MEDIA REACTION: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000266 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 -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN a. "Let the West get used to 'tough China'" The People's Daily-sponsored and internationally-focused commercial news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(02/02)(pg 14): "China will, as always, make full efforts to defend its core interests. The West's surprise about China's tough stance (on the Taiwan arms sales issue) shows that they have underestimated China's strategic determination because they are conceited and ignorant. The West does not have a clear position on China, especially the United States. The United States sometimes treats China as an assumed enemy and other times as a partner. How to understand China and define Sino-U.S. relations has become strategically confusing for the United States. They thought that it was sufficient, when dealing with China, to play with such an ambiguous strategy. But along with China's growing strength, their use of continuous ambiguous, double-sided measures has left a smaller and smaller space for the United States. The United States is bound to suffer retaliation because China's two roles in the U.S.'s understanding (assumed enemy and partner) have become increasingly incompatible. They (the United States) have also underestimated the influence of China's public opinion. With the increasing influence of Chinese public opinion on China's foreign strategy; the Chinese public has become the Chinese government's firm support behind taking more hard-line measures against the United States. If the United States fails to understand the situation, it is impossible for it to accurately grasp China's future U.S. policy, and similarly, it is unlikely to make the strategic policy concerning China come in line with long-term benefits for the U.S. China's hard-line measures against the United States are not unreasonable or anti-Americanism. There is a prerequisite for stable Sino-U.S. relations: to let the United States know what things are absolutely inviolable and what areas can be negotiable. After all, the Chinese also want to enhance mutual military trust, trade and political exchanges, but this increase must be good for both sides, not just beneficial to the U.S. We must let the entire Western world know that they need to adjust their strategy toward China. In this way the West's misjudgment of China will greatly reduce, and they will not regard China's act of self-defense as a provocation." b. "China strongly retaliates over U.S. arms deal with Taiwan"? The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal (Shijie Xinwenbao)(02/02)(pg 3): "China's countermeasures to protest the United States' arms deal with Taiwan have shown China's great attention to its core interests. It is specially worth noting that China will impose sanctions on American companies involved in the arms deal. This is the first time for China, as a developing country, to sanction companies from a developed country. It shows, that in order to protect China's core interests, China will not only adopt political and diplomatic measures, but will also take action against American companies, who have directly profited from the deal. Imposing sanctions on U.S. companies is probably a more effective means of protest than to just (verbally) protest such actions by the U.S. Jin Canrong, a Professor from Renmin University, said the United States will gradually increase the cost of selling arms to Taiwan until, one fine day, the cost is too big for the United States to afford." c. "'Decryption' of the landing of 'Black Hawk' (regarding Taiwan)" Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(02/02)(pg 3): "Professor Wu Xinbo, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, said that the U.S. Congress has always been the base for pro-Taiwan anti-China forces. Sun Zhe, director of the Center for American Studies at Tsinghua University said that it is some pro-Taiwan officials in the Obama administration that promoted the arms deal. Since these officials, after the Copenhagen summit, speculated that China's support to the United States has been insufficient on the Afghanistan or Iran issues, they intend to pressure China using the arms sales issue and the Dalai Lama's visit. Wu Xinbo said that Obama chose to submit the arms sales proposal earlier this year because he wants to leave sufficient time in the rest of the year to repair the damage that the Sino-U.S. relationship will have suffered. 'In the next three months, the United States may try to eliminate the negative impact of the arms sales so as to ensure that China attends the April nuclear summit and determine matters relating to President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States.' Wu Xinbo pointed out that this could make 2010 Sino-U.S. relations go along a (strategic) path where a bad start sees a good ending to the year. However, Sun Zhe said that the United States has underestimated the serious impact of its arms sales to Taiwan. It is not easy to repair damages between the BEIJING 00000266 002 OF 002 United States and China within several months. In 2010, Sino-U.S. relations will undergo a U-turn." HUNTSMAN