PRC-DPRK BORDER: CHINESE TENSE, NORTH KOREANS BUSY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SHENYANG 000076

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, EAP/K, INR
MOSCOW PASS TO VLADIVOSTOK

E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS AFTER KOREAN UNIFICATION
TAGS: CH ECON KN KS PGOV PREL RS
SUBJECT: PRC-DPRK BORDER: CHINESE TENSE, NORTH KOREANS BUSY

REF: SHENYANG 56

Classified By: Consul General Stephen B. Wickman. Reasons 1.4(b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In light of the DPRK's detainment of two
American journalists, Chinese officials have taken measures
to tighten access by foreigners to border areas. Even areas
previously open to tourists and foreigners are now
restricted. Meetings with government, Public Security
Bureau (PSB),and Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) officials all
stressed the same theme: the border is sensitive and if you
do come, please don't tell the provincial FAO. Meanwhile,
the 60th anniversary of PRC-DPRK diplomatic relations is
being commemorated all along the border regions by local
officials; there seem to be more farmers and livestock
active on the DPRK side than in recent memory, and there has
been no noticeable change in cross-border trade since the
DPRK missile launch. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Congenoff and assistant visited the Yanbian Korean
Autonomous Prefecture April 12-15 and Dandong on April 8 to
record developments along the North Korean border. Sites
observed included Fangchuan/Tumangang, Quanhe/Wonjong-ri,
Khunchun Land Port, Shuaiwanzijiao/Samanjagyo,
Tumen/Namyang, Kaishantun/Sambong, Bangwon-ri, Hakpo-ri, and
Sanhe/Hoeryong. Congenoff also met with officials from
Hunchun and Changchun.

CHINESE SIDE: HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITIES...
--------------

3. (C) At every single point along the border, it was clear
that the Chinese authorities had tightened their regulations
and enforcement in response to the Amcit journalist
incident. Normal access to designated tourist areas was
impeded by freshly painted "off-limits" signs and brand-new
"no trespassing" banners. People's Liberation Army Armed
Police (PAP) guards are now wearing helmets and bulletproof
vests at every land port, refusing access to sites
previously accessible.


4. (C) FANGCHUAN/TUMANGGANG: Fangchuan is one of Hunchun
City's only tourist traps, giving curious visitors an
opportunity to visit a military border compound overlooking
the point where China, Russia, and North Korea meet in the
lower reaches of the Tumen River, with the Sea of Japan
visible beyond the Russia-DPRK rail bridge. However, the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) appropriated most of the
compound in 2007, eliminating souvenir shops and tourist-
related exhibits from all three floors of the small pavilion
and allowed tourists only on the roof by the end of 2008.
The lone local vendor operating out of a tiny shack outside
of the compound's security perimeter commented that the PLA
took back control of the pavilion late last year and that
the Hunchun Tourism Bureau was still trying to find an
alternate location to build a new pavilion for tourists.


5. (C) QUANHE/WONJONG-RI: This land port is the closest
Chinese border crossing to Rason and appeared to be as busy
as ever. There were over 15 trucks, cars, and minibuses
lined up on the bridge waiting to clear North Korean
customs, and four more trucks on the Chinese side awaiting
approval to drive onto the bridge at midday April 13.
Despite previous rumors that the DPRK would shut down the
market in Rason, congenoff and assistant observed a normal,
if not higher than usual, amount of traffic heading into
North Korea.


6. (C) KHUNCHUN LAND PORT: By contrast, Hunchun's lone land
port on the Russian border looked desolate. Signs in
Chinese, Korean, and Russian greeted travelers, but the only
activity witnessed was a half-empty Russian bus headed back
to Russia. Shopkeepers at the souvenir shops commented that
business was down, due to the weak state of the Russian
economy.


7. (C) SHUAIWANZIJIAO/SAMANJAGYO: Like the much larger
broken bridge in Dandong that allows tourists to walk out
into the middle of the Yalu River, this much smaller,
unmanned Japanese-colonial-era bridge is a regular tourist
stop just off of the Hunchun-Tumen highway, and allows one
to walk out over the Tumen River. However, as congenoff
approached the bridge, he encountered a large, freshly-hung,

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red-and-yellow banner spanning the bridge, clearly stating
the bridge was off-limits at the direction of the Yanbian
PSB. There were also two large surveillance cameras mounted
at the northern (Chinese) end of the bridge.


