VZCZCXRO9250
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #2850/01 2870240
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140240Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6401
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002850
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 KMDR OPRC CH
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, U.S.-CHINA TRADE
RELATIONS, ENVIRONMENT
--------------------
Editorial Quotes
--------------------
1. OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
a. "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize and Shocks the World"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(10/10)(pg 1): "Jin Canrong, professor of the
People's University of China, commented that giving the Prize to
Obama is encouraging the U.S. not to return to unilateralism.
What's more, the Prize could help Obama to consolidate his dropping
credibility in the U.S., which would also be helpful for Europe.
However, it is a risk and a gamble by the Nobel Committee. Obama
must make real achievements within the next several years. However,
the issues on which Obama is working, like denuclearization, the
Middle East peace process and peace talks with North Korea, are all
difficult issues and it is likely that Obama may have to take some
kind of military action in resolving them in the next few years.
The strong political nature of the Nobel Peace Prize is not easy to
change, and this will produce more doubts for the Committee.
Scholar Yuan Peng commented that the West likes to give the Prize to
people who hold western values. For China, the biggest advantage of
Obama being awarded is that Chinese dissidents did not have a chance
to win the Prize. Otherwise the Prize will be devalued and in that
way the Prize will destroy its own reputation."
b. "Obama Resists a Unipolar World"
Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper,
21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(10/13)(pg 2):
"Obama, as the leader of the largest unipolar power in the world,
has more power and responsibility to create a friendly America than
others and to rebuild the world order under the rule of democracy.
Although Obama has taken limited actions to loosen U.S. hegemony
over the current world political order, his sincerity and his
actions to block the Eastern European missile defense plan, in
addition to his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan have,
at least, brought the hope of peace to the world which currently
lies under the threat of American-style terrorism. The Bush
administration turned the U.S. into the most terrible enemy of the
people of the world. Thus Obama has a long way to go to turn the
U.S. back into the world's friend. Lowering itself to become one of
the world's citizens that abides by and does not go beyond world
norms is just the first step for the U.S. The 2009 Nobel Peace
Prize is more an expression of the hope of the people of the world
that Obama and the United States can make contributions to the
future world peace."
2. U.S.-CHINA TRADE RELATIONS
"The U.S. Swings a Trade Stick at the Chinese Glass Curtain Wall"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(10/12)(pg 11): "The U.S. media have indicated
that the frequent trade moves made by U.S. trade associations and
unions against China will further intensify the already nervous
U.S.-China trade relationship before Obama's visit to China. 'Made
in the U.S.' organizations filed a suit with the U.S. Department of
Commerce criticizing Chinese government provision of subsidies to
Chinese glass curtain wall companies, claiming the subsidies have
caused unequal competition. The AFP has commented that to avoid
destroying the atmosphere for Obama's visit to China China has been
acting with restraint since the recent tire protection case.
However, the dark shadow over U.S.-China trade relations kept
growing. The trade protectionism measures by the U.S., one after
another, will lead bilateral frictions to become more dangerous."
3. ENVIRONMENT
"In Collecting Carbon Tariffs, He Who Strikes First Prevails"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(10/13)(pg 15): "We can see that the U.S. is
trying hard to disguise the negative impacts of carbon tariffs, and
is determined to collect them. China should also act early and
begin to collect carbon tariffs, in order to deal with the U.S.
tariffs which will no doubt come in the 'low carbon era.' A
low-carbon economy will be the future trend and the WTO will change
its view to support the legalization of carbon tariffs despite the
fact that carbon tariff are anti-trade nature and will cause trade
discrimination. This means that newly-emerging countries like China
will have no opportunities to seek remedies with the WTO. To deal
with the situation, China could take the first initiative to collect
carbon tariffs and give up its current model of gaining a trade
surplus dependent on high energy consumption productions. By
collecting carbon tariffs early, Chinese companies may be able to
BEIJING 00002850 002 OF 002
sooner find production model transformation and a decrease of
energy consumption per unit, which would ultimately make the trade
barriers of Western countries irrelevant. Furthermore, as the WTO
rules do not allow double collection of tariffs, the collection of
carbon tariffs by China would keep the tariff money within the
country and help China gain more advantages in negotiations on
emission reductions during the coming visit of Obama to China. The
collection of carbon tariffs by China can also make those foreign
companies who invest in China's high energy consumption industries
to foot the bill for environmental impact and perhaps prevent
irresponsible investors from entering those industries."
HUNTSMAN