MEDIA REACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE, AFGHANISTAN

UNCLAS BEIJING 003274 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: PREL ECON KMDR OPRC CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CLIMATE CHANGE, AFGHANISTAN -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. CLIMATE CHANGE a. "Copenhagen to define the post-Kyoto era" Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(12/08)(pg 1): "Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that the developed countries should be held accountable for climate change and that the developing countries are the real victims. Many developed countries proposed to control the global temperature rise to 2 Celsius degrees, however, according to the 'United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,' developing countries' first and overriding priority is to develop their economies and eradicate poverty. Many developed countries have increased rather than decreased their carbon emissions since the Kyoto Protocol. He Jiankun, director at the Low-Carbon Energy Laboratory at Qinghua University, said that the double-orbit negotiations for developing countries to reach both a treaty and a protocol should not change. At the same time, technology, funding and a process of adaptation should be given equal importance with goals of emissions reduction in dealing with climate change. Perhaps humans are still intoxicated in our dice game with the gods, however, our time is running out." b. "Copenhagen conference needs to adopt the 'spontaneous order of rationality'" Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(12/08)(pg 2): "What has hindered the Copenhagen conference from reaching a comprehensive agreement is the recognition of the emission reduction goals and the allocation of reductions. When we use Friedrich Hayek's theory of 'spontaneous order' and the principle 'that the marginal benefit of an increase in economic welfare equals the marginal cost of carbon emissions' to look at the Copenhagen conference, we hope that the 'Rio - Kyoto' line will increase adaptability. We agree with the concept of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' which will give China and India 'autonomy' and allow them to 'voluntarily' implement their emission reduction measures, encourage all countries to allocate 0.5% of their GDPs as the fund to research and develop low-carbon technology and change their antipathy towards fossil energy to reduce demand of biological fuel. " ¶2. AFGHANISTAN "Sending troops to Afghanistan will cause trouble for China" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(12/08)(pg 14): "The new U.S. plan in Afghanistan to increase troops needs help from the international community, especially from China. China, however, along with the international community, hopes to solve the issue through peaceful means. If China agrees to send troops to Afghanistan, China will possibly arouse the terrorists' revenge. The theory of 'the China threat' will grow as well. Meanwhile, some South Asian nations will speculate about China's intentions. On the Afghanistan issue, China will only send peacekeeping troops to help the Afghan people to reconstruct their homeland, but will not send combat forces into the country. China could also participate in Afghan affairs through many other means if Afghanistan needs help: for example, more humanitarian aid, sending more military police to help train Afghan officers or helping Afghanistan to train their anti-drug forces." HUNTSMAN