8. (C) TUMEN/NAMYANG: In a completely new move, PAP guards
at the land port had donned bulletproof vests and helmets.
Three-man teams conducted patrols along the riverbank,
another unprecedented sight according to our assistant.
After paying the obligatory entrance fee to the lookout and
(normally) to the bridge, the guards prevented congenoff and
assistant from walking onto the bridge, citing a new policy
that only Chinese tourists were allowed access. The PAP
guard said foreign tourists were still allowed to visit the
top of the gatehouse but that photography was prohibited. A
vendor at a souvenir shop said these new policies had been
in place since late March and suspected that it was related
to the recent "capture" of the American journalists in
Tumen. The vendor predicted that the stringent security
measures would eventually be rescinded. A single North
Korean locomotive came across the Tumen rail bridge into
China during our stop around 9 a.m. April 13.


9. (C) KAISHANTUN/SAMBONG: Congenoff and assistant were
denied access to the land port at Kaishantun mid-afternoon
on April 14. The customs building and guardhouse looked
new, but the surrounding parking lot and road leading to the
bridge remain unpaved. There were two trucks lined up on
the North Korean side of the bridge and no vehicles in the
Kaishantun side. Kaishantun looked like a ghost town, with
empty storefronts, vacant apartment buildings, and shuttered
light industry.


10. (C) SANHE/HOERYONG: Congenoff and assistant attempted to
visit the land port at Sanhe the same day but were denied
access. There were three vehicles lined up at the Chinese
side; the North Korean side was not visible from the road.
The Sanhe facility appeared to be recently modernized.


11. (C) DANDONG: Congenoff and assistant were accompanied by
the Dandong FAO to the famous broken bridge on the Yalu
River and afterwards took a boat ride together late in the
morning on April 8, a few days after the North Korean
missile test. There were at least 20 trucks, minibuses, and
cars waiting on the bridge to clear North Korean customs,
with many more at the Dandong Land Port waiting to clear
Chinese customs - a regular amount of cross-border trade.
There were at least 10 North Koreans strolling around the
riverside park area and almost 20 North Korean men playing
volleyball at a riverside dock. Dandong FAO Vice Director
Yang Song said that Dandong City's cultural exchanges with
the DPRK were ongoing and just recently, in recognition of
the 60th anniversary of PRC-DPRK relations, an official
North Korean dancing and singing troupe had given a series
of performances in Dandong.

COUNTING COWS AND DOGS
--------------

12. (C) Congenoff and assistant observed more activity along
the DPRK border than in previous years, with several groups
of people and livestock visibly engaged in agricultural
activities. While there was clear evidence of prior farming
on the denuded hillsides and mountaintops all along the
border, on this visit, no farming activity was observed at
the higher elevations; all agricultural activity was focused
on the lowland areas closer to the riverbank.


13. (C) NAMYANG: At the northernmost point of North Korea
where the Tumen River makes a wide bend northeast of Tumen
City, congenoff observed over 20 individuals setting fire to
lowland fields in preparation for the spring farming season.
Three well-fed cows lazed about nearby. Some 200 meters
away from this work group, four similarly well-fed, mongrel
dogs could be seen playing along the riverbank.


14. (C) BANGWON-RI: From a bluff just south of Kaishantun,
congenoff saw three groups of 5-10 individuals each in the
North Korean town of Bangwon-ri, along with four cows, one
carting material on a road and the others plowing fields
along the riverbank. A large excavator could be seen in the
distance along the railroad. There was the occasional
bicyclist and handcar, along with a two-car passenger train

SHENYANG 00000076 003 OF 004


seen heading downstream along the river between Hakpo-ri and
Bangwon-ri.


15. (C) HAKPO-RI: Halfway between Kaishantun and Sanhe, at
the relatively small North Korean village of Hakpo-ri,
congenoff saw six cows along the riverbank, with three
engaged in agricultural activity while the other three were
grazing. Congenoff saw two groups of people farming in
Hakpo-ri, along with five sheep/goats and two dogs roaming
unaccompanied about 100 meters upstream.

