKS EASTWARD: CHANCELLOR MERKEL'S TRIP
TO CHINA, JAPAN

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. John M. Koenig for reasons 1.4(b)
and (d)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Chancellor Merkel will visit China and Japan August
26 ) September 1, in her longest trip abroad since taking
office. The trip will be largely devoted to G8 issues raised
at the summit in June, the so-called 'Heiligendamm process,'
and climate change. Her visit to China will highlight the
35th anniversary of Sino-German diplomatic relations and will
launch a four-year bilateral cultural/business program. The
trip to Beijing follows a series of recent difficulties in
German-Chinese relations; Merkel likely will raise difficult
issues such as human rights privately but probably not in her
public remarks. Merkel's trip follows on the heels of a
visit to China by the chairman of the opposition Free
Democratic Party, who gained high-level access (including a
meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister) and who is seen by
some as a prospective Foreign Minister, should a different
coalition take power after the 2009 elections.


2. (C) In Tokyo, Merkel will focus on continuity with the G8
agenda when Japan takes over the G-8 presidency at the end of
this year, and will also touch on UN Security Council reform.
In Kyoto, Merkel will deliver a major policy speech on
climate change and regional security. The Chancellor will be
accompanied to both countries by an economic delegation that
will include CEOs of BASF, Siemens, and others. This will be
Merkel's first trip to Japan as Chancellor, but her third
meeting with Prime Minister Abe this year. End summary.

-------------- --------------
MERKEL IN CHINA: POSITIVE FOCUS FOLLOWING RECENT TENSIONS
-------------- --------------


3. (C) According to Thomas Gerberich, MFA Deputy Office
Director for East Asia, Merkel's visit to China will include
a variety of cultural events and economic-related meetings.
She will meet with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, President Hu
Jintao, and Chairman of the National People's Congress, Wu
Bangguo. On August 29, she will take part in a joint signing

ceremony with PM Jabao on a food security agreement. That
same evening, she will participate in an event commemorating
the 35th anniversary of Germany's diplomatic relations with
China and will launch a four-year program featuring cultural,
economic, and business cooperation between the two countries.
"Germany and China: Together on the Move" is modeled on
similar programs Germany has previously launched with Japan
and Poland, and will include exhibitions highlighting the
bilateral relationship.


4. (C) Although Merkel's visit is intended to highlight the
strong partnership between Germany and China, she is expected
to raise a range of concerns that will be familiar to the
Chinese - human rights, climate change, intellectual property
rights, and China's role in Sudan and Iran, among others. As
in the past, Merkel will raise human rights abuses,
delivering a list of 26 cases on which Germany is seeking
clarification from China. Although the GoC typically
responds to this request with what MFA officials characterize
as an "unsatisfactory and incomplete response", Gerberich
noted that the fact that China has provided any formal
response in recent years is a positive sign compared to
earlier years, when Germany's request yielded no response at
all.


5. (C) On the part of the Chinese, Gerberich said they most
likely view such bilateral talks as a chance to be seen as a
major international player that is taken seriously by world
leaders. He commented that the Chinese see themselves as "a
superpower on par with the U.S.", and view the EU as ranking
slightly below the U.S. as an international partner.
Gerberich also guessed that the Chinese will no doubt use the
meetings with Merkel to raise both Taiwan and the EU arms
embargo. With regard to the former issue, Gerberich made
clear that Germany wants no escalation in cross-strait
relations and pointed out that the EU recently sent a
demarche to Taipei to refrain from further provocative acts.
Taiwan was also a topic of discussion between the Chinese
Ambassador and MFA State Secretary Boomgaarden at the end of
July. According to Gerberich, the Chinese "escalated" their
level of engagement on this issue in two phone calls by the
Chinese FM to FM Steinmeier. China also delayed a visit by
the advance team for Merkel,s trip several times, an
"unnecessary provocation" that caused logistical problems.
As to the arms embargo, the issue is not on Merkel's agenda,
nor will it resurface until China has made significant

BERLIN 00001612 002 OF 003


progress on human rights, MFA sources say. Both governing
CDU/CSU and SPD parties are firmly opposed to lifting the
embargo.


