BEIJING-BASED G-5 CHIEFS OF MISSION ON HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 004352 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2028 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EFIN ECON SENV CH FR JA GM UK, KN, KS SUBJECT: BEIJING-BASED G-5 CHIEFS OF MISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUES, WASHINGTON G-20 SUMMIT, OTHER TOPICS BEIJING 00004352 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) At the regular meeting of G-5 Ambassadors in Beijing November 14, German Ambassador Michael Schaeffer reported that Germany's recently restarted human rights dialogue with China was constructive and included a visit to minority villages in Yunnan Province. The Germans have held a series of events on sustainable development in Nanjing, Chongqing and Guangzhou. In advance of the upcoming "EU human rights dialogue" November 24-28, French DCM Nicolas Chapuis said, the Chinese side complained about the number of EU nations with human rights dialogues and expressed hope for a single consolidated EU human rights dialogue. China blames developed nations for the current global financial crisis and hoped to use the G-20 Washington Summit as a means of garnering more representation in the World Bank and IMF. Germany and France are planning joint sessions with China and Japan on "historical reconciliation" to attempt to aid China-Japan relations. Of the other G-5 member nations, France has the largest Embassy with 301 staff (including locally engaged staff),while Japan has the smallest, with 180 employees. End Summary. Participants -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador hosted German Ambassador Michael Schaeffer, UK DCM Barbara Woodward, French DCM Nicolas Chapuis and Japanese DCM Kunio UMEDA November 14 for the regular G-5 gathering of Beijing-based Chiefs of Mission. Germany's Human Rights Dialogue -------------- ¶3. (C) Germany held its human rights dialogue with China November 4, Ambassador Schaeffer reported. The lead interlocutors were German Federal Commissioner for Human Rights Gunter Nooke and Chinese MFA International Organizations and Conferences Department Deputy Director General and Special Representative on Human Rights Shen Yongxiang. Schaefer said Nooke was satisfied with the dialogue, which was "constructive on where China is going" on human rights. In advance of the dialogue, Nooke visited minority villages in Yunnan Province, including an ethnic Tibetan area. Administrative detention and "reform through labor" were topics of the dialogue. Nooke visited a reform-through-labor camp following discussions in Beijing. Nooke described the camp as "too nice to be real," Schaeffer said. Chinese officials refused to allow Nooke to visit a house church and told him that if he visited anyway, it would jeopardize future human rights dialogue. Despite this warning, Nooke attended a house church service alone. The Chinese used the dialogue as an opportunity to criticize human rights in Germany, focusing on Germany's treatment of Turks. The EU-China Human Rights Dialogue -------------- ¶4. (C) The French, as President of the EU, will hold the EU human rights dialogue with China November 24-28, Chapuis said. MFA IO DDG Shen Yongxiang will lead the PRC side. The French delegation will hold meetings with the State Administration for Religious Affairs, but the Chinese Government denied requests to visit Qinghai and Guizhou Provinces. Noting the recent conclusion of the German Human Rights Dialogue, Shen complained about the "proliferation of human rights dialogues" and expressed hope for a single combined EU human rights dialogue in the future. Chapuis noted that 2009 will probably be an "interesting year," because it will include the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre and the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising and fleeing into exile of the Dalai Lama. Sarkozy Envoy Discusses Financial Crisis, G-20 Summit -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Special Envoy for the Global Financial Crisis and former IMF Managing Director BEIJING 00004352 002.2 OF 002 Michel Camdessus visited China in advance of the G-20 Washington Summit, Chapuis reported. Camdessus met with Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei and Liu Mingkang, Chair of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Camdessus noted that China "blames developed nations" for the financial crisis, Chapuis said. While China hoped to use the November 15 G-20 Summit as a means of increasing its influence in the World Bank and IMF, it was not bringing any specific new ideas on global finance, he said. Chapuis said that Ministry of Finance officials expressed dismay that VFM He Yafei was named China's Sherpa for the Summit, rather than someone from the Ministry of Finance. Chapuis said the position is "novel" for VFM He, as it requires that he coordinate with ministries with which he normally has little interaction. Germans on Sustainable Development -------------- ¶6. (C) German State Secretary of Economics and Technology Dr. Bernd Pfaffenbach visited Guangzhou November 10 as part of a series of events to promote sustainable development in China. The events, which have taken place in Nanjing, Chongqing and Guangzhou, are educational and include concerts and other outreach activities. In addition to Guangzhou, Pfaffenbach visited both Dongguan and Shenzhen, where he reported seeing visible effects of the Global Financial Crisis, such as closed factories. Other European Meetings -------------- ¶7. (C) Germany, France, China and Japan will attend a conference on "historical reconciliation" at Shanghai's Tongji University. The French and Germans will give presentations on how they moved past the historic animosities of World War II. As President of the EU, France will host the EU-China summit in Lyon December 1. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend for one day. Chapuis noted that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet the Dalai Lama with former Polish leader Lech Walesa on December 6. British Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn visited China November 10, during which he, an "energetic individual," spent time in rural China. He also held meetings with the National Development and Reform Commission to lay the groundwork for the December 1-12 Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. State Councilor Liu Yandong will visit the UK in the near future to discuss education, schools and culture. Japanese Visits -------------- ¶8. (C) Japan's representative to the Six-Party Talks, Ambassador Akitaka Saiki, visited China November 7-8 to discuss verification with Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Japanese DCM Umeda reported. Wu asked for a readout of the U.S.-DPRK talks in New York, but Saiki alleged that he had no information. In a May 7 joint statement, Chinese President Hu Jintao and then-Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed on the principles regarding oil and gas extraction in the East China Sea, without going into additional detail. Further meetings on the East China Sea are slated to begin in December. China and Japan planned to hold their Strategic Economic Dialogue in December, but China has asked to postpone the dialogue because the Central Economic Work Conference will be held on December 8, with preparatory meetings to be held December 7. China, the ROK and Japan will hold their first trilateral consultations in Fukuoka, Japan, on December 12. G-5 Mission Staffing -------------- ¶9. (C) The G-5 guests discussed the size of their missions to China, including locally engaged staff. The French Embassy has 301 employees. The UK has 285 employees. The Germans have 185 employees, and the Japanese have 180. RANDT