MEDIA REACTION: DIAOYU ISLAND, CHINA'S DIPLOMACY, FINANCIAL

UNCLAS BEIJING 000612 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: DIAOYU ISLAND, CHINA'S DIPLOMACY, FINANCIAL CRISIS -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. DIAOYU ISLAND "Diaoyu Island issue, why is the U.S. ambiguous on this issue?" The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal (Shijie Xinwenbao)(03/09): "For the U.S. government, their ambiguity on Diaoyu Island is in their own interests. But now, the U.S. government is in deep trouble with the war in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as in financial trouble, so it is relying heavily on both China and Japan. Therefore, the U.S. cannot afford the risk involved in taking a stand in the Diaoyu Island issue. If the trouble gets worse, the U.S. will find a new foothold in East Asian politics. This will be one of their cards, should Japan seek independence, or if there is any friction in the China-U.S. relationship. Alarmingly, although the U.S. is diplomatically ambiguous to the issue, it is prepared militarily to take a stand." ¶2. CHINA'S DIPLOMACY a. "Chinese diplomacy doesn't have to be high profile" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(03/09): "Chinese diplomacy needs to focus on self instead of focusing on others needs or following in others footsteps. The foundation of Chinese diplomacy needs to be based on their current national strategy. China's influence is only limited to Asia, especially Eastern, Southern and Central Asia. China's culture, philosophy and tradition don't have the nature of expansion. The nature will not change in the future. Most countries' national strategy will focus on domestic affairs. Most of the time, diplomacy and the outside world are less important than economic development, national security and the improvement of living standards within China." b. "For China: Don't think that because you are getting 'stronger and stronger' that that alone is a 'cure all'" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(03/09): "Many people believe that as China becomes stronger, issues such as land disputes will be automatically resolved. However, this new strength is not a cure all for Chinese's frictions with other countries. Such unrealistic hope will cause obstacles to building trust between China and other countries to form. If we believe that each country will become powerful in its own right, then this is just another form of hegemony. It is not surprising that the West will be scared and feel threatened by this. We have successfully solved the Hong Kong and Macau issues so; other, similar issues will be solved through cooperation as well. Believing in a 'cure all strength' is still admiring power. But justice should not rely on pure power and power can't solve all the issues. Sometimes being overly powerful has the opposite effect." ¶3. FINANCIAL CRISIS "Facing crisis, our focus should be emphasized on strategy not on ideology" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(03/09): "China seems to be the only bright color in this bleak time. People are saying that capitalism is not working. However, this is not true. The problems that we face today are not caused by a single type of ideology. The real problem is that, globally, there is excessive productivity and too little consumption. Anyone who fully scrutinizes why the financial crisis broke out in the U.S. first, will find that there are capitalist and socialist elements to the crisis. The economic downturn is not due to the failure of capitalism. Socialists elements refer to the fact that the U.S. government has established certain regulations to ensure low-income people and minorities will be able to get real estate loans as well, which has led banks to lower their credit evaluations. Even if China is excelling above the rest, it has its own problems. For example, the country is overly dependent on exports and China should focus on its own development and efficiencies. No matter if Washington and Beijing are in agreement, if the model leads to prosperity, it is a good model." PICCUTA