VZCZCXRO7693
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHSH #0051/01 1060736
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 150736Z APR 08 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL SHENYANG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8392
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2028 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PREF ECON KN CH
SUBJECT: LIAONING AND SHENYANG PARTY CHIEFS ON GOVERNANCE, 
NORTH KOREAN  BORDER-CROSSERS, DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES 
 
REF: SHENYANG 44 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CLARK T. RANDT, JR.  REASONS: 1.4(b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: At a meeting with the Ambassador in 
Shenyang, Liaoning Province's new Party Secretary, Zhang 
Wenyue, explained that high-level attention from Beijing, a 
booming economy and growing revenue expansion are 
bankrolling Liaoning Province's efforts to address key 
social-stability issues.  Liaoning "understands American 
concerns" about the repatriation of North Koreans arrested 
in the province, but "firmly opposes" such "illegal" 
behavior and will handle these incidents according to 
domestic Chinese law, international law and humanitarian 
princCkles - a slightly softer formulation than we have 
heard here before.  On economic issues, provincial and 
local officials remain thirsty for further American trade 
and investment even as economic ties with the United States 
reach new heights on the back QCjor investments by the 
likes of Intel, General Electric and Goodyear.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a two-day visit to Shenyang, the Ambassador 
met April 14 with Liaoning Party Secretary Zhang Wenyue, 
the province's Governor until late last year, and with Zeng 
Wei, Shenyang's newly-appointed Party Secretary. 
 
"REVITALIZATION" AND ITS CHALLENGES 
----------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) Into its fifth year, Beijing's "Revitalize the 
Northeast" initiative is bearing fruit in Liaoning 
Province, which has registered double-digit "GDP" growth of 
over 12 percent per annum since 2004; a rapid 14.5-percent 
increase in 2007 pushed the province's per capita "GDP" 
above USD 3200, Zhang Wenyue told the Ambassador. 
Concomitant, sustained record increases in provincial 
revenue, which expanded by twenty percent last year, have 
allowed provincial authorities to focus on--and adequately 
fund policy measures for--what Zhang identified as the 
province's most pressing challenges: providing housing to 
those in need; mitigating unemployment, especially for 
laid-off government workers; and raising living standards 
by tending to "minsheng" (people's livelihood) issues. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A massive slum-renovation initiative--launched 
several years ago and typically credited to former Liaoning 
Party Secretary, and now-Vice Premier, Li Keqiang--has 
built new low-cost housing for over 1.3 million people, or 
420,000 households in this province of roughly 40 million. 
Re-employment initiatives, free job-training programs and 
private-sector expansion in recent years have landed jobs 
for large numbers of workers laid off in the 1990s by many 
of the province's state-owned enterprises, Zhang claimed. 
Lay-offs once numbered as high as 2.5 million, but Liaoning 
has found new jobs for 1.78 million such laid-off workers; 
by the end of 2007, official unemployment dropped to 4.23 
percent, or under 700,000.  As for "minsheng" issues, 
boosting spending on education, anti-poverty measures, 
health care, social security and environmental protection 
remains the key priority.  High-speed growth 
notwithstanding, Zhang acknowledged that Liaoning still has 
v.>Q,s to 
" and would need a "long time" to resolve these 
issues.  Speaking to similar challenges at the municipal 
level, Zeng Wei also put a premium on resolving "minsheng" 
issues like health, housing, and employment. 
 
LIAONING "FIRMLY OPPOSES" NORTH KOREAN BORDER-CROSSERS 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶5. (C) Responding to queries from the Ambassador regarding 
North Korea, with which Liaoning Province shares a long 
border, Zhang emphasized that border stability remains a 
paramount concern.  In response to the Ambassador's caution 
that the United States remains concerned about ongoing 
reports of North Korean border-crossers in Liaoning 
Province being repatriated to the DPRK, Zhang used a 
slightly softer formulation than we have heard here before, 
saying he "understands American concerns" but "firmly 
opposes" such "illegal" behavior and will handle these 
incidents according to domestic Chinese law, international 
law and humanitarian principles. 
 
JUDGING (DIS)SATISFACTION: OPINION AND FEEDBACK 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶6. (C) Asked how he discerns popular opinion and Liaoning 
residents' satisfaction with his policies, Zhang explained 
that he makes use of a number of channels.  These include 
monthly, or weekly, visits by government officials to 
"ordinary citizens"; correspondence from his charges (Zhang 
claimed to have personally opened over 4000 letters from 
citizens since 2004, making notes and referring them to 
subordinates for action); commentary in web-based and 
traditional print media; a provincial government website, 
 
SHENYANG 00000051  002 OF 002 
 
 
where netizens can leave comments; and--during his previous 
posting--the online "Governor's Inbox" (which he claimed to 
personally access on a regular basis). 
 
CALLS FOR MORE U.S. TRADE AND INVESTMENT 
---------------------------------------- 
¶7. (U) On economic issues, Zhang Wenyue and Zeng Wei both 
offered sunny appraisals of trade and investment ties with 
the United States.  Bilateral trade between Liaoning 
Province topped USD 2.1 billion in 2007, making the United 
States one of the province's top trading partners.  The 
United States is also a major investor in the province, 
which is currently home to roughly 4500 American-funded 
enterprises, with contracted foreign direct investment in 
excess of USD 14.4 billion (USD 4.4 billion used). 
 
BIO NOTES 
--------- 
¶8. (C) ZHANG WENYUE. Zhang, 63 and close to retirement (see 
reftel for profile), recalled growing up in an impoverished 
household, one reason he said he hopes to continue to focus 
on "minsheng" issues, a key priority of the Hu Jintao/Wen 
Jiabao administration.  Zhang's wife and two children still 
live in Beijing, where between 1990 and 1995 he served as a 
Vice Minister of Geology and Mineral Resources.  His son is 
an architect for a firm under the Ministry of Construction 
and was involved in the design of the "Bird's Nest," 
Beijing's new main Olympic stadium.  His daughter is an 
internist apparently quite attentive to her father's blood 
pressure and wardrobe.  Zhang recalled that he traveled to 
the United States in 2004 and enjoyed watching the 
presidential debates on television and a long conversation 
there with Dr. Henry Kissinger.  A geologist by training, 
Zhang rattled off detailed statistics about U.S. mineral 
reserves with ease. 
 
¶9. (C) ZENG WEI. Zeng, 51, is a Communist Youth Leaguer who 
worked his way up the Liaoning Party apparatus starting in 
Dalian in the late 1970s.  After transferring to Shenyang 
to assume provincial-level postings on the government side, 
Zeng became Party Secretary of Panjin, near Shenyang, in 
¶2002.  He returned to Shenyang two years later to become 
Secretary General for the Liaoning Party Committee, the 
 
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launching pad for his appointment in early 2008 as Party 
Secretary of Shenyang.  Zeng is polished, at ease and 
 
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seemed eager to show off a close relationship with Li 
Keqiang, whom he referred to by Li's first name. 
WICKMAN