MEDIA REACTION: McCain Visit, President Obama, Ren Min Bi

UNCLAS BEIJING 000960

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 PREL ECON
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: McCain Visit, President Obama, Ren Min Bi

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Editorial Quotes
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1. McCain Visit

"McCain said that China has become a "superpower"

The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/10): McCain arrived in Beijing on 8th for
his Asian "survey trip". He indicated during a press conference on
April 9th that China had become a "superpower" and "China's
importance is becoming more obvious". Therefore, there are "more
discussions about G-2". But his remarks are questioned among Chinese
internet users. According to a survey conducted by Huanqiu website
(www.huanqiu.com),68% of the internet users think that "there are
gaps between China and a superpower".
McCain also mentioned the "USS Impeccable" incident in the South
China Sea, saying that "we have confidence to avoid similar
accidents through dialogue". Niu Xinchun, from Chinese Institute of
Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that
McCain is trying to put a label on China with such a saying. Niu
says that McCain intentionally moves the nature of this issue to
another side, indicating that China put obstacles for the American
vessel. But the American vessel was aimed to spy on China. We hope
that since America is willing to have a comprehensive cooperation
with China, America should not spy on China. As for G-2, Niu says
that it is practical to believe that the major global issues can
only be solved through U.S.-China cooperation. But it is an
exaggerated saying that U.S. and China should jointly lead the world
through the G-2. It is not in line with China's diplomatic
concept.


2. President Obama

"Obama's bow provokes conservatives"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/10): Obama "bowed" to the leader of Saudi
Arabia, King Abdullah during the London summit. This provokes
American conservatives. Obama was condemned that he "belittled
America's power and independence". There were heated discussions in
the global media about his "bow". A Chinese expert says that Obama
is trying to make America's strategy less rude and some countries
have expressed their cautious welcome on this. But the reaction of
conservatives shows that Obama has a long and rough way to go.
Zhang Lili, from China Foreign Affairs University, says that the
conservatives' attack Obama about this issue from the perspective of
national interests and moral aspects. This is consistent with the
conservatives' traditional attitudes of being tough. But what is
behind these criticisms reflect the blowback for Obama's recent
policy adjustments. These adjustments dissatisfy the military
interest group, which leads to more intense criticisms. The world
needs to encourage Obama's policy adjustments because if the
relations between the U.S. and other countries change into constant
sum game instead of a zero-sum game, the pressure put on many
countries will be reduced.



3. Ren Min Bi
"Commentary - Don't be too quick to say the RMB can contend with the
U.S. dollar"

The official Communist Youth League newspaper China Youth Daily
(Zhongguo Qingnianbao) )04/10): China has started a trial in 5
cities using the RMB for overseas settlements. Actually, using the
RMB as a trade settlement has already started since 2007. The RMB
became one of the most important regional currencies. But it is not
realistic to think the RMB can have the same role as the U.S. dollar
in the international currency system. There have to be 3
prerequisites for the RMB to become as important as the dollar. One
is the nation's overall economic power. China's total economic
volume and exporting & importing trade volume are far from
America's. America is still the only superpower. Second has to be
a mature reserve currency mechanism. The current exchange rate
mechanism and frame are not fully developed. Third it has to have
all the necessities such as financial management regulation
capacity, awareness of the financial regulations, and the
supervision capacity, and so on. Euro currency has been circulated
for 10 years and still fails to content with USD due to the
insufficiencies of relative supporting financial necessities.
Therefore, we should steadily process RMB's internationalization
based on China's practical situation.

Weinstein