BEIJING WELCOMES CODEL MURRAY JANUARY 10-16, 2010

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003253 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AFIN AMGT ASEC CH OREP SUBJECT: BEIJING WELCOMES CODEL MURRAY JANUARY 10-16, 2010 REF: SECSTATE 123908 BEIJING 00003253 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Embassy Beijing and Consulate General Shanghai warmly welcome Senator Murray and delegation to China January 10-16, 2010, for consultations with Chinese officials. ¶2. (U) Control Officer: Greg May, Political Officer Home: (86-10)8046-5023 Office: (86-10)8531-4062 Cell: (86)139-1056-6053 Fax: (86-10)8531-3525 Unclass E-mail: MayGC@state.gov (U) Deputy Control Officer: Eugene Yi, Political Officer Home: (86-10) 6532-2855 Tel: (86-10)8531-3827 Cell: (86) 135-0109-9283 Fax: (86-10) 8531-3525 Unclass E-mail: YiEX@state.gov (U) Consulate General Shanghai Control Officer: Matthew Murray, Political Officer Home: (86-21) 6261-3068 Tel: (86-21)6433-6880 x2277 Cell: (86) 159-0166-9028 Unclass E-mail: MurrayMD@state.gov (U) The Delegation will be met at the Beijing airport by POL Officers Greg May and Eugene Yi, after which they will be taken to their hotel. (U) The Delegation will be met at the Shanghai airport by POL Officer Matthew Murray, after which they will be taken to their hotel. ¶3. (U) Hotel reservations are to be determined. ¶4. (U) Post will transmit a scenesetter by front channel cable before December 21, 2009. -------------- -------------- NEW SCREENING PROCEDURES FOR POSSIBLE H1N1 INFLUENZA -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Effective May 11, 2009, Chinese Health and Quarantine (H&Q) authorities implemented new procedures to screen for the possibility of influenza among passengers on flights arriving from the U.S. Although you will be arriving on U.S. milair, we will need to assure the Chinese authorities that we have taken steps to confirm no passenger has H1N1. This will consist of our having an Embassy medical professional board the aircraft after arrival then telling waiting Ministry of Health officials that the delegation does not show evidence of infection. -------------- Security and Threat Assessment -------------- ¶6. (U) The threat level for all China posts is considered low for crime and medium for terrorism. ¶7. (U) The Regional Security Office is not aware of any specific threat directed against any U.S. person or traveling delegation. Should such information be developed, the Chinese security services are committed to advise the Embassy of pertinent information and to provide necessary security coverage. ¶8. (U) China experiences a moderate rate of crime, including recent incidents ranging from petty theft to murder. Pickpockets are particularly active in crowded markets, and foreigners are often sought out as primary targets. Petty theft from hotel rooms is uncommon, but visitors are advised not to leave valuables lying loose or unattended in their rooms. It is the policy of this Mission that employees, their family members and official visitors to China must not knowingly purchase counterfeit or pirated products during their stay in China. Also, foreigners may be approached in tourist areas by individuals seeking to exchange U.S. dollars or to sell pirated or fake products, such as compact discs, in violation of intellectual property rights laws. These transactions are illegal, violate Post policy, and must be avoided. ¶9. (U) Visitors are reminded to take necessary precautions in safeguarding sensitive material and information. All non-USG facilities must be considered technically compromised BEIJING 00003253 002.2 OF 002 and may not be used to discuss, process, or store classified information. Telephone calls, e-mail, and Internet usage are routinely monitored and hotel rooms searched. ¶10. (U) Travelers should be aware that previous visitors have reported that their unattended computers have been subjected to tampering. The efforts may be directed toward obtaining information on the computers, but problems ranging from viruses left on their systems to hard drives, that are no longer functional have been reported. Hotels and private Chinese Internet providers have in some cases given hotel guests "free" thumb drives for use with their computers. The source and quality of these devices are unknown. Such devices could contain malicious codes and viruses and should not be used on government computers. Official visitors are reminded that non-inspectable electrical/electronic equipment, i.e., cellular telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs),etc., may not be brought into the controlled access areas of the Chancery. If a visitor intends to travel with USG-owned computers and equipment for use within the Chancery, please contact the Regional Security Officer at 86-10-8531-4111, or GormanB2@state.gov or MooreBM@state.gov, for information and guidelines. ¶11. (U) Additionally, all classified and sensitive materials must be secured at the Embassy upon arrival in country. All classified material must be brought into China via diplomatic pouch. ¶12. (U) Passports and visas are required. Americans arriving/transiting without valid passports and Chinese visas are not permitted to enter China and may also be subject to fines. Visas are required to transit China on the way to and from Mongolia or North Korea. Those visitors traveling to China on a single-entry visa should be reminded that trips to Hong Kong or Macau Special Administrative Regions are treated as a visit outside Mainland China. If the traveler is planning to return to Mainland China after a visit to one of these two destinations on the same single-entry visa, they will be denied entry. Visitors facing this dilemma will be required to apply for a new visa at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong to gain re-entry into Mainland China. HUNTSMAN