VZCZCXRO7698
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHRN RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4084/01 3030807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290807Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0662
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHSS/OECD POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 004084 
 
TREASURY FOR TSMITH 
TREASURY FOR OASIA - DOHNER/HAARSAGER/CUSHMAN 
TREASURY FOR IMFP - SOBEL/MOGHTADER 
NSC FOR LOI 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EEB/OMA 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON KPAO PREL PGOV CH
SUBJECT:  China/G-20 Summit: Hu Jintao will Attend, MFA 
Provides Specific Requests 
 
Ref: 1) STATE 113253 2) STATE 113256 3) BEIJING 04062 
 
(U) THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE 
HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On October 27, Vice Foreign Minister He 
Yafei asked CDA Daniel Piccuta to join him at the Ministry 
to inform him that President Hu Jintao would attend the 
Financial Summit.  The Vice Minister asked for specific 
logistical arrangements, including a larger Chinese 
delegation, seating next to the President at dinner, high 
precedence in the summit, and bilateral consultations prior 
to drafting of the statement.  He also requested U.S. 
attention to security issues and a bilateral leaders' 
meeting, offering flexible timing in order to make it 
possible.  He Yafei noted that a Hong Kong delegate might 
attend, but he could not yet confirm this position. 
Substantively, China is looking towards focusing on how the 
financial system affects developing countries.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei provided a letter 
from President Hu Jintao to President Bush formally 
accepting the invitation to attend the Summit on Financial 
Markets and the World Economy in Washington, DC (see refs 1 
and 2).  He said Hu will lead a "huge" delegation.  VFM He 
said Hu had made a personal decision to attend both the 
summit and the dinner.  Reading from points, He 
characterized Hu's attendance as a clear demonstration of 
China's commitment to a global solution to the crisis, its 
intention to play a "positive and constructive" role, and 
the value it gave the bilateral relationship. 
 
Summit Details and Protocol 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) He hoped that the U.S. side would confirm meeting 
specifics as soon as possible.  In particular, he asked 
about timing, location, the layout of the meeting room, how 
long each leader would speak, whether or not there would be 
roundtable discussions, participating countries, and the 
number of participants allowed in the hall (see ref 3).  He 
had the following requests: 
-- China be allowed to bring a somewhat larger delegation 
into the hall (note: MFA staffers have told us that Hu 
intends to bring two vice premiers, the foreign and finance 
ministers, the central bank governor, and his Sherpa); 
-- Hu Jintao be allowed to sit next to President Bush at 
the dinner (note: the Chinese have drawn parallels to the 
protocol precedence accorded President Bush at the 
Olympics); 
-- when deciding speaking order, that if Hu Jintao does not 
speak first he be among the first; and 
-- that the United States and China engage in bilateral 
consultations before Washington drafts the summit statement. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Vice Foreign Minister promised full 
transparency regarding China's consultations with emerging 
and developing economies.  He said he expected the process 
to include both bilateral and multilateral elements. 
(Comment: In earlier meetings (see ref 3), He had indicated 
that China could hold multilateral meetings with developing 
countries, and then possibly voice their collective 
concerns in bilateral meetings with the United States.  End 
comment.) 
 
Security 
-------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) VFM He said security was China's number one 
concern.  He said that they will place Hu Jintao's security 
in U.S. hands, and had full trust and confidence that that 
United States would provide "foolproof" security.  China's 
advance team, he noted, was already in Washington focusing 
on security arrangements. 
 
Bilateral 
--------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) It would be "timely and beneficial" for the two 
presidents to conduct a bilateral meeting, according to He. 
China had heard and understood the message that, because of 
 
BEIJING 00004084  002 OF 002 
 
 
the numbers involved, the President could not have a 
bilateral with everyone, so he would be meeting one-on-one 
with no one.  He stressed that he was not urging a 
bilateral during the summit, but offered the "personal" 
suggestion that a meeting could occur after the summit had 
ended on the afternoon of the 15th, or even on the morning 
of the 16th if President Hu delayed his departure. 
 
Hong Kong 
--------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Vice Foreign Minister He said that Hong Kong was 
an important economic entity and a representative might 
join the delegation.  China will study the idea and respond 
at a later date. 
 
Substantive Focus 
----------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) He said that China is now holding internal 
discussions including the People's Bank of China and the 
Ministry of Finance to determine its approach to the summit. 
He speculated that China was interested in more than "just 
reform" of international institutions and regulations.  The 
VFM said China is interested in the way that the global 
financial system affects developing counties, in particular 
Africa and Asia.  He also noted that China wanted to focus 
on the responsibility to keep the financial crisis from 
spreading to the real economy, as well as a responsibility 
to prevent a global recession. 
 
Piccuta