P 220135Z JAN 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 
INFO PAGE 02        STATE   006320  220140Z 
AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY

UNCLAS STATE 006320 
 
 
BEIJING FOR ECON/POL AND USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOVAF ECON PAK
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST ON U.S.-CHINA JOINT ASSISTANCE TO 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: A. 09BEIJING3331 
     ¶B. 09BEIJING3332 
     ¶C. 09BEIJING3295 
 
This cable is an action request.  See paragraph 2. 
 
¶1.  Following November 11 discussions between a visiting U.S. 
delegation and the Chinese MFA (Refs A and B), the U.S.-PRC 
Joint Statement released during President Obama's visit to 
Beijing noted the strategic importance to both countries of 
stability and development in Afghanistan. Since then China 
has indicated - through the state media, public statements, 
and meetings with U.S. officials - increased interest in 
providing civilian assistance to Afghanistan. 
 
¶2.  To follow-up on decisions made during Deputy Special 
Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman's 
November 11 meetings with the Chinese MFA, Department 
requests Post present two documents to the Chinese MFA and 
request China's cooperation in moving forward with concrete 
projects for cooperation in Afghanistan. (Note: While the 
November meetings covered both Afghanistan and Pakistan, at 
the request of the Chinese these initial proposals focus only 
on Afghanistan.)  The first document is a proposed joint 
Action Plan designed to coordinate the U.S. and China's 
respective efforts in Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and is meant 
to augment the PRC's historical bilateral channels of 
assistance rather than to supercede them. It reflects areas 
for cooperation agreed upon at the November 11 meetings and 
constitutes a "menu of options" on which we hope to continue 
dialogue with China so that we ultimately can pursue some of 
the projects together. The second document is a detailed 
proposal for a joint project on education in the region of 
the Aynak Copper Mine. The director of MCC, the Chinese 
company developing the Aynak project, told D/SRAP Feldman 
that the MCC was committed to use part of its investment to 
improve the lives of the local population (Ref C). Therefore, 
Department developed a specific project in conjunction with 
USAID that reflects China's stated interests and is readily 
implementable.  Department requests Post urge China to agree 
to begin implementation of this joint project as quickly as 
possible or to propose an alternative joint project. 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF DRAFT ACTION PLAN 
Proposed Action Plan on Areas for U.S.-China Cooperation on 
Assistance to Afghanistan 
 
Following working-level consultations in Beijing between the 
U.S. and China on November 11, 2009, and with the aim of 
helping to establish a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan 
within a stable South Asian region, both sides agree that the 
following constitute possible areas for cooperation: 
 
¶1. Education 
------------- 
- Working together to improve and expand vocational training 
within Afghanistan. 
- Increasing the number of scholarships for Afghan students 
to universities within both countries and abroad, including 
in China and the U.S. 
- Establishing schools in the villages near large 
infrastructure projects, including the Aynak Copper Mine, and 
providing both literacy and vocational training to the 
locally-employed workers. 
 
¶2. Health 
----------- 
- Cooperating to build and equip hospitals. 
- Providing training and necessary equipment to health care 
workers. 
- Establishing clinics and hospitals in the villages near 
large infrastructure projects. 
 
¶3. Counter-Narcotics Information Sharing 
----------------------------------------- 
- Increasing information sharing and direct contact between 
U.S. and PRC counter-narcotics authorities at the provincial 
and local levels. 
- Working together to establish U.S.-PRC joint training of 
Afghan (and Pakistani) officials. 
 
¶4. Agriculture 
--------------- 
- Building on existing U.S. programs to expand Afghanistan's 
agricultural capacity and China's successful experience with 
developing agriculture on its territory, cooperate on 
projects to improve agricultural capacity in Afghanistan. 
- Working together to support crop substitution programs and 
agricultural practices that are environmentally sustainable. 
Establishing agricultural technology demonstration centers in 
Afghanistan. 
 
