MEDIA REACTION: CHINA, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

UNCLAS BEIJING 004488 DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CHINA, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. CHINA "Don't assume that the era of China has come" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao) (12/10): "China is relatively less affected by the financial crisis. The reason for this is not because China is more capable than other countries but because the financial system in China is far from open. Chinese people should have a calm mind that it is luck that saved China in this round of crisis. There are huge gaps in many fields of its financial system. These fields in the financial system are not in line with international standards. China's improvement only shows that China has gained more space within the scope of the existing rules and regulations established by the developed countries. China's impact on these rules is, currently, very limited. We have to realize that some developed countries that are showing strong interests in China or giving China much flattery may have their own hidden agendas." ¶2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS "India and Russia push forward their strategic partnership" The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(12/10): "The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to India on Dec. 4th and 5th. He is the first foreign head of state to visit India after the Mumbai terrorist attacks. On Friday, India and Russia signed an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation as well as pacts covering the areas of defense, space, finance and tourism to elevate their strategic partnership to a higher level. These countries, traditionally, are allies. Both promote cooperation in the nuclear and military fields, especially when Russian energy exports are being hit by the current crisis. Russia has been a leading defense supplier to India and the quality of arms for India is always better than what it provided to other buyers, which demonstrates the unusual relations between the two. This trip is an extension of Putin's policy; which is 'great power diplomacy, geopolitical diplomacy and energy diplomacy'. A strong strategic partnership with India is one of the corner stones of Russia's Asia policy." PICCUTA