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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3239/01 1350301
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 150301Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7879
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 3970
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1701
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0670

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 003239 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2032 
TAGS: PREL KCRS CH
SUBJECT: S/CRS AMBASSADOR HERBST CONSULTATIONS IN BEIJING 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Daniel L. Shields.  Reasons 
 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) China has the capability to be a vital 
contributor and partner in global reconstruction and 
stabilization (R/S) efforts, Ambassador John Herbst 
told officials from the Ministries of Foreign and 
Civil Affairs and representatives from Chinese think 
tanks April 27-28.  In the meetings, Ambassador Herbst 
outlined the scope and focus of the Office of the 
Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization 
(S/CRS) and urged China to develop its R/S 
capabilities.  Emphasizing that the United States is 
keen to cooperate with China in this area, Ambassador 
Herbst explored the possibility of conducting a 
workshop on R/S issues in Beijing in the near future. 
He stressed the potential benefit of developing a 
four-way grouping involving the United States, China, 
Japan and the ROK that could productively cooperate in 
global R/S hotspots.  A roundtable of scholars at the 
PLA-affiliated Foundation for International Strategic 
Studies (FISS) responded favorably to the Ambassador's 
presentation, although some voiced concerns about the 
United States' motives.  Admiral Yang Yi of the 
National Defense University provided the most upbeat 
assessment of S/CRS' proposals, noting that 
collaborating with the United States on R/S issues is 
"clearly in China's interest."  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Deputy Director General for International 
Organizations Chen Xu expressed measured interest in 
S/CRS efforts and promised to report Ambassador 
Herbst's ideas to relevant officials.  The S/CRS 
delegation also had a positive meeting with the 
Ministry of Civil Affairs.  End Summary. 
 
S/CRS: An Overview and an Invitation 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) At the FISS roundtable that kicked off the 
visit and at subsequent meetings, Ambassador Herbst 
provided an overview of the S/CRS mission.  He 
described the establishment of S/CRS, outlined the 
nature of its R/S efforts and stressed the importance 
of international coordination in this area.  Drawing a 
distinction between the immediate role of humanitarian 
and disaster assistance and the longer and broader 
effort required to stabilize and reconstruct a failed 
state or other at-risk area, Ambassador Herbst 
highlighted the dangers the international community 
faces in failing to address these issues.  He observed 
that while the United States, Canada and some European 
countries are active in R/S efforts, China and the 
other large economies of Northeast Asia have not yet 
gotten involved in a coordinated way.  Ambassador 
Herbst urged China to organize its R/S capabilities, 
adding that the United States and China should 
continue to discuss practical ways to cooperate on 
handling crises in the future.  In addition, he 
explored the possibility of creating a four-way R/S 
framework involving the United States, China, Japan 
and the ROK.  He suggested that for the time being, 
the four governments should aim for informal, working- 
level coordination rather than pursue a larger, more 
ambitious agreement. 
 
The FISS Roundtable 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Chinese scholars participating in an April 27 
roundtable at FISS, a People's Liberation Army- 
affiliated think tank, reacted favorably to the 
Ambassador's presentation on the whole, although 
several expressed doubts about United States' motives 
and methods.  Among other issues, they expressed 
concern that: 
 
-- lack of a common vision and shared worldview that 
might hinder real partnership in dealing with 
international crises (Zhou Hong, Director of the 
Institute of European Studies at the China Academy of 
 
BEIJING 00003239  002 OF 004 
 
 
Social Sciences (CASS)); 
 
-- R/S teams might receive a negative "label" by being 
associated with the United States if they participate 
in American-led efforts (Zhou); and 
 
-- absent agreed rules of conduct, R/S efforts may 
amount to little more than the pursuit of United 
States' national interests, without taking into 
account the interests of the region in question or of 
the international community (Lu Dehong, FISS Deputy 
Director of Research). 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Herbst rejected these points, 
noting that the United States is not proposing to lead 
all R/S efforts or recruit other countries to join an 
American-led group.  Rather, the objective is to 
encourage China to establish an R/S team with which 
S/CRS could then discuss potential cooperation. 
Whatever our views are on dealing with failed states 
or other crises, the United Statesand China share a 
number of common interests,including wanting to see 
continued global economic growth and stability.  We 
should have a clear, easy way to discuss cooperation, 
so that when a crisis occurs, we can decide what our 
respective roles might usefully be. 
 
¶5.  (C) Despite voicing concerns, the scholars were 
generally upbeat about the S/CRS mission, with Zhou of 
CASS praising the United States for its recognition of 
the importance of civilian power in crisis resolution. 
Moreover, He Wenping, Senior Researcher at CASS' 
Institute of West Asian and African Studies, said the 
potential for bilateral cooperation on R/S issues is 
"huge," asserting that China has already done a great 
deal of productive work in this area in places such as 
Darfur and Afghanistan, even if China does not 
explicitly define the efforts as R/S deployments. 
China has a "strong capacity" and is "quite active" in 
the field of reconstruction, but is more wiling to act 
under the leadership of the UN, said Huang Xiaomin of 
the Ministry of National Defense (MND).  In this 
context, MND has worked closely with China's 
Ministries of Commerce and Foreign Affairs to provide 
humanitarian assistance, mostly to natural disaster 
areas. 
 
