TIBET: CHINA URGES CANCELATION OF SPEAKER PELOSI'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 002802 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2029 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF CH SUBJECT: TIBET: CHINA URGES CANCELATION OF SPEAKER PELOSI'S MEETING AND PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE DALAI LAMA Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei called in the Ambassador September 30 to urge cancellation of House Speaker Pelosi's planned meeting and joint press conference with the Dalai Lama. Tibet, VFM He said, is a "core interest," and such a meeting would impinge upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ambassador responded that Congress is a separate branch of government and U.S. leaders meet with the Dalai Lama in his capacity as a revered religious figure and Nobel laureate. End Summary. "Concern and Worry" over Pelosi-Dalai Lama Meeting -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei called in the Ambassador September 30 to urge cancellation of a meeting between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the Dalai Lama. VFM He said China had just learned about plans for the meeting and joint press conference. (On the way out of the meeting, VFM He said the press conference was of particular concern.) China was "extremely concerned and worried" about the Speaker's plans to meet the Dalai Lama given the "sensitivity" of the Tibet issue and "the emotion that can be provoked here in China." The Dalai Lama was the head of an exiled government that aimed to split Tibet from China, as stated in the government-in-exile's charter. The Dalai Lama spoke of a "greater Tibet" that would occupy one quarter of PRC territory and of removing Han people from Tibetan areas. This showed he sought not autonomy but rather an independent Tibet. U.S. "Cannot Go Back on Its Promises" -------------- ¶3. (C) President Obama, VFM He continued, had reassured President Hu September 22 in New York that the United States clearly understood China's "core interests." The United States thus had made assurances at the highest level that it respected China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. VFM urged the Ambassador to "do whatever you can" to prevent the meeting from happening. The USG might answer that Congress was a separate branch of government, but this would not justify the United States "going back on its promises" and tolerating such a meeting. Respect and accommodation of each other's "core interests" constituted the political base upon which the United States and China could develop the bilateral relationship. In the coming months, there was an active bilateral political agenda. Our two countries should build strategic assurance and mutual strategic trust and move forward in parallel to address common concerns and not against one another's interests. China wanted to work with the United States on the global financial crisis, Iran, North Korea and other issues. The United States should take China's concerns seriously and prevent Speaker Pelosi from meeting with the Dalai Lama and holding a joint press conference. Dalai Lama Is a Revered Religious Figure -------------- ¶4. (C) The Ambassador promised to convey China's concerns but stressed that Congress was a separate branch of the U.S. Government. He rejected the notion that a Speaker meeting and press conference with the Dalai Lama would represent a reneging on U.S. assurances of respect for China's sovereignty or territorial integrity. The United States wanted to build a relationship with China based on mutual respect. However, the Dalai Lama was a revered religious and spiritual leader and Nobel Prize winner, and U.S. leaders and USG officials meet with him in that capacity. HUNTSMAN