MEDIA REACTION: U.S, INDIAN PERCEPTION OF CHINA

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000928



SIPDIS



STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: U.S, INDIAN PERCEPTION OF

CHINA



1. This cable reports on a relevant opinion piece

in Nepal's prominent non-English press.



2. Centrist vernacular daily Kantipur (Nepal's

largest daily with circulation of 150,000),ran an

opinion piece titled "American Psychology under the

Shadow of Chinese Power." The piece, written by the

paper's senior reporter, said the United States and

its strategic partner India are treating China

cautiously because they do not want to irritate the

emerging power, China. It argued that the six

decades of communism established by Mao Tse-tung has

started having a psychological impact on both the

United States and India. This argument is based on

two incidents -President Obama's decision not to

meet the Dalai Lama before his upcoming meeting with

the Chinese President, and Indian silence over the

Chinese Embassy's discriminatory visa policy for

India's Jammu and Kashmir residents.



Translated excerpts:



3. "The U.S. President decided this week not to

meet the Dalai Lama. Obama is visiting Beijing next

month. Possibly, his assessment was that the Beijing

Summit against the backdrop of meeting with Dalai

Lama would not be a happy one. Lama has not only met

all American presidents since George Bush Sr. in

1991, he has also been well-received by them. Bush

was not only the president to meet Lama at a public

function; he was also the one to award Lama with

Congress' highest civilian award at Capitol Hill.

Giving respect to the Dalai Lama is U.S policy. It

can be analyzed as an indirect U.S. policy of

[supporting] Tibetan independence. However, the

United States has made a written commitment toward a

One China policy that includes Tibet, Hong Kong,

Macau, and Taiwan."



4. "Obama deferred the pre-scheduled meeting with

Nobel Peace Laureate Dalai Lama by an indefinite and

unwanted period for the sake of meeting with the

Chinese President. Probably New Delhi was the

hardest-hit by this American gesture to improve

relations with China. Possibly the South Block's

grievance has reached the Department of State."



5. "The Dalai Lama is India's diplomatic bargaining

card. The occasional entry of Free-Tibet proponents

into the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi is not a

weakness of Indian security, but is a "tacit

understanding." Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama

Rao faced diplomatic humiliation for this reason

when she was the Indian Ambassador to China."



6. "... According to an Indian news report, the

Chinese Embassy in New Delhi started issuing

different visas to residents of the Indian state of

Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of issuing visas in the

passports, it started giving visas as separate

documents. This means sovereign China is trying to

give different recognition to a certain territory of

sovereign India. India could have strongly opposed

this dangerous Chinese policy. The Indian External

Affairs Ministry takes this issue seriously, but

does not want to bring it into debate."



7. "These examples of totally uncustomary diplomacy

of the United States and India indicate increasing

Chinese influence. It hints at the mentality of

these strategic allies and their need to maintain

good relations with China, or at least not confront

China."



8. "... These two developments have long-term

implications. The immediate background is the

Chinese show of military strength at the 60th

anniversary of Chinese [communist] rule at Tiananmen

Square. The U.S. and Indian armies are

psychologically weaker in front of sophisticated

Chinese weapons and a committed Chinese army.

Afghanistan and Iraq have diplomatically weakened

the United States and India to a big extent. With a

suicide attack at the American Embassy and two

attacks at the Indian Embassy in Kabul, they are



facing concerns about being unable to secure their

people and their armies."



MOON