VZCZCXRO3503
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1226/01 2821230
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091230Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9075
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 021226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2031 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI CH JN
SUBJECT: CHINESE SCHOLARS, MEDIA APPLAUD PM ABE'S  VISIT 
 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Minister Counselor Daniel 
Shields.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Japanese Prime Minister Abe's October 8 visit 
to Beijing drew praise from our contacts in Chinese 
media and academia.  China's print and broadcast 
outlets provided upbeat blanket coverage of the visit, 
complete with page one headlines and color photos. 
While in general our contacts were favorable in their 
assessments of PM Abe's appearance in Beijing, they 
cautioned that a lack of movement on key bilateral 
issues such as Yasukuni Shrine could hinder positive 
developments in the future.  The Chinese public's low 
opinion of Japan will likely remain unchanged in the 
near term.  However, Post is unaware of any attempts 
to organize anti-Japan protests during PM Abe's visit 
(which occurred at the end of the Chinese National Day 
holiday week.)  The tone in online forums was 
considerably more moderate than the usual bashing that 
occurs when Japan is in Chinese headlines.  End 
Summary. 
 
Major Media Coverage 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Prime Minster Abe's visit dominated the news 
cycle October 8 and 9.  The China Central Television 
national evening news on October 8 presented a 
lengthy, straightforward report at the top of its 7:00 
p.m. broadcast.  The next day almost every major daily 
newspaper ran comprehensive coverage under banner page 
one headlines accompanied by color pictures.  The 
progressive commercial tabloid The Beijing News 
printed a photograph on its front page of PM Abe and 
President Hu Jintao meeting at the Great Hall of the 
People.  The Global Times, a popular paper under the 
editorial umbrella of the People's Daily that focuses 
on international affairs, ran a special segment that 
took up its entire second page.  In addition, PM Abe's 
visit was the top story on China's primary Internet 
news portals on the morning of October 9, although it 
became a secondary link after the official Xinhua News 
Agency started carrying reports of a nuclear test by 
North Korea. 
 
Strict Propaganda Guidelines 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) The Propaganda Department issued strict 
guidelines at the end of last week ordering all media 
outlets to publish only state-run Xinhua News Service 
wire copy, several contacts told us.  The Xinhua 
reports, which ran on popular news portals, emphasized 
that President Hu Jintao along with National People's 
Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo and Prime Minister Wen 
Jiabao all met with PM Abe.  The Beijing News ran a 
special sidebar with excerpts of the seven-point joint 
press communique, which contained calls for enhancing 
exchanges and strengthening political, economic, 
social and security ties.  The communique also 
expressed bilateral concern about developments on the 
Korean Peninsula, including the possibility of a 
nuclear test. 
 
"A Harmonious World" 
-------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Scholar Gu 
Guoliang said he and other scholars had been told by 
government officials on October 2 that there would be 
an announcement on October 4 that PM Abe would visit 
China on October 8.  The government had urged the 
scholars to help persuade the Chinese public that it 
is in China's interest to have better relations with 
Japan.  China is a major power and it needs good 
relations with the other major powers, starting with 
the United States and including Japan.  This is part 
of President Hu's "harmonious world" concept, Gu 
stated. 
 
¶5.  (C) Gu said he understands PM Abe will continue to 
decline to clarify publicly whether he will visit the 
Yasukuni Shrine, but Gu believes there must have been 
some sort of private commitment by PM Abe not to make 
a shrine visit, at least in the near future, because 
if PM Abe visits Yasukuni soon this would be a very 
negative development for President Hu.  Gu expressed 
the view that Japanese domestic political 
considerations make any visit to Yasukuni by PM Abe in 
 
BEIJING 00021226  002 OF 002 
 
 
the near future unlikely.  Once PM Abe won his LDP 
party leadership position, he could afford to worry 
less about those nationalistic voters within the LDP 
who favor the shrine visits and to worry more, with an 
eye to next summer's Upper House elections, about 
wooing away from other parties those centrist voters 
who oppose shrine visits, Gu stated. 
 
¶6.  (C) PM Abe's visit is a "pleasant surprise" for 
China and constitutes "a new open door for better 
relations," said Wang Feng, an international news 
editor at the influential bi-weekly Caijing Magazine. 
The trip was seen as a success for the Chinese 
government, Wang assessed, adding that the Chinese 
side lost no face but made "many concessions."  In 
Wang's view, Chinese officials were too acquiescent in 
particular on not pushing for a clear commitment from 
the Japanese leader to discontinue visits to Yasukuni. 
Nonetheless, the optics were positive and observers in 
media and academia are upbeat about the possibility of 
a thaw in the relationship, especially because PM Abe 
chose to come to Beijing before Washington, Wang said. 
Abe's visit to Beijing is "clearly a feather in the 
cap of the Chinese leadership," commented journalist 
Chen Jieren.  The prominent treatment of the visit in 
the media indicates that the leadership wants the 
public to be aware of, and welcome, the visit. 
 
No Warming of Public Sentiment toward Japan 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Despite the positive atmosphere of the last 
few days, there is unlikely to be an appreciable 
warming in public sentiment toward Japan, said Victor 
Yuan (protect), president of the Horizon public 
opinion polling company in Beijing.  Yuan conducts 
regular surveys of how various segments of society 
view Japan.  Feelings about Japan are entrenched among 
most Chinese, Yuan observed.  He reasoned that only if 
the visit had produced "major positive results," such 
as a new tack on the history issue or a promise from 
PM Abe not to visit Yasukuni, would there be a real 
swing in poll numbers.  In measuring Chinese public 
opinion, Yuan has found that Japan is unique among 
nations in that average Chinese are firmly negative 
about Japan's people as well as its government.  By 
contrast, Yuan related that while most Chinese tend to 
be critical of the U.S. Government and its policies, 
the American people overall are held in high esteem. 
 
No Protests 
----------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Anti-Japan protest activity was not apparent 
in Beijing or elsewhere in connection with the visit. 
Chinese authorities visibly beefed up security at the 
Japanese Embassy and the Japanese Ambassador's 
Residence on October 8.  Several police vans were 
parked in front of and adjacent to the Japanese 
Embassy and plainclothes police stood on all nearby 
street corners throughout the day.  A similar setup 
was in place at the Japanese Ambassador's Residence. 
 
¶9.  (C) Chat rooms were chock full of thousands of 
postings throughout the weekend, although the tone was 
considerably more moderate than during other recent 
periods when China-Japan relations topped the 
headlines.  While many chatters cautioned that China 
should "never forget history," netizens on the Strong 
Nation online forum, often a hotbed of nationalist 
rhetoric, tended to view PM Abe's trip pragmatically. 
"We do not have to be friends, but we are neighbors 
and distant relatives, so we need to work together," 
one typical entry read.  Another Xinhuanet forum 
contributor gave the visit a more cynical cast, 
commenting that "China certainly is a big marketplace 
(for Japan), ha ha!" 
SEDNEY