MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS

UNCLAS BEIJING 001010

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 PREL ECON

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS

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Editorial Quotes
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1. U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS

a. "U.S. media acknowledged that there is insufficient evidence for
the "Chinese hacker"

The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/16): "Tang Lan from the China Institute of
Contemporary International Relations tells the Global Times that the
U.S. has the most advanced internet technologies and creates the
rules of the global internet network. Thus it obtains the right to
speak in this field. She says that the U.S. always likes to attack
China, by saying that Chinese internet hackers have attacked the
American internet network. In fact, China has also been attacked by
hackers. 'China is also the victim of internet hacker attacks,
ranking as the second in the world following the U.S. However,
currently China does not have the technology to monitor the safety
of its internet and is always in a passive position to cope with
internet attacks. China cannot provide sufficient evidence on its
suffering from hacker attacks,' says Tang Lan."


b. "The Pentagon's financial World War game"
The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao) (04/16): "This
simulation reflects America's strategies. It has a military nature.
The U.S. Defense Department has acknowledged that the financial
crisis will reshape the world. As the 'familiar faces' who have
always somehow been treated as strategic competitors in the eyes of
the U.S. Defense Department, Russia and China are assumed to be
involved in this simulated economic war. Japan and America's
European allies are not on the list, although their economic powers
are quite outstanding. This indicates that the 'economic war'
simulation has not considered the basic facts of the global economic
status quo. Instead, it deals with more political and military
concerns.
America's conclusion on why the U.S. will fail in this simulated
"economic war" is interesting. It is likely that the U.S. will
focus China as its target and reduce threats toward Russia. In this
war game, the U.S. believes that the Treasury bonds that China owns
have strategic importance. The U.S. worries that China will sell
its Treasury bonds and, thus, has simulated a situation in which
China might do so. Whether or not China intends to do so, this is
not good news for China.
Although it appears that China is the winner at the end of the game,
China should not feel too proud. China should be warned by the
important message being sent by the U.S. Defense Department, that
they do not think economic ties are just pure reciprocal actions.
It reflects the Pentagon's sober thinking and hyper-realistic
attitude toward national security. China should not continue to
believe that 'economy is economy and security is security.' This is
a kind of simple thinking which only concerns cost and profits and
is based on the interests of economic benefits. If we allow this
way of thinking to take the lead in the process of developing our
economic policies while ignoring the relevant interests of our
national safety and security, we won't fulfill our goal of ensuring
national security."
Weinstein