¶5. Infrastructure Projects 
--------------------------- 
- Cooperating to ensure that infrastructure projects 
contribute to local economic development, good governance, 
security and regional stability, and to developing human 
resources through the training and employment of local 
workers. 
- For China: considering a contribution to the ANP Trust Fund 
as well as in-kind contributions to offset the costs of 
Afghan National Police protecting the Aynak Copper Mine site. 
- For China: considering developing a railroad from the Aynak 
copper mine in Afghanistan to the Gwadar port in Pakistan, a 
road from Bamyan to Herat, and developing the Kajaki Dam in 
Northern Helmand Province. 
 
¶6. Counterterrorism Cooperation 
-------------------------------- 
- Expanding information sharing related to terrorist and 
extremist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and neighboring 
countries. 
 
¶7. Energy Cooperation 
---------------------- 
- Discussing energy projects through at a meeting of U.S. and 
PRC energy experts. 
 
¶8. Continued Dialogue 
---------------------- 
- Continuing to consult and share information on policies and 
activities in Afghanistan, its neighbors, and the broader 
region. 
 
END TEXT OF DRAFT ACTION PLAN 
BEGIN TEXT OF CONCEPT PAPER ON U.S.-CHINA COLLABORATION IN 
AFGHANISTAN'S EDUCATION SECTOR 
 
Concept Paper: Potential Areas of USG and Government of China 
Collaboration in the Education Sector 
 
The establishment of a large copper mine in the Aynak region 
of Afghanistan will bring economic growth and employment 
opportunities. Large infrastructure projects such as this 
mine also bring an increasing demand for social services, 
such as education, as an influx of workers and others 
relocate to take advantage of these opportunities. The USG 
and the Government of China could collaborate to ensure the 
adequate provision of quality education services for 
residents surrounding the Aynak region. 
 
Following are potential areas of cooperation in the education 
sector between the USG and the Government of China. These 
recommendations are based on working-level consultations in 
Beijing between the U.S. and China on November 11, 2009, and 
with the aim of helping to establish a peaceful and 
prosperous Afghanistan and Pakistan within a stable South 
Asia region. 
 
-- Establishing formal schools in the villages near large 
infrastructure projects, including the Aynak Copper Mine: 
Constructing schools alone does not ensure quality of 
education. Where the Government of China constructs formal 
primary and/or secondary schools in partnership with the 
Afghan Ministry of Education (MOE), the USG could support 
teacher training activities. USAID could, in conjunction with 
the MOE, expand its teacher training programs to include the 
Aynak region. These programs provide subject-specific 
pedagogy as well as training for school leaders, delivered by 
district-based teacher training teams who provide follow-up 
to help the teachers implement new teaching methods. 
 
-- Establishing community-schools in areas where government 
schools are not yet established: The Partnership for 
Community Education in Afghanistan (PACE-A) project assists 
the Government of Afghanistan to strengthen and increase 
high-quality community-based education in areas where there 
are no government schools.  The project has two components: 
expanding access to community-based schools, strengthening 
community structures and improving the quality of 
community-based education; and building the long-term 
capacity of civil society organizations and developing modes 
of cooperation between community-based and MOE schools. If 
China could build and equip facilities in the Aynak region 
where government schools are not yet established, USAID could 
expand this program to cover community-based education in 
those schools. 
 
-- Expanding non-formal education opportunities: Frequently, 
large infrastructure projects can help local small businesses 
flourish as local populations develop small businesses such 
as tailoring, restaurants, and shops that respond to needs of 
a growing work force. However, Afghanistan has some of the 
lowest literacy rates in the world, making it difficult for 
many to seize these opportunities. USAID's Learning for 
Community Empowerment Program (LCEP-2) project provides 
adults with literacy and numeracy training integrated with 
productive skills training.  Additionally, LCEP-2 emphasizes 
providing career pathways for women through their engagement 
in literacy, self help savings and investment groups, and by 
teaching basic entrepreneurship and business skills that will 
assist them to start small enterprises. If China could build 
and equip facilities and develop vocational training programs 
in disciplines that would benefit the copper mine, the USG 
could expand the LCEP-2 program to provide literacy training 
to the same students and both literacy and entrepreneurship 
training to members of their families. This combination of 
training could help small businesses flourish in the area of 
Aynak. 
 
END TEXT OF CONCEPT PAPER 
 
 
CLINTON