VZCZCXRO1765
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHUM #0654/01 3250246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210246Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1671
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5861
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1975
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3042
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2738
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0378
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPODC/USDOC WASHDC 1422
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000654 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/PD, EAP/P, CA 
TREASURY FOR T.T. YANG 
HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID ECON EINV MARR CVIS OEXC OIIP OPRC
SCUL, SENV, SOCI, KMCA, KMDR, KPAO, MG, IZ 
SUBJECT: MONGOLIAN MEDIA FOCUSES ON PRESIDENTIAL VISIT, SUMMIT 
MEETING, MCC SIGNING, AND VISAS, VISAS, VISAS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY: The October 22-29 U.S. visit by President 
Enkhbayar and the Presidential Summit meeting resulted in extensive 
local press coverage.  The $188 million rail component of the $285 
million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact gained 
considerable coverage, and the  broader bilateral relationship 
eventually attracted media attention as well, although the local 
media remained fixated on visas and, more specifically, Mongolia's 
dreams of being included in the visa-waiver program.  (NOTE: High 
refusal and overstay rates coupled with high levels of fraud have 
rendered Mongolia ineligible.)  Now that the long-awaited MCC 
Compact has been signed by the two Presidents, it appears that 
visa-waiver (sometimes referred to here as "visa alleviation") 
attainment is the next goal in the minds of Mongolian journalists, 
with some Mongolian politicians and officials feeding that interest; 
many stories about President Enkhbayar's visit were based on 
information supplied by the Press and Information Office of the 
President's Office.  Embassy press releases guaranteed accurate 
press coverage of the MCC Compact, the Joint Declaration of 
Principles, the Proliferation Security Initiative, and the MOU on 
preventing smuggling of nuclear materials.  A subsequent Embassy 
press release on the visa waiver issue set the record straight.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U)    President Enkhbayar's October 22 to 29 visit to the United 
States received blanket coverage, with some media outlets framing 
his warm reception at the White House as an indication of Mongolia's 
growing international prestige.  All major dailies and TV stations 
provided real time (despite the 13 hour time difference) as well as 
next day reporting on Enkhbayar's meeting with POTUS and their 
signing of the MCC Compact.  Many also provided coverage of 
Enkhbayar's other stops in the U.S. beyond Washington D.C., 
including New York, Chicago, Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Los Angeles. 
 
¶3. (U)    Representative of much of this coverage was an October 24 
article in the major daily Onooder newspaper.  Although the article 
addressed a variety  of issues discussed during the presidential 
summit, the headline was both misleading and lengthy: "Enkhbayar: 
'The job of implementing the project successfully is waiting for 
us.'  Bush: 'We are on track to solve the issue of Mongolian 
citizens to visit the US without visas'." 
 
¶4. (U)   The body of the Onooder article started off addressing the 
substance of the presidential talks, but quickly shifted to visa 
matters:  "Discussed were developments in Iraq and the six-party 
talks on North Korea, as well as relations and cooperation between 
our two nations.  President Enkhbayar brought up the Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA), which has been discussed for some years but has not 
shown any results.  President Enkhbayar asked for support from the 
U.S. President regarding this agreement.  President Bush said he 
shares the desire to develop trade between our two nations. 
President Enkhbayar asked President Bush to include Mongolia in the 
countries eligible for the Visa Waiver Program.  President Bush 
noted that this issue was raised during his 2005 visit and asked 
U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Mark Minton why it has not been 
implemented.  Ambassador Minton explained that for a number of 
reasons, including visa brokers, fake documents and overstays, 
Mongolia does not meet the criteria for inclusion in the program. 
President Bush explained that he will take the issue into 
consideration, and that he believes it will be solved positively for 
Mongolia.  President Enkhbayar then invited President Bush to visit 
Mongolia again." 
 
