BEIJING-BASED G-5 CHIEFS OF MISSION ON DPRK, GTMO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001247

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2029
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF ECON CH FR JA GM UK
SUBJECT: BEIJING-BASED G-5 CHIEFS OF MISSION ON DPRK, GTMO
UIGHURS, SINO-JAPAN RELATIONS, DALAI LAMA

Classified By: Acting DCM William Weinstein. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

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


1. (C) At the regular meeting of G-5 Ambassadors in Beijing
May 8, French DCM Nicholas Chapuis reported that State
Councilor Dai Bingguo told visiting former French President
Chirac that the West would not gain from more sanctions on
North Korea. Dai reportedly said that "the lever of economic
development" had not been used effectively in Six-Party Talks
and that a U.S.-DPRK dialogue was "the only way to make
progress." German Ambassador Michael Schaefer reported that
Germany had informed China of the U.S. request to accept some
Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo and had been subsequently
warned by China of "a heavy burden on bilateral relations" if
Germany were to accept any detainees. Japanese DCM Kunio
Umeda reported that Premier Wen Jiabao was "tired and seemed
under a lot of pressure" during his meeting with visiting
Prime Minister Taro Aso, while President Hu Jintao was
"relaxed and confident." According to UK DCM Chris Wood,
China had requested the UK not allow the Dalai Lama to
transit London or meet with any government officials. Wood
reported that local authorities in Gansu Province had
detained a British Consul, reflecting the authorities' angst
over foreigners traveling to the Tibetan regions of the
province. End Summary.

Participants
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2. (C) French DCM Nicholas Chapuis hosted German Ambassador
Dr. Michael Schaefer, Japanese DCM Kunio Umeda, UK DCM Chris
Wood and Acting DCM May 8 for the regular gathering of
Beijing-based G-5 Chiefs of Mission.

Chirac's Visit to China, DPRK, Africa
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3. (C) French DCM Nicholas Chapuis reported that President Hu
had not mentioned Tibet in his meeting with visiting former
French President Jacques Chirac. State Councilor Dai Bingguo
had told Chirac that the West would not gain from more
sanctions on North Korea and that a U.S.-DPRK dialogue was
"the only way to make progress" in Six-Party Talks. Dai
reportedly said that North Korea wanted to open up
economically and that the "lever of economic development" had
not been used effectively in Six-Party Talks. Dai suggested
to Chirac that, given China and France's "conflict of
interests" in Africa, the two countries should have a
dialogue on Africa.

Germany and Guantanamo Uighurs
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4. (C) German Ambassador Schaefer said the German State
Secretary had informed China of the U.S. request to accept
some Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo, noting that Germany
had not made a decision regarding the Uighurs. He noted that
no German state had yet agreed to accept the detainees.
Ambassador Schaefer said China had not officially demarched
Germany but had warned Germany that accepting any Uighur
detainees would "put enormous pressure on Beijing and a heavy
burden on bilateral relations."

Sino-Japanese Relations
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5. (C) Japanese DCM Kunio Umeda reported that PM Taro Aso,
who had visited Beijing April 29-30, had said Premier Wen
Jiabao was "very tired and seemed under a lot of pressure"
from dealing with the economic crisis, while President Hu
Jintao had seemed "confident and relaxed." PM Aso had
requested China not implement its planned compulsory
certification of IT products in China, while Premier Wen had
insisted the law was consistent with China's WTO commitments.

Dalai Lama
--------------


6. (C) UK DCM Chris Wood reported that China had requested
the UK not allow the Dalai Lama to transit London but
softened the demarche by requesting that government officials
not meet the Dalai Lama if he were to transit the country.
French DCM Nicholas Chapuis said China's demarche was part of

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a campaign to limit the Dalai Lama's travel and noted that
the Beijing city government had threatened to break its
sister-city relationship with Paris if the Dalai Lama were to
receive an honorary citizen award from the French capital.
Ambassador Schaefer said Germany had not received such
demands from the Chinese, in spite of the Dalai Lama's
frequent trips to Germany.

Harassment of UK Embassy Staff in Gansu
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7. (C) UK DCM Wood said UK Energy and Climate Change
Secretary Ed Miliband had recently visited Gansu Province and
had been accompanied by a British journalist from "The
Guardian." According to Woodward, local Chinese authorities
had briefly detained a British Consul to express displeasure
with the accompanying journalist, who had stayed in Gansu
without the authorities' permission after Secretary Miliband
had departed. "Local goons" had come to the traveling
delegation's hotel and threatened to follow a UK Embassy
female staffer (but did not). In addition, a British
"Financial Times" reporter in Sichuan had been harassed by
local authorities who were apparently upset by the
journalist's interest in reporting on schools destroyed
during the Sichuan earthquake.

Climate Change
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8. (C) UK DCM Wood said the UK Environment and Science
Minister had recently had talks with Chinese officials on
climate change. In the lead up to Copenhagen, China would
not agree to targets on emissions but was willing to be
constructive and would come to Copenhagen with a package of
action items related to nuclear power, renewable energy and
reforestation. Wood said his impression was that China could
be induced to do more on climate change.

Rule of Law
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9. (C) Ambassador Schaefer reported that German Minister of
Justice Brigitte Zypries recently had visited China to attend
a three-day rule of law dialogue on social security and
pensions that was attended by 45 Chinese lawyers and judges.
Schaefer said Germany and China would have another dialogue
on a proposed law on regulating lawyers, noting that the
Chinese Government was looking to give lawyers "more space"
without giving up control.
PICCUTA