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O 301110Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7434
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 002909 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV CH
SUBJECT: U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW 
COMMISSION DELEGATION MEETS MFA DDG XIE FENG 
 
 
 Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Chair Carolyn Bartholomew and a United 
States-China Economic and Security Review Commission 
delegation used a meeting with MFA North America 
Deputy Director General Xie Feng to urge China to do 
more to produce concrete results on key economic 
issues, to allow American FDA inspectors to travel to 
China to look into the wheat gluten case, to recognize 
the growing sense of Taiwan identity, to get North 
Korea to keep its commitments on the nuclear issue, to 
persuade Sudan to address international concerns on 
Darfur and to cooperate on the environment.  Xie 
outlined standard Chinese positions on bilateral 
issues and stressed that China looks forward to 
engaging Members of Congress, including Speaker of the 
House Pelosi, to promote the bilateral relationship. 
End Summary. 
 
Xie's Overview of Bilateral Relations 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) A United States-China Economic and Security 
Review Commission (USCC) delegation comprising Chair 
Carolyn Bartholomew, Vice Chair Daniel Blumenthal, 
Commissioner C. Richard D?Amato, Commissioner Jeffrey 
Fiedler and Commissioner Larry Wortzel, joined by the 
Political Minister Counselor, met on April 23 with 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Department of North 
American and Oceanian Affairs Deputy Director General 
Xie Feng.  Xie opened with an overview of bilateral 
relations, saying the two sides have established an 
excellent framework for the future.  President Bush 
and President Hu are in regular contact, as are other 
senior leaders in the two governments.  Trade volume 
has increased 100 times since 1979, from approximately 
USD 2.4 billion to USD 262 billion, although more 
trade can sometimes mean more friction.  Cooperation 
on international issues including the DPRK, Iran and 
Sudan, has made the global dimension of the 
relationship more evident.  The two sides still have 
serious disagreements, especially involving Taiwan and 
human rights.  He urged the United States to stop 
selling arms to Taiwan and oppose more clearly 
separatist actions there.  Xie recited familiar 
Chinese positions on human rights, saying the current 
situation is the best in Chinese history.  Chair 
Bartholemew responded that the United States remains 
concerned about problems in China involving trade, 
proliferation and human rights issues including 
religious freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of 
association and Tibet. 
 
Strategic Economic Dialogue 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Chair Bartholomew told Xie that for the 
second round of the Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) 
in May, Americans need to see that China is delivering 
results on its promises.  Without progress on key 
issues Congress may be forced to act.  Xie said the 
SED is supposed to focus on long-term, strategic 
issues, but China understands that the United States 
also needs to see concrete results.  China is doing 
its utmost to deal with these concerns.  There were 
concrete results in the first round of the SED, 
although not as many as the American side may have 
expected.  It is necessary to keep expectations 
reasonable, Xie said. 
 
China's Consultations with Congress 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Xie stated that China looks forward to 
engaging Members of Congress, including Speaker of the 
House Pelosi, to promote the bilateral relationship. 
Chair Bartholomew welcomed this.  She also encouraged 
China, in the course of its SED-connected 
consultations with Congress, to seek out the opinions 
of a wide variety of Members, not just the people 
China sees as its friends. 
 
Wheat Gluten Case and FDA Visas 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Chair Bartholomew expressed concern about 
wheat gluten shipped from China that contaminated dog 
 
BEIJING 00002909  002 OF 004 
 
 
and cat food in the United States resulting in the 
deaths of American dogs and cats.  There are reports 
that the wheat gluten may also have ended up in feed 
for hogs and therefore potentially in pork products 
that people in the United States are eating. 
Inspectors from the United States Food and Drug 
Administration are reportedly being denied visas to 
travel to China and inspect the factories from which 
tainted wheat gluten was allegedly shipped.  China 
should issue the visas immediately, she stressed.  Xie 
said he would look into the matter. 
 
Taiwan 
------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Vice Chair Blumenthal raised the issue of 
the political situation on Taiwan.  Beijing is 
incorrect to suggest that the problem is the 
activities of Chen Shui-bian and some small group of 
"separatists."  In realty, there has been a shift in 
Taiwan and the people there have developed a sense of 
Taiwan identity.  Any leadership in Taiwan, regardless 
of party, will have to be accountable to the people 
and to their sense of Taiwan identity, he said.  Xie 
said that Beijing's view is that roughly a third of 
the people in Taiwan want independence, another third 
want the status quo and another third want 
reunification.  He said that the people in Taiwan, 
including the third that may want independence, often 
fall victim to a small group of pro-independence 
radicals.  China has noted that some previously ardent 
pro-independence figures, including former DPP leader 
Lee Teng-hui, have softened their positions. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Xie said that Chen Shui-bian has shown that 
he is a politician with no credibility who will do 
anything to advance his personal causes, including 
taking advantage of interest groups in the United 
States and any lack of communication between 
Washington and Beijing.  Chen wants to create the 
impression tat he has the implicit backing of the 
United Sates which will always come to his rescue, no 
matter what he does.  United States Government 
officials have made it clear, however, that this in 
not the actual American policy, Xie stated. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Vice Chair Blumenthal said an increasing 
number of people in Taiwan do not believe that 
Beijing's one-country, two-systems policy is a viable 
option.  Xie said that China wants to understand 
Taiwan better, but that its correspondents have 
encountered difficulties getting permission from 
Taiwan authorities to report from Taiwan.  Xie asked 
that the United States encourage Taiwan to be more 
open. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Vice Chair Blumenthal reminded Xie that the 
United States has commitments under the Taiwan 
Relations Act of 1979.  Xie said that China has been 
voicing its opposition to the Taiwan Relations Act 
since it was first passed and will continue to do so. 
 
