MEDIA REACTION: CHINA POLICY, DPRK

UNCLAS BEIJING 000995 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: CHINA POLICY, DPRK -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. CHINA POLICY "China's [effort] to improve their human rights is not a show for the west" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao) (04/15): "Human rights related issues always touch a sensitive nerve in communications between China and western countries. The newly released human rights action plan brings both praise and criticism. As one of the important measures to speak on global influences, western countries like to judge China's human rights. But Chinese people will no longer be angry with this criticism, because they are becoming more confident and are seeing clarity on the issues related to human rights. China is confident that the aim of improving these rights is for the interest of the Chinese people and not to simply show-off to the west. It is common sense that there is a need to improve China's human rights because China is developing and there are the needs of the Chinese people. It is undeniable that the west's criticism is used as a force for China's development. However, during the development process, China is finding out that it has its own situation and the Chinese people have their own concerns and interests, such as income, healthcare, housing, and employment. Only when we solve these problems, can China's human rights status improve. China has obviously improved in promoting their citizen's human rights throughout its development process. In the future, their human rights will continue to be improved and developed. China needs more understanding and tolerance from the world, especially when it comes to viewing China's human rights issues from the perspective of Chinese history and social development. China will promote their people's human rights in their own way. The determinations of the benefit to its people won't be changed because of external influences." ¶2. DPRK "Care toward Nuke issue" The official English-language newspaper China Daily (04/15): "This is an excerpt of an article in the Global Times on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has recently become tense again, with the United Nations Security Council releasing an announcement on April 13 over the recent rocket launch by the DPRK. The stance taken by various parties are extremely different and the requests of each party are just too much in Chinese eyes. So China should find a way to break the deadlock. The most important concern is to clearly tell the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) of China's own attitudes toward this issue. China should tell the parties that any attempts to overthrow the current regime of the DPRK should be abandoned for it has no power to threaten the safety of the U.S. and Japan. The two countries and the ROK (Republic of Korea) should show their sincerity in improving relations with the DPRK. If the DPRK does not listen to the advice of neighboring countries and sticks to its provocative actions, it will pay a high price for its choice. The U.S., Japan, ROK and DPRK should all respect China's stance because it tries to protect and balance the interest of all parties. If the U.S., Japan and the ROK do not listen to the advice of China, they will suffer more than China; if they finally force the DPRK to become a nuclear country, China will not be the first country to be affected by it. On the other hand, the world will no longer tolerate the DPRK's dash down the nuclear path. China will be sad because it is implicated in this issue, but the saddest one will be the DPRK itself. It will end up being the deserted orphan of the world. China has never been selfish on this issue and has never opposed any talks between the DPRK and other parties. China is willing to help the DPRK recover its economy, but China will not be its protector. A step beyond China's basic stance could be disastrous for the Korean Peninsula, and all parties should give the issue careful consideration." Weinstein