CHINESE PRESIDENT HU IN SLOVAKIA: BUSINESS AND PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000298

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/CE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/7/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV CH LO PHUM
SUBJECT: CHINESE PRESIDENT HU IN SLOVAKIA: BUSINESS AND PROTESTS

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CLASSIFIED BY: Susan M. Ball, CDA, State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)

1. (C) Summary. Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Slovakia on
June 18-19. While the Slovak Government deemed the visit a
success because it affirmed China's regard for Slovakia "as an
important EU country" and produced contracts between Slovak and
Chinese companies valued at 75.5 million euro, media coverage of
the event focused on a brief, violent encounter between Slovak
human rights activists and unidentified Chinese "men in black"
wearing radios and what appeared to be official identification
badges. Behind the scenes, we are told, FM Lajcak raised the
topic of human rights with his Chinese counterpart, but PM Fico
and President Gasparovic did not. According to MFA contacts, PM
Fico may travel to Beijing in the coming year to sign an
agreement on intergovernmental cooperation. End Summary.



DOING BUSINESS: AS WITH RUSSIA, SO WITH CHINA

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2. (C) Jan Bory, the new Director of MFA's 7th Territorial
Department (covering most of Asia),briefed foreign diplomats on
June 26 on the results of the visit. According to Bory, PM Fico
cited Slovakia's relationship with Russia as an example of what
he hoped the relationship with China could become. Fico argued
for high-level political engagement in nurturing the
relationship, and pointed to a planned wide-gauge rail
connection between the Slovak-Ukraine border and Vienna as an
example of a project that wouldn't exist but if he and Russian
President Putin hadn't become personally involved. Fico and Hu
agreed to charge their staffs with developing several concepts
for similar large-scale projects on which China and Slovakia can
cooperate. Fico's immediate suggestion was Slovak participation
on trilateral projects in Africa using funds from Slovakia's
international development fund, Slovak Aid. Hu proposed that
Slovak firms could participate in the construction of new
reactors in Jiangsu province.




3. (C) At his with President Gasparovic, President Hu presented
the Slovaks with a four-point agenda as the basis for an
intergovernmental agreement aimed at strengthening bilateral
relations. Bory confessed that the Slovaks had difficulty
translating the document from Chinese, and that MFA staff worked
overnight to determine what was being proposed. One point,
which the Slovak side first understood as "cooperation in
humanitarian fields," caused particular confusion. The MFA
finally determined the Chinese were proposing educational
exchanges. In the end, Bory observed, increased economic trade
and investment was the only issue dealt with substantively
anyway.




4. (C) The Chinese delegation proposed new Chinese investments
in Slovak infrastructure projects, tourism, spas and mineral
water and suggested Slovak firms could offer China know-how in
nuclear technology, mining and energy management. Bory said the
Chinese delegation was particularly interested in the
construction of highways in Slovakia. Earlier this year,
according to Bory, the Chinese had offered to build a stretch of
Slovak highway under a Public Private Partnership (PPP)
arrangement using Chinese capital, material and labor.
"Off-the-record," Bory said the deal fell apart because "one of
the government's sponsors -- and I guess you all know who I
mean," was upset about possibly losing the contract to supply
concrete. Bory confirmed the sponsor in question was Juraj
Siroky, a former Communist-era intelligence officer believed to
be the principal owner of Slovak construction firm Vahostav, and
known to be close to the PM.



THE FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING

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5. (C) Slovak FM Miro Lajcak raised human rights briefly during
a private meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Bory reported,
but he emphasized that as a small country Slovakia would not
seek to pressure China, but rather offer dialogue. The main
topic of the Foreign Ministers' meeting, however, was North
Korea and UNSCR 1718. Bory reported that the Chinese FM was
firmly opposed to a nuclear-armed North Korea and repeated his
country's willingness to see UNSCR 1718 enforced. The Chinese
FM reportedly complained about new Slovak visa requirements for

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holders of official Chinese passports. Bory said that FM Lajcak
expressed regret, attributing the change to Schengen Treaty
requirements. Again, "off-the-record," Bory added that the real
problem is that the PRC issues official passports also to
officials in State-run companies and "that includes almost every
Chinese traveler."



CHINESE "MEN IN BLACK"

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6. (SBU) Slovak media, the opposition, and most NGOs paid most
attention to what was not openly discussed: the state of human
rights in China, and whether the Slovak police acquiesced in
Chinese security agents violating the rights of Slovak
protesters. On the second day of Hu's visit, Slovak media was
dominated by critical reports of the police's handling of
confrontations between human rights activists and Chinese "men
in black" who, it was alleged, were working with the police.
Several such men wearing official-looking badges and
sophisticated two-way radios, can be identified in videos of the
scene released on the internet.




7. (SBU) A Slovak officer on the scene told Poloff the Chinese
men were with the official delegation and were untouchable, as
they all had immunity and privileges. The officer indicated one
Chinese man in particular, whom the police would have liked to
detain, but could not because he was accredited to the Chinese
Embassy in Bratislava. Interior Minister Kalinak said he was
amused by speculation the men were Chinese agents and that the
police did not cooperate with them. Kalinak later acknowledged
that they may have been diplomats accredited to neighboring
countries, and explanation that raised more questions. When
Parliament's Human Rights Committee summoned the Interior
Minister to discuss the issue further, the session had to be
cancelled because no coalition MPs showed up for the meeting.



Conclusion and Comment

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8. (C) President Hu extended an invitation to all of Slovakia's
top Constitutional officials (the President, Speaker of
Parliament, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister) to visit China
in the coming year. MFA officials speculate that PM Fico will
accept the offer and that the intergovernmental agreement would
be signed during his visit. Comment: President Hu's trip to
Slovakia followed a two-day stop in Russia, but even some top
diplomats seemed surprised that it took place. In fact, shortly
after the visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Strofova confided to
Charge that during her last visit to Beijing, she had extended
the invitation to her counterpart. Strofova said he laughed
derisively, adding that "we don't visit Paris or Berlin, why
would we visit Bratislava?" It will be interesting to see
whether the talked about cross-sectoral cooperation and
investment takes off in a meaningful way. In the case of
Slovak-Russian relations, Fico's stated model, the talk about
close cooperation has not yet been borne out by the numbers.
End Comment.
BALL