¶5. (U)    Other major dailies, including Ardyn Erkh, Zuuny Medee, 
and the Ulaanbaatar Times, ran identical stories, drawn from a 
release by the Press and Information Office of the President's 
Office.  Their headlines were similarly misleading: "George Bush: 
'We are on track to solve the issue of Mongolian citizens to visit 
the US without visas'" (Ardyn Erkh); "George Bush: 'Why shouldn't 
Mongolia have visa alleviation?'" (Zuuny Medee); "George Bush: 'We 
are on track to solve the issue of Mongolian citizens to visit the 
US without visas'" (Ulaanbaatar Times). 
 
¶6. (U)   Ardchilal, a newspaper affiliated with the opposition 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000654  002 OF 002 
 
 
Democratic Party, ran stories with more factual headlines, such as 
"Heads of State sign the MCC Compact agreement," and "The President 
could not solve the issue of visa alleviation." 
 
¶7. (U)   Ardyn Erkh ran another story -- "The Heads of State sign 
the MCC Compact" -- covering the signing ceremony, a brief 
introduction of the MCC  and the different sectors in which MCC 
projects will be implemented (as well as the amounts of money 
allocated for each sector).  The article also quotes President Bush 
as saying, "We are grateful to Mongolia and its people, who were 
there for us Americans in difficult times, and who participate in 
the international affairs we carry out (sic).  One of the actions 
for which we are grateful is the sending of Mongolian troops to Iraq 
after the events of September 11.  Mongolia is a close friend of 
mine and America's." 
 
¶8. (U)   Onooder also focused on Mongolia's prestige, with an 
article noting that President Enkhbayar would be interviewed by VOA 
and The Washington Times.  (These interviews were organized by the 
Mongolian Embassy in Washington.)  Onooder also ran a separate 
article under the headline: "President Bush has not forgotten the 
yak's milk," calling attention to President Bush's November 2005 
visit to Mongolia.  The article covered more ground than the 
headline might indicate, including remarks the two Presidents made 
before the signing of the MCC Compact, and drawing upon the US 
Embassy's press events to inform the Mongolian press about the MCC 
(including the screening of a video of the signing ceremony).  The 
newspaper also published President Enkhbayar's itinerary. 
 
¶9. (U)    The Embassy highlighted the MCC Compact signing and 
bilateral cooperation with an October 5 pre-visit press roundtable 
and an October 23 MCC Compact roll-out press event as well as a 
follow-up roundtable with the Ambassador on November 14.  Despite 
extensive efforts to focus attention on the MCC and bilateral 
agreements, including the roundtables and numerous press releases 
and web postings throughout the visit, the press continued to feed 
the visa-waiver frenzy. 
 
¶10. (SBU)    The November 14 roundtable reinforced a November 2 
press release we issued to draw attention to actual US initiatives 
and to halt the unfortunate obsession with visas.  Coverage of the 
roundtable was included in the evening broadcasts of TV5, TV8, TV9 
(rumored to be co-owned by President Enkhbayar), C1 TV, and MNTV 
(the only network with nationwide broadcasting).  Meanwhile, major 
newspapers continued to focus on the visa issue. "Need to combat 
U.S. visa brokers" (Onooder); "Mongolia doesn't meet the criteria 
for visa waiver program" (Zuuny Medee); "The President alone can't 
decide the visa issue" (Odriin Sonin); "U.S. Embassy press release 
on the visa waiver program published" (Niigmiin Toli).  An exception 
was Ardyn Erkh, whose headline declared:  "The (U.S.) Embassy will 
work on people-to-people and economic relations in the coming 20 
years." 
 
¶11. (SBU)  COMMENT: Journalists have long known that visa stories 
sell papers. Some journalists have suggested that Mongolia deserves 
special consideration for the visa-waiver program because it has 
dispatched troops to Iraq, and there is little understanding or 
perhaps more importantly acceptance that Mongolia too must meet U.S. 
legal requirements for the visa-waiver program.  Despite the media's 
naive and enduring focus on visas, it reflects a popular and 
generally positive fascination with the United States.  Despite the 
Mongolian press' misguided and often inaccurate focus on the visa 
situation, its coverage of President Enkhbayar's U.S. visit 
nevertheless increased awareness of U.S. engagement in Mongolia and 
contributions to its people.  END COMMENT. 
 
Minton