Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BEIJING1142
2008-03-26 09:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

AFM HE YAFEI DISCUSSES SIX-PARTY TALKS, TIBET,

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER PHUM IN KS KN RS JA TW CH PK 
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VZCZCXRO4834
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1142/01 0860958
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 260958Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6068
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1988
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001142 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM IN KS KN RS JA TW CH PK
SUBJECT: AFM HE YAFEI DISCUSSES SIX-PARTY TALKS, TIBET,
REGIONAL SECURITY WITH SENATE STAFFDEL

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4
(b/d)

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001142

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM IN KS KN RS JA TW CH PK
SUBJECT: AFM HE YAFEI DISCUSSES SIX-PARTY TALKS, TIBET,
REGIONAL SECURITY WITH SENATE STAFFDEL

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4
(b/d)

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Senate Staffel members urged Assistant Foreign
Minister He Yafei to help convince DPRK leaders that if they
fulfill their obligations under the Six-Party Talks
framework, the United States stands ready to do the same.
The DPRK must disclose information on its uranium enrichment
program and "troubling" nuclear proliferation activity, they
stressed, adding that Phase Three will not receive funding
from Congress without confidence in the DRPK's intentions.
AFM He suggested that the DPRK sees "no penalty for
prolonging the situation." Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Professional Staff Member Frank Januzzi warned that
progress will be more difficult after the U.S. presidential
election because of domestic political considerations, and
emphasized that President Bush will not compromise his
principles on nuclear proliferation. AFM He said there are
"clear indications" that the Dalai Lama is behind riots in
Tibet and that Washington should "exercise restraint in
public statements on the matter." AFM He called Taiwan the
"number one" threat to security in Asia, and said China is
willing to "set back our economy twenty years" to see that
Taiwan never separates from China. The "airline disaster"
averted March 7 on a Southern Airlines flight from Urumqi to
Beijing was intended to be a "terrorist attack," AFM He said.
End Summary.

AFM He on Six-Party Talks: "Time is Running Out"
-------------- ---


2. (C) A Congressional Staff Delegation led by Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Professional Staff Member Frank Januzzi
and Senate Armed Services Committee Professional Staff
Members Evelyn Farkas and Dana White discussed the Six-Party

Talks, Tibetan unrest, prospects for Korean reunification and
a Northeast Asia security mechanism, Taiwan and the March 7
alleged Southern Airlines terrorist incident with AFM He
Yafei on March 17. Staffdel members urged AFM He to help
instill confidence in the DPRK that if they fulfill their
obligations under the Six-Party Talks framework, the United
States stands ready to do the same. Januzzi said it is
important that the DPRK disclose information on its uranium
enrichment program and "troubling" nuclear proliferation
activity, about which Congress has deep concern. Januzzi
added that Congress will not fund "Phase Three" of the
Six-Party Talks process without confidence in the DRPK's
intentions.


3. (C) AFM He said that, according to a briefing he received
on the March 13 talks in Geneva between A/S Hill and VFM Kim
Kye-Gwan, a solution to the current impasse in the Six-Party
Talks is "very close" and is only a question of wording.
AFM He asserted that China will do "almost anything" to reach
a solution, but confided in Staffdel members that "time is
running out" for the United States because of the upcoming
U.S. presidential elections. He noted that the DPRK does not
like China "carrying messages" on behalf of the United States
because it implies that the United States does not trust
North Korea. Farkus made it clear that the Staffdel would
deliver the same messages directly to their North Korean
counterparts in Pyongyang during the next leg of their trip.



4. (C) AFM He suggested that the ball is in the United
States' court in the Six-Party Talks, pointing out that, in
the eyes of the DPRK, there is "no penalty for prolonging the
situation." MFA Korean Affairs Counselor Ma Mingqiang stated
that the DPRK is "ready to strike a deal" with the
administration. However, he said, because North Korea
believes President Bush is "desperate" for success in order
to secure his "political legacy," it is waiting for a better
bargain. Januzzi told AFM He that, according to
conversations with U.S. scholars like Michael Green and
Victor Cha who have spent many hours discussing this issue
with the President, President Bush will not compromise his
principles on nuclear proliferation and will have no regrets
if that means walking away from a deal with the DPRK.
Januzzi stated that the longer it takes to solve this
problem, the harder it will be to make progress, and he
described how political considerations and factors would
"almost certainly" prevent a Democratic president from
offering a better deal to the North Koreans than they now
have under the current Six-Party Talks framework,
particularly if the next president decides to draw down the
U.S. presence in Iraq

Tibet: China Asks for Washington to Show "Restraint"

BEIJING 00001142 002 OF 002


--------------


5. (C) AFM He stated that "the situation in Tibet is out of
control" and declared that no country, including the United
States, would tolerate such riots. "Innocent policemen" were
among the people who have been killed, AFM He said, adding
that China has the responsibility to restore order. There
are "clear indications" that the Dalai Lama is behind the
riots, AFM He said. He hoped that "Washington will exercise
restraint in public statements on the matter." Januzzi
expressed Congress's great concern over the unrest in Tibet
and its hope for the restoration of peace and stability in
Tibet and for a genuine reconciliation between China and the
Dalai Lama.

Korean Reunification, Northeast Security Mechanism
--------------


6. (C) Januzzi and Farkus both emphasized that it is time for
the United States and China to begin a dialogue on China's
interests in a reunified Korea so as to avoid any unfortunate
"misalignment" on the issue. Speaking "personally," AFM He
said that the Foreign Ministry is beginning to discuss this
topic. Referring to President Hu Jintao's political report
to the 17th Party Congress, AFM He stressed the importance
for China that countries along its border be open, democratic
and stable, and noted that current discussions with Burma on
such issues was "unthinkable ten years ago." He said he was
disappointed to hear from a "South Korean counterpart" that
the United States is "cold" toward China's proposed
trilateral dialogue between the United States, China and
Japan because of American fears that China is trying to
"dominate the region." He declared that it is not in China's
interests to exclude the United States from the region and it
will not do so. Januzzi assured AFM He that the United
States will not seek a security mechanism that excludes
China, noting as evidence the many instances of U.S. efforts
to reach out to China.

Taiwan: China "Will Do Anything"
--------------


7. (C) AFM He called Taiwan the "number one" threat to
security in Asia and stated that China is willing to "set
back our economy twenty years" to see that Taiwan never
separates from China. Though China believes in peaceful
reunification, AFM He added, China will "do anything" to
prevent Taiwan independence.

March 7 "Terrorist" Incident
--------------


8. (C) AFM He brought up the March 7 averted "airline
disaster" on a Southern Airlines flight from Urumqi to
Beijing as an example of the terrorism threats that China now
increasingly faces. He maintained that the event was
intended to be a "terrorist attack" and that it was "much
more complicated" than a "simple act of sabotage committed by
a young woman."


9. (U) The Staffdel did not have the opportunity to clear
this cable.
PICCUTA