6. (C) MFA State Secretary Reinhard Silberberg, who will
accompany Merkel to China, echoed these concerns during an
August 23 meeting with CODEL Shelby (septel). He said
Germany remains concerned about recent dramatic increases in
China's defense/military spending. In addition, Silberberg
said, Merkel plans to raise "economic openness" -- a
reference to IPR and Chinese restrictions on foreign
investment. (NOTE: Silberberg said the German Government is
interested in promoting foreign investment in Germany, but
does not want state-owned foreign invetors taking over
crucial German technology compaies. Silberberg noted the
Cabinet would discuss"possible solutions" at its August
23-24 retreat) German Government officials also continue to
xpress concern about Chinese investment/assistance to
Africa. Germany would like to see China and ad donors
promote the idea of partnership with ai recipients to
promote transparency, accountabilty and openness to foreign
direct investment.

7. (C) Merkel's visit to China follows on the heels of an
eleven-day visit by the FDP party chairman, Guido
Westerwelle, to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Hong Kong.
From a domestic political standpoint, Westerwelle likely
seeks to establish himself as a credible potential foreign
minister, should the FDP come to power as part of a coalition
government after the 2009 elections. The FDP and China have
had rocky relations in the past. After the FDP organized a
conference on Tibet in Bonn in 1996, to which the Dalai Lama
was invited, the Chinese expelled the FDP-affiliated
Friedrich Naumann Foundation from its offices in Beijing.
The Foundation has not been permitted to operate from there
since. Westerwelle's visit to China is part of the FDP's
effort to resume activity in Beijing. MFA contacts expressed
surprise at the "level and ease of access" that the Chinese
accorded Westerwelle on this visit.

--------------
A SYMBOLIC RETURN TO KYOTO
--------------


8. (C) From Nanjing, China, Merkel will travel to Tokyo. In
this, her first trip to Japan as Chancellor, Merkel will
focus on showing Japan that it is still Germany's most
important partner in the region. In Tokyo, Merkel will meet
Prime Minister Abe and Emperor Akihito. This will be
Merkel's third meeting with PM Abe, and MFA contacts expect
it to be "the most substantial" of the three. (Note: Their
first two meetings, a bilateral visit as part of Abe's swing
through Europe earlier in 2007 and the G8 Summit in June,
were viewed by both the Chancellery and MFA as a 'warming up
period' during which they were 'getting to know each other').
Merkel is expected to focus her talks on the transition of
the G8 presidency at the end of this year, which both sides
anticipate to be a smooth one. According to Stefanie Seedig,
the German MFA's desk officer for Japan, Merkel is
particularly interested in continuity of the so-called
'Heiligendamm process', which focuses on maintaining a
dialogue between the G8 countries and five key emerging
economies (China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico).
Seedig said that Africa, energy security, North Korea, and
UNSC reform are also likely to come up in bilateral talks.


9. (C) After her meetings in Tokyo, Merkel will depart for
Kyoto, where she will deliver what she reportedly considers
her most important speech of the trip * a major policy
speech on climate change and regional security. The Japanese
DCM told us this would be the highlight of Merkel's visit to
Japan. Merkel's last visit to Kyoto was in her capacity as
the Environment Minister, to sign the Kyoto Protocol on
climate change. MFA contacts say that her return to Kyoto to
deliver this policy speech is "highly symbolic" for Merkel.
On the subject of climate change, Seedig said that Japan and
Germany are more or less on the same page, although they
"differ somewhat on the issue of quantitative measures", with
the Japanese favoring more relaxed quantitative benchmarks in
order to get India and China on board with global climate
change initiatives.


10. (C) On reforms to the UN Security Council, Seedig said
that this is a subject of "ongoing discussion" between Japan
and Germany. She noted that there are some differences
between the two countries on the issue of interim models,
with the Germans favoring some kind of interim model to
reform and the Japanese pushing instead for a direct path to
reform. Japanese DCM Morimoto confirmed these points.


BERLIN 00001612 003 OF 003


--------------
LOOKING EASTWARD FOR THE REST OF 2007
--------------

11. (C) Merkel's visit to both China and Japan signals that
German foreign policy will focus on Asia for the second half
of 2007. Chancellor Merkel will also travel to India,
Malaysia, and Singapore at the end of October. That trip
will be preceded by a major conference on Asia organized by
Merkel's CDU party, at which she will deliver the keynote
address. The MFA's annual conference of German ambassadors
also will focus on Asia. We expect the Chancellor to
emphasize her climate change agenda in all of these contacts
and events, as well as broader economic and foreign policy
aims.
KOENIG