MEDIA REACTION: ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN, U.S.-CHINA

UNCLAS BEIJING 000416 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: OPRC KMDR CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN, U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN a. "The U.S.' selfish bill makes the world feel cold" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(02/18): "Along with the approval of the U.S.' economic stimulus plan, 787$ billion, the disputable 'buy American' bill has become an American law. To avoid the public's anger, Congress added a restrictive item that states that the trade promises of America must be followed. However, only Europe, Canada, and other developed countries are included in this statement. Newly emerging countries like China, India, Russia and Brazil are excluded. The U.S. in categorizing the different countries in this way intended to split global anger towards the U.S. The U.S.; policies has been criticized as being a selfish mechanism to cool the globe. Chinese experts indicate that the U.S. economic stimulus plan includes many infrastructure construction projects. Even without the 'buy American' bill, the U.S. originally regulated that public construction projects must use home-made iron and steel for their component parts. In fact, trade protectionism is an old habit of the U.S. Trade protectionism is embodied in different formats, completely obvious, partially disguised and completely hidden. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner's criticism about the alleged currency manipulation of China's sounds like he is calling for freedom of information, but in fact he is forcing the RMB to appreciate and protect his own exports. This is also a form of trade protectionism." b. "The world debates as to whether 800$b can save the U.S." The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(02/18): "These days, there are many lobbyists in Washington; they are coming to be a part of the stimulus plan. Different lobbyist are lining up in a long queue to get their piece of the pie. Many American and global media organizations have reminded the U.S. that the primary affects of the plan will not be seen until 2010. Can the Americans wait that long? Various suspicions about the effect of the stimulus plan have been spreading in different fields. Among these voices, the concern that the plan will cause a large fiscal deficit is the most prominent. American economists compared Obama to Roosevelt, but with a higher reform goal. A Swedish expert believes that China's 4,000,000,000,000 y. (4 trillion y.) stimulus plan will be more effective than the U.S. 800$b." ¶2. U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS "The U.S. and China look for the rules in a 'big-country's' game" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(02/18): "The development of U.S.-China relations is going through three steps: first, establishing broad connections and interests; second, establishing a system to coordinate the bilateral interests; and third, establishing the rules of the game involved in getting the two countries to interact with each other. When the bilateral relationship matures, the main task will be to establish unprecedented rules in the game. Regarding the broadness and depth of the development of the bilateral relations, the new rules should cover broad areas. New rules should not be limited to the bilateral field, but should concentrate more on global issues. The process of establishing rules will be a complicated process full of conflicts. The new rules will be a model around the world. They will symbolize the trend of development and influence international relations in the 21st century. The two countries' elites should realize when they are making new rules in this game, that they are making a behavioral model for the international society, not just for the bilateral relations." PICCUTA