VZCZCXRO3708
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4406 3370940
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020940Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1176
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS BEIJING 004406
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: OPRC KMDR CH
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SED, MUMBAI ATTACKS, FINANCIAL CRISIS
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Editorial Quotes
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1. SED
"U.S. - China SED has room for an upgrade"
The official popular newspaper Beijing Youth Daily (Beijing
Qingnianbao)(12/02): "This year's SED differs greatly in its
background from the previous. One obvious difference is the degree
of the U.S. financial crisis and how the crisis has intensified.
Topics this time will be more practical and in-depth. Another
difference is that Obama has been elected President of the United
States. This means that the Strategic Dialogue topics will change.
This will be the last time that Paulson attends the SED as financial
secretary. Topics brought by the U.S. include energy, environment
and the bilateral investment protection agreement. The U.S. has
paid emphasis on the last topic since the U.S. urgently needs to
cooperate with China in this field to step out of the economic
crisis. The appointment of Geithner has (also) provided an
opportunity to introduce a new set of topics into the SED. For
Obama, the SED is one of a few diplomatic achievements that Bush has
made on the US-China relations. It is foreseeable that after Obama
steps into office, that the senior economic dialogue system of
communication between the U.S. and China will continue to exist."
2. MUMBAI ATTACKS
"The Mumbai terror attacks ring the alert"
The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(12/02):
"The terrorist attacks in Mumbai have once again rung alarm bells in
big cities in Southern Asia and throughout the world. The failure
to effectively defend densely populated cities from terrorists and
fight against terrorists has become a perennial problem for the War
on Terror. If India and Pakistan are thrust into and trapped in
crisis, it is the terrorism organizations and extremists who will
have benefited. That's why the American media is worrying about the
consequence of the incident. The possible India-Pakistan conflict
will disturb the U.S. military deployment. However, 'shooting water
far does not put out the near fire'. The attacks symbolize the
serious frustrations in the fight against terrorism. The future War
on Terror is facing new challenges."
3. GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
"Be vigilant about how the economic crisis will infect global
politics"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(12/02): "The current financial crisis has
revealed two long term conflicts in international relations. One is
between Western developed countries and non-Western developing
countries. Developed countries always dragged non-western countries
down with their huge debts, so that most of the under-developed
countries have no chance of 'being liberated.' The other is within
Western developed countries. The world has seen increased and fierce
competition between leadership in world finance, economics and
politics among European and American countries. As the biggest
developing country and one of the five permanent members of Security
Council, China is responsible to the 1929 economic crisis. China
should maintain its independence in the world's economic politics,
not following European and America and not standing absolutely
opposed to the will of Europe and America."
RANDT