VZCZCXRO7673
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #0224 0290814
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290814Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2007
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS BEIJING 000224 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C 
HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR CH
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: FINANCIAL CRISIS, CHINA'S POLICY 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
¶1. FINANCIAL CRISIS 
 
a. "U.S. plans to strengthen financial monitor" 
 
The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual 
publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official 
publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(01/27): 
"The Obama administration plans to make quick moves to strengthen 
U.S. financial supervision systems.  Major financial departments and 
tools should be under the government supervision.  Analysts indicate 
that the financial crisis has revealed that some reviewing 
institutions gave positive evaluations to high-risk financial tools 
or 'poisonous' financial products. Such behavior has worsened the 
financial crisis, severely frustrating investors' confidence in 
reviewing institutions. The Obama administration hopes to completely 
cut off relations between reviewing institutes and customers by 
establishing law. The system of senior staff's salaries in financial 
institutions is also one of the objectives of supervision 
measures." 
 
b. "Currency remarks 'may reflect' policy shift" 
 
The official English-language newspaper China Daily (01/29): 
"Remarks by U.S. treasury secretary-elect Timothy Geithner that 
China is 'manipulating' its currency suggest the Obama 
administration will take a firm stance on its economic policies 
toward Beijing, local analysts said on Friday. ... 
'The new US government seems to be harsher regarding China's 
exchange rate policy,' Sun Lijian, an economist with Fudan 
University, said. ...Such statements, along with the accusation 
about currency manipulation, are designed to pressure China to do 
more to help the crisis-battered US economy, he said. 'The U.S. is 
deep in recession,' Ma Ming, an economist with the Beijing Institute 
of Technology, said. 'It is in dire need of help from outside.' 
...China's central bank said it had noted Geithner's remarks, media 
reported on Friday. If China toes the U.S. line (to let the yuan 
rise further), its exports will take another battering and its 
economy will worsen, analysts said. That would in return be 
detrimental to the U.S. and the world economy, Sun said. China's 
economic growth fell to 6.8 percent in the final quarter of last 
year, the lowest since 2001. The figures could fall again in the 
first quarter of this year, he said." 
 
¶2. CHINA'S POLICY 
 
"China's achievements in 2008 should be respected" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/27): "China has recently announced its GDP 
growth for 2008.  The announcement has aroused completely different 
responses among domestic and foreign audiences.  Chinese experts are 
confident about China's ability to maintain 8% GDP growth and its 
great potential for further development.  Many foreigners, however, 
doubt that China can do so.  Nonetheless, neighboring countries and