North Korea 
----------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Vice Chair Blumenthal asked if China 
considers the DPRK to be in breech of the February 13 
agreement reached through the Six-Party Talks and if 
China will use its leverage to bring North Korea into 
compliance.  Xie stated that the Six-Party Talks 
process has never been smooth.  Although the closure 
of the DPRK nuclear facilities at Yongbyon has been 
delayed in connection with the Banco Delta Asia 
situation, China is working with all sides and hopes 
the issue will be resolved soon.  Xie said that China 
is a participant in the process, not a judge, so 
China's focus is on moving things forward in a 
practical way rather than making abstract 
determinations about who is keeping their commitments. 
China wants all parties to take the actions needed to 
move the process forward. 
 
Anti-Satellite Test 
------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Commissioner Fiedler followed up by asking 
about China's test of an anti-satellite missile in 
January, asking why it took the PRC 10 days to respond 
 
BEIJING 00002909  003 OF 004 
 
 
to the United States' inquiries regarding the test. 
Xie claimed that it took China three days to reply, 
not 10.  He said the issue had to go through China's 
normal inter-agency clearance process.  When 
Commissioner Wortzel pointed out that such delays in 
bilateral communication could call into question the 
closeness of the United States relationship with 
China, Xie responded by saying that because the test 
was only scientific and did not represent a change in 
Chinese policy, the PRC did not think that the test 
would draw the negative attention that it did.  It was 
only after the international reaction that China began 
working on a statement.  In response to a question 
regarding President Hu Jintao?s prior knowledge of the 
test, Xie said that the decision to test the system 
was made by the Chinese Government.  Xie said he 
believes President Hu must have participated in the 
decision. 
 
Arms Control 
------------ 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Commissioner Fiedler inquired about China's 
system for arms control, asking if the MFA or the 
Ministry of National Defense (MND) takes the lead on 
the issue.  Xie said arms control issues are handled 
on an interagency basis, with the MFA taking the lead 
on contact with the international community, the MND 
handling implementation and the two Ministries 
consulting with one another.  It is not possible to 
say one is more important than the other, Xie stated. 
 
Sovereignty above the Earth? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Commissioner Wortzel inquired about China?s 
understanding with regards to territorial sovereignty, 
asking how far above the earth China believes its 
sovereignty extends.  Xie replied that he is not an 
expert on legal issues and does not know the answer, 
but he will work through Sun Ang of the Chinese 
Embassy in Washington to try to provide a response. 
He said he believe all countries should cooperate on 
allow overflights of national territory for civil 
purposes, although military and reconnaissance 
overflights are a different matter. 
 
Darfur 
------ 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Chair Bartholomew urged China to do more to 
influence Sudan on Darfur.  Xie replied that China is 
working on the issue with the Sudanese government. 
President Hu raised the issue with President Bashir 
when Bashir came to China for the Forum of China- 
Africa Cooperation and when Hu visited Sudan. 
Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun again worked on 
the Sudanese government when he visited Sudan, urging 
Khartoum to be flexible and to comply with the UN 
Security Council.  China has seen positive results, 
such as Sudan's as its acceptance of the second phase 
of the Annan Proposal. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Chair Bartholomew said there are credible 
reports that some Sudanese military equipment used in 
Darfur came from China.  Xie said that China is trying 
to do more, but the situation is complicated and 
cannot be resolved overnight.  The international 
community believes that the Sudanese government should 
comply with UN resolutions, but some opposition groups 
have refused to sign on to the peace agreement, making 
the government of Sudan less likely to cooperate.  The 
Sudanese government believes that all of the pressure 
is on them, leading them to distrust in the 
international process.  AFM Zhai Jun visited Darfur 
during his Sudan trip and reported that the situation 
he encountered there was different from what many 
international reports suggest.  Chair Bartholomew 
reminded Xie that the government of Sudan would have 
been selective in what it allowed Zhai to see. 
 
Environmental Issues 
-------------------- 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Commissioner D'Amato raised the issue of 
energy and environment cooperation, noting Premier Wen 
Jiabao's reported comments in Japan about the need for 
a post-Kyoto approach to curbing carbon emissions. 
 
BEIJING 00002909  004 OF 004 
 
 
Xie said China is increasingly aware of environmental 
issues.  The eleventh five-year plan calls for 
reducing the amount of energy needed to produce a unit 
of GDP by 20 percent by 2010 and to cut emission of 
major pollutants by 10 percent by 2010.  China has a 
great need for power and an interest in promoting 
energy conservation.  China is looking at increasing 
its use of natural gas, hydro, solar, wind and nuclear 
power to replace fossil fuels.  Xie pointed out that 
nuclear power accounts for 70 percent of power needs 
in France but only two percent in China.  He said that 
China looks forward to cooperating with the United 
States and Japan on the purchase of nuclear reactors 
and with the United States on clean coal projects. 
 
¶17. (U) The USCC delegation cleared this message. 
RANDT