MEDIA REACTION: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN, CLIMATE CHANGE, NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003325 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 SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN, CLIMATE CHANGE, NEW ENERGY, AFGHANISTAN -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN "Chinese military issues warning about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(12/14)(pg 16): "A Chinese Ministry of Defense official said that if the U.S. sells arms to Taiwan it will not only damage China's interests, but will cause even greater damage to U.S. interests. The possibility of such an arms sale has given rise to great uncertainty in U.S.-China relations. A Chinese expert said that regardless of Obama's reason for doing this - to pacify domestic arms dealers or the conservatives who criticize him for lowering his head to China - U.S.-China relations will surely experience a setback if he actually goes through with it. The White House should be prepared for all consequences. Compared to the optimism of the media in Taiwan, international media outlets were rather shocked by the news of Obama's possible arms sale to Taiwan. Wang Jianmin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Taiwan Studies Institute, said that the United States has shown its outright hypocrisy on arms sales to Taiwan. The weapons that the U.S. has sold to Taiwan have not only increased in number, but are also more advanced technologically. The Taiwan issue, which was replaced by economic issues as the focal point in U.S.-China relations over the past year due to the financial crisis and warmer cross-Strait relations, may once again become the main source of friction in the bilateral relationship." ¶2. CLIMATE CHANGE "Climate change is threatening China's development" The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(12/13)(pg A17): "Luo Yong, the Deputy Director General of the China Meteorological Administration's National Climate Center, said that climate change has become a serious challenge to sustainable development in China, as most of the world's climate-related disasters have occurred in China and extreme heat waves could hit China more frequently. As evidence, he cited the fact that summer heat waves have occurred more frequently; there have been more days with temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius than in 1998; regional droughts have intensified; there have been droughts in Northern China in eight of the past 20 years; and the Changjiang and Huaihe Rivers have flooded more in recent years. These climate-related disasters will increase the cost of China's economic development and thus pose a threat to its development." ¶3. NEW ENERGY "Will new energy become a new point of friction between China and the U.S?" The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao)(12/14)(pg 10): "On the development of new energy resources, China should adopt a clear national policy and a firm stance, which is not be influenced by changes in the international economic or political environment. China should make clear to its various government departments and its society at large that its efforts to develop new energy resources are solely motivated by the fact that it wants to enhance the competitiveness of new energy resources against traditional fossil fuels to protect the country's natural resources and benefit our offspring. China's development of new energy resources is not intended as a way to deal with international pressure, nor to make foreigners happy, nor as an expedient measure to resist foreign trade sanctions. China should treat the U.S. intention to cooperate with China in developing new energy resources as an opportunity to meet China's long-term development needs. The development of new energy resources should not become a new area for diplomatic friction between the United States and China, but rather an area for bilateral cooperation." ¶4. AFGHANISTAN "Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan easier said than done" The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(12/12)(pg B07): "Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan is really just an undercover troop surge plan. In fact, Obama has finally come to the same conclusion as Bush about the 9/11 incident: that it was part of a terrorist war, rather than just an individual crime. The war in BEIJING 00003325 002 OF 002 Afghanistan is a war of invasion made possible by the breaking of the UN's framework, not just the sending of international police units to the country to arrest the criminals. However, an increase in the number of troops will not easily resolve the problem either. Obama hopes to quickly train a new Afghan government to combat the Taliban on its own, but the fact of the matter is that there is a great gap between the quality of the two countries' soldiers. Afghanistan will be unable to afford the cost of its security forces for at least the next 15 to 20 years, and the new Afghan regime is as fragile as its security forces. It is difficult to predict the future of the war in Afghanistan and for at least the next 18 months a settlement is unlikely." GOLDBERG