MEDIA REACTION: G-20, U.S. Military

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000886

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: G-20, U.S. Military

--------------
Editorial Quotes
--------------

1. G-20
"The focus of the G20 should not only be on how to handle the
financial crisis"
a. Shanghai based News Agency under Shanghai Media Group (SMG)
publication China Business News (Diyi Caijing) (04/02): While we are
paying so much attention to the solutions to the financial crisis at
the G-20, there are also other issues worthy of concern. First,
whether the G-20 mechanism is workable. Pan Rui, general secretary
of the Shanghai-based organization U.S. Studies points out the
development outlook of G-20 is not clear yet. "It is hard to
coordinate different demands from around the world because there are
too many members and each faction has their own interests.
Moreover, since America's leadership capacity has been questioned,
who will be the leader remains an issue for G-20. Some think that
the U.S. and China can be the joint leaders of the G-20. But
currently this assumption is not realistic" he says. A former
Ambassador to EU says that it is hard to tell whether nor not the
G-20 mechanism can be maintained. Europe and Japan still prefer the
G-8 or G-7 because their interests are diluted by a G-20. Second,
meetings among China, the U.S., and Russia should be anticipated.
The major tone of Obama's policies towards Europe, Russia, and China
will be uncovered after the multilateral contacts between the U.S.
and other major countries at the G-20, including the pattern of
future U.S.-China economic talks and whether or not U.S.-Russia
relations be "recommenced". Third, China's role has attracted
attention. International society has different anticipations and
demands for China. The London summit gives China a place to express
its own ideas. Chinese experts think that "China should take a low
key" and as a developing country China should "be practical and
gradually (develop itself)". To raise unrealistic hopes for China's
role in order to urge China to implement its responsibilities -
which are beyond its capacity - is not an efficient solution to the
current financial crisis and will damage China's interests.
b. "Obama-Hu meeting gives power to conquer the financial crisis"

The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/02): President Obama will visit China in
the second half of this year. The [leadership] level of the
U.S.-China strategic dialogues will increase. But neither the U.S.
nor the Chinese officials ever used the expression "G-2". A Chinese
official warned that China should not be deceived by such an
exaggerated expression. Zhu Feng, deputy director of International
Strategy Research Center of Peking University, says that "G-2" is
just a concept, not an operable project. Both U.S. and Europe are
very clear about this. Using the word "G-2" is only to show the
importance of U.S.-China cooperation and induce China to carry more
international responsibilities. "G-2" reflects a concern that if
China doesn't enhance cooperation with U.S., a geo-conflict may
occur. It's not necessary for China to be too enthusiastic about
the "G-2" and China's national interests do not need a "G-2"
mechanism. China, a large country but not a powerful country, cannot
afford too many international responsibilities. Zhu Feng also says
that the over-pessimistic analysis about G-20 (there is no room for
failure at G-20) is a one-side analysis. The most significant
meanings of G-20 are to provide a collective, multilateral,
institutional, and coordinated mechanism to the world when
responding to the financial crisis. As long as the G-20 exists,
there will be more determinations and solutions to jointly conquer
the crisis. However, the resolution to the crisis relies on every
country, not just the G-20 mechanism. Every country should be
parallel to G-20, not affiliated to it.

c. "Whose wallet will the G-20 fatten?"

The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao)(04/02): There are
two focuses for the G-20: asking each country to further stimulate
currency liquidity and to conduct more economic stimulus packages.
Under the current two outstanding demands that U.S. wants to keep
its global dominance and developing countries want to expand their
power to influence or make decisions in the world, the G-20 submit
will become a fight with certain limitations. Of course, one summit
cannot solve the current global financial crisis. But it should not
be a coordinating meeting for some countries to get investment.
This kind of market rescue requires clear reasons and a review of
its effectiveness. The topic of long-term reform should also be
listed on the agenda of international cooperation through this
summit.


2. U.S. Military

"Why does the U.S. military contradict itself?"

The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal
(Shijie Xinwenbao)(04/02): Recently there are facts which show the
U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Defense are not on the

BEIJING 00000886 002 OF 002


same page. For example, regarding the incident in the China South
Sea and U.S. attitudes toward North Korea's missile launch the
comments from these two departments are inconsistent. This is not
the first time that these two departments expressed opposite views.
Taking the U.S.-Taiwan policy as an example, the U.S. State
Department always plays "nice person" by saying sweet words to China
while the U.S. military often plays "angry person", advocating
"China's military threat" in every possible way. Analysts indicate
that Obama needs to deal with both the economic problems and the
U.S. troops scattered around the world in the first year of his
presidential term. The military issues are not easier than the
economic problems. Therefore, it may take time for Obama and Gates
to go through breaking-in.

PICCUTA