MEDIA REACTION: GOOGLE, HAITI, U.S. POLICY

UNCLAS BEIJING 000150 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: PREL ECON SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: GOOGLE, HAITI, U.S. POLICY -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. GOOGLE "China should enhance the building of its information sovereignty" The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal (Shijie Xinwenbao)(01/20)(pg 2): "Information freedom without supervision can only be realized in smaller countries. If this happens in China, it will probably indicate fatal danger. The Google incident occurred at the perfect time. It serves as a reminder to the majority of Chinese people of this danger. In the whole process of this incident, Google was the initiator and the U.S. government was an active supporter. Meanwhile, the U.S. media is leading Western media to force China to give in. However Google has overestimated its influence in China, where it is only a search engine, and one that is far behind Baidu.com. The incident has warned China that China should definitely not let its information control fall into the United States' hands. If any of China's information sovereignty is missing, it will be used as weapons against China. Another incident at the same time was also worthy of our vigilance. As of January 13, the U.S. upgrade of its GPS system has greatly influenced China Telecom's CDMA signals. This means that the U.S. military has the ability to cut off China's civilian and military systems which rely on their GPS system. This is a huge information security concern for China. No matter the Google incident or the GPS system issue, both of them show that China should enhance its information sovereignty." ¶2. HAITI "Many countries speculate that the U.S. 'occupies Haiti'" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/20)(pg 16): "The world's opinions, especially those at the two sides across the Atlantic Ocean, are having a fierce debate over the good and bad concerning international aid. The U.S. has denied the emerging criticism that it's occupying Haiti. Professor Lu Minghua at Nan Jing University said that the U.S.'s influence in Haiti is so large that no other strength could restrict it, thus the U.S. is most vulnerable to suspicion. Its activities in Haiti have gone far beyond the scope of disaster relief. The U.S. allocation of a number of troops made it more like a military action, through which the U.S. could announce its presence and deter left-wing forces in Latin America. The U.S. may not have any intention to occupy Haiti, from a practical point of view, but it did not bother to explain this to European countries. The U.S. is used to giving orders on issues that it believes fall 'under its own roof' and thinks it doesn't need to explain this to others. Xu Shicheng, a researcher at China Academy of Social Science, said that the U.S.' disaster relief activities in Haiti are very necessary, but it is also obligatory for the United States to explain its real intention to the world." ¶3. U.S. POLICY "Why has Obama's first year been anticlimactic?" The Shanghai-based Shanghai Media Group (SMG) publication, China Business News (Diyi Caijing)(01/20)(pg A2): "In his first year in office, Obama's 50% support rate has surprised many people who were initially optimistic about his administration's ruling [ability to lead]. Despite his endeavors to save the market and the positive diplomatic changes he has made, it is indeed difficult for Obama, an inexperienced young politician, to take over such a big mess. Obama seems to have been rather ill-prepared for the troublesome situation at home and abroad. The lack of clear judgment and a calm ruling mindset has also caused Obama to be too hasty when making decisions. His medical reform plan is proof of this. Besides, being too eager to change has made his economic stimulus plan lacking the necessary details. In a sense, his ruling has been too flexible which has brought him a lot of trouble. In political life, flexibility is often a double-edged sword. While a flexible way of doing things can help coordinate complex relations and even break some diplomatic difficulties, being too flexible may be confusing or may reduce the sense of trust, which is not conducive for building mutual trust relationships with other leaders or systematically implementing his 'New Deal.' In the mean time, it is important to maintain a good Sino-U.S. relationship. In many ways, it is essential for the U.S. to strengthen its cooperation with China. The Obama administration needs to maintain a clear mind on issues like economic and trade frictions, and arms sales to Taiwan, and should not run the risk of losing the majority because of the minority." HUNTSMAN