MEDIA REACTION: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN, INTERNET FREEDOM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000259 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: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN, INTERNET FREEDOM -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN a. "The preemptive Cold War mentality" The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(01/30)(pg 3): "When facing the United States' preemptive Cold War mentality and moral hypocrisy demonstrated in its arms sales to Taiwan, the people are very surprised. The 'Taiwan Relations Act' is itself a product of Cold War mentality. Today, the U.S. government not only failed to fulfill its promise to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan and, over a period of time, to reach a final settlement, but also increasingly demonstrated their arbitrary inclinations. The U.S. government's actions have created tension. At its base, the United States intends to draw an ideological line, ending and guarding against China's development and progress by using every possible means. The U.S. government is ignoring U.S.-China relations and is giving-in to military and industrial enterprises. This is a pathetic and short-sighted strategy. Over the past year, the U.S. government tried to demonstrate an attitude based on 'change' within a series of major international issues; but arms sales to Taiwan run counter to this attitude. While claiming to respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the U.S. sent, through this arms sale, a seriously wrong signal. While shouting its support for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, it has produced new instability in the Taiwan Strait area. All of these issues; aren't they typical of the moral hypocrisy of the United States? The Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced that, since the U.S.'s arms sales to Taiwan have seriously damaged Sino-U.S. relations, China has decided to take countermeasures. If the U.S. government does not recognize and withdraw from its wrong decision as soon as possible, instead blindly following its Cold War mentality at the expense of China's core interests and major concerns, the U.S. will further damage Sino-U.S. relations, undermining the course of world peace, and will, in the end, suffer the consequence themselves." b. "China to impose sanctions against U.S. enterprises selling arms to Taiwan" The Shanghai-based Shanghai Media Group (SMG) publication, China Business News (Diyi Caijing)(02/01)(pg A4): "Sun Zhe, director of Research Center for China-U.S. Relations at Tsinghua University, said that since the 1979 establishment of Sino-U.S. diplomatic relations, the United States has never abided by the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqus on arms sales to Taiwan. Ye Hailin, a researcher of the Asia-Pacific Political Office at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Sino-U.S. relations should not be left to the mercy of the United States. Whenever it needs bilateral cooperation, it will seek cooperation with China; but whenever it needs to solve its domestic issues, it will play the China card, which for China is unacceptable. The U.S.'s arms sales to Taiwan may not drag Sino-U.S. relations down to the level in 2001, after the plane collision incident at South China Sea, but the relationship will certainly not be like Obama thinks, one to just pass on. This time the American companies that China will sanction will mainly be Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin who produce Patriot-3 missiles. It will be more effective for Sikorsky who has both military and civilian products. Chinese Foreign Ministry officials also said that Sino-U.S. cooperation on key international and regional issues will inevitably be affected." c. "Arms sales sours ties" The official English-language newspaper China Daily (2/01)(pg 8): "Despite Beijing's repeated protests and warnings of serious consequences for Sino-U.S. relations, Washington, as always, went its own way over the weekend and gave the nod to a massive arms sale package to Taiwan. This is the stance the U.S. has taken vis-a-vis a 'stakeholder' - and sometimes 'constructive partner' - terms that it uses to describe China's ties with the world and itself. Uncle Sam's $6.4 billion arms package to equip Taiwan, including Patriot anti-missile systems, Black Hawk helicopters and Harpoon missiles, reminds us how grudgingly Washington sees China's rise and its unwillingness to see compatriots across the Straits live in peace. Washington's arrogance also reflects the stark reality of how a nation's interests could be trampled upon by another. We have to forget the pledge that "the United States does not seek to contain China" made by Barack Obama when he was warmly welcomed in Beijing just two months ago. Sincerity is subject to proof of action, not mere words. The U.S. promised in a joint communiqu signed on Aug 17, 1982 - which forms the cornerstone of Sino-U.S. relations - that "it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan". It also pledged that Washington "intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution". But how many times has Washington trashed BEIJING 00000259 002 OF 002 its words for the sake of expediency or other ulterior motives? For the world's only superpower, it now seems that a promise is not a promise. The arms sale is gross interference in China's internal affairs. It seriously undermines China's national security and national reunification, and thus inevitably casts a long shadow on Sino-U.S. relations. China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its national security is endangered and core interests damaged. The U.S. decision not only runs counter to the common dream of pursuing development and cooperation among the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, but also exposes the U.S.' usage of double standards and hypocrisy on major issues related to China's core interests. Compared with the U.S., China is still weak, both economically and militarily. The countermeasures that China has taken - ranging from repeated protests to plans to halt military exchanges and punish U.S. companies involved in the arms sale - may not be forceful enough to compel Washington to mend its ways. But a message has to be sent loud and clear: If the U.S. shows no respect to China's core interests, it cannot expect cooperation from China on a wide range of major regional and international issues. China must make sure that it means what it says." INTERNET FREEDOM "Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson responded to a question on Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's meeting on internet freedom" The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) (01/30)(pg 21): "Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu said that China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi clarified China's stance on Internet management and emphasized that the Internet is open and active in China. Yang stressed that the Chinese people enjoyed adequate freedom of speech in line with the law and have access to various kinds of information, which is one important reason why the Chinese people unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Foreign Minister Yang noted earlier that to promoting the development of the Internet is a consistent policy. China has its own national conditions and cultural traditions. China's management of the Internet adheres to the law and is in line with common practice in the world. China has been one of the world's major victims of hacker attacks. China stands for closer international cooperation to jointly crack down on Internet hacking, protecting citizens' privacy according to the law and safeguarding network security." HUNTSMAN