¶6.  (C) The roundtable produced several "takeaways," 
said FISS' Zhang Tuosheng, who moderated the event. 
The United States' attempt to balance civilian and 
military roles in R/S operations is extremely 
positive, as many Chinese believe the United States 
has historically relied too much on military 
solutions.  In addition, S/CRS's objective of seeking 
greater international cooperation, which is essential 
to solving crises, is encouraging.  Zhang said the 
S/CRS emphasis on breaking down bureaucratic 
stovepipes within the United States Government has a 
particular resonance in China, where the government 
suffers from a lack of interagency coordination.  In 
the future, Zhang concluded, he hopes China will have 
an entity similar to S/CRS, in part as a way to 
promote and expand China's "soft power." 
 
Rear Admiral Yang: R/S "in China's Interest" 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) At an April 27 working dinner, Rear Admiral 
Yang Yi, Director of Strategic Studies at China's 
National Defense University, lauded the S/CRS effort 
to engage with China on these issues, noting that 
expanding cooperation is "clearly in China's 
interest."  He urged Ambassador Herbst to provide to 
the Chinese Embassy in Washington a detailed plan for 
future cooperation.  Yang maintained that often 
proposals reach decisionmakers' desks more quickly if 
they come straight from the Embassy instead of going 
through standard bureaucratic channels in Beijing.  In 
this context, he pledged to share his positive 
assessment of the S/CRS mission with his contacts in 
the government.  The next step, Yang suggested, would 
be for S/CRS to conduct a workshop in Beijing with 
relevant Chinese government agencies.  In any case, 
 
BEIJING 00003239  003 OF 004 
 
 
bilateral cooperation on R/S issues must precede any 
regional mechanism involving the Japanese and the 
South Koreans.  Such high-profile combined efforts 
would likely arouse suspicions in the DPRK, Yang said. 
 
MFA: Cautious Interest in S/CRS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The response to Ambassador Herbst's 
presentation at the MFA was measured but positive.  As 
China becomes more involved in R/S efforts, it needs 
to learn from the "best practices" of "major players," 
said DDG Chen Xu on April 27.  The MFA's traditional 
structure of regional and functional bureaus does not 
include a counterpart for S/CRS.  As for individual 
R/S projects, Chen said that while China remains a 
"developing country," it will continue to do what it 
can given its limited resources.  But recognizing the 
importance of multilateral diplomacy in China's 
approach to foreign affairs, Chen assessed that the 
international community is increasingly looking to 
China to take on a "larger share" of global 
responsibilities.  China has traditionally been slow 
to set up new institutions, Chen acknowledged, 
relating that China's change of heart about its 
initial reluctance to participate in UN peacekeeping 
operations took years. 
 
¶9.  (C) Nonetheless, Chen said that as Chinese 
interests abroad increase, the general trend will be 
for more Chinese integration globally, including in 
the area of emergency response, where the United 
States has a better established process than China. 
China has been increasing its level of humanitarian 
relief for natural disasters, such as with its 
response to the Southeast Asia tsunami and to the 
Pakistan earthquake.  This differs, however, from 
S/CRS activities, which have tended to focus on "war- 
torn areas," Chen remarked. 
 
¶10.  (C) Ambassador Herbst said S/CRS focuses on "man- 
made" crises, including but not limited to armed 
conflicts, rather than on natural disasters.  Chen 
said that in any case, China may have a different 
understanding from other countries of some basic 
concepts associated with R/S, such as what constitutes 
a failed state in the first place.  China views 
stabilization as an outcome of reconstruction whereas 
the United States may view stabilization as a 
political process, Chen claimed. 
 
¶11.  (C) Ambassador Herbst stressed that countries can 
play complementary roles in R/S and that it makes 
sense to work together even if the sides do not agree 
on every concept.  Stabilization involves both 
procedural and tangible elements, such as training 
police forces or building roads.  He offered to invite 
Chen and a Chinese delegation to Washington to discuss 
best practices and other ideas S/CRS is developing and 
to demonstrate training procedures.  Chen expressed 
interest in the idea, without making a commitment.  He 
was also noncommittal about Chinese participation in a 
possible four-way meeting on R/S issues with the 
United States, the ROK and Japan.  He promised to 
"take stock and digest" the proposals and convey the 
ideas to other relevant MFA bureaus, including North 
American Affairs and Policy Planning. 
 
Ministry of Civil Affairs 
------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C) DDG Pang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs 
Department of Disaster Relief provided an overview of 
his agency's operations, noting that China has 
accumulated considerable experience over the years in 
handling natural disasters.  MCA's two main emergency 
response functions involve reconstruction of buildings 
and houses and provision of general assistance.  While 
the ministry's focus is on domestic crises, MCA 
personnel traveled to Pakistan as part of China's 
assistance team in the wake of the earthquake there. 
Moreover, Chinese NGOs and Government-associated NGOs 
(such as the China Charity Foundation) work in tandem 
 
BEIJING 00003239  004 OF 004 
 
 
with the Ministry of Commerce and the MFA to provide 
aid to stricken areas around the globe. 
 
¶13.  (C) Within China, local governments take the lead 
in disaster response, while the MCA tends to play a 
coordinating role, providing assistance as necessary, 
Pang continued.  In addition, the MCA has developed 17 
professional teams that deploy to crisis sites to 
analyze the situation and collect data.  Pang 
responded positively to Ambassador Herbst's suggestion 
that MCA officials participate in a possible future 
workshop in Beijing on R/S issues.  However, Chai Mei, 
DDG of the MCA Foreign Affairs Office, interjected 
that MCA's main function is handling domestic crises. 
As such, expanding cooperation with the United States 
in that area would be more appropriate than exploring 
potential cross-border efforts, she said. 
 
¶14.  (U) S/CRS cleared this message. 
RANDT