LOCAL OFFICIALS: WE'RE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
-------------- --------------

16. (C) Congenoff met (unofficially) in a one-on-one meeting
with Yanbian Vice Governor Ximen Shunji (protect,) vice
governor responsible for commerce, foreign affairs, tourism,
and food and product safety. Ximen said he had been fully
occupied in the weeks since the "journalist problem,"
working with provincial and central government officials to
find a resolution. Ximen advised against official USG
travel to Yanbian and other border regions in the future,
and instead invited congenoff to visit Yanbian unofficially
anytime, offering to pay all expenses and to meet whenever
congenoff is in town. Ximen also mentioned that he had been
forced to cancel his participation in a planned trip to
Pyongyang by the Jilin Governor to explore further Chinese
investment in North Korea (BIO NOTE: Governor Ximen's wife
is a senior official in the Yanbian PSB. Their son went to
a Chinese school and is now attending Jilin University.
Their daughter attended the U.S.- and South Korean-
affiliated Yanbian University of Science and Technology and
is graduating this May from a U.S. sister school, California
Baptist University.)


17. (C) Congenoff's sole official meeting with the Yanbian
FAO was canceled the day before the Yanbian PSB was
scheduled to turn over the the confiscated belongings of
Mitchell Koss, the AmCit photographer who accompanied the
two detained journalists and was investigated and
subsequently released by Chinese authorities. Instead,
Yanbian FAO Ms. Chi Yanhua (protect) made an unannounced
arrival as the PSB meeting drew to a close, and escorted
congenoff back to the hotel. During the 15-minute ride, Ms.
Chi launched into an extended conversation and again invited
congenoff to make an unofficial visit at "any time you would
like." As for official travel, Chi said the FAO was too
busy to entertain a visit from the Consulate that was not
related to a specific consular case. When pressed for a
potential time to start making official calls again, Chi
said "perhaps November." She then reiterated that congenoff
was welcome to visit unofficially at anytime and offered to
meet unofficially.


18. (C) Congenoff spoke on the sidelines of the PSB meeting
with the chief of the Yanbian Entry-Exit Administration Li
Yongxue (protect.) Li was cordial and spoke comfortably
about the fallout from the incident with the journalists.
Li said that this episode had complicated the autonomous
prefecture's relations with Jilin provincial officials and
the central government, casting doubt upon their ability to
handle the large number of foreigners engaged in various
unauthorized activities along the border. Li told congenoff
to contact him anytime, offering his phone number, which was
a South Korean cell phone number.

OTHER NOTES
--------------

19. (C) Long-time North Korea hand and Jilin FAO Vice
Director Cai Changqing is a Yanbian native, graduate of Kim
Il Sung University, and has served as an official
interpreter on many of his 100 visits to North Korea over
his 30 year career with Jilin FAO. He recently attended an
April 15 celebration for Kim Il Sung's birthday in Jilin
City and will accompany the Jilin Governor on a trip to
Pyongyang in late April to investigate investment
opportunities in North Korea.


20. (C) Hunchun Party Secretary Liu Youlin, at a recent
consulate-hosted lunch, said that his city's cultural
exchanges with the DPRK have been robust except for the
hiatus in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the DPRK's
economy collapsed. Every year there is at least one

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official governmental delegation exchange. Even at the
middle school-level, there have been regular exchanges
between Chinese and North Korean soccer teams. This year,
in celebration of the 60th anniversary of formal diplomatic
relations, Hunchun and North Korea are increasing the
frequency of their exchanges. In contrast, PS Liu said that
there was almost no interaction with their Russian
neighbors, surmising that the very small population of the
Kraskino/Zarubino/Posyet region made it difficult for the
Russians to match up with the much larger Hunchun.

COMMENT
--------------

21. (C) COMMENT: The latest high-profile border incident has
brought this ethnic autonomous prefecture into the spotlight
of the provincial and central government. Whether the
heightened state of readiness along the border is merely for
show or reflects real insecurity on the part of the Chinese
government is hard to tell. Against this backdrop, the
South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a consular
travel warning on April 23 to its citizens about possible
danger along the North Korean border. The ROK consulate
here said the announcement was part of a broader initiative
to show the public it was taking steps to reign in
"adventure travel" and not the result of bilateral
consultations. END COMMENT.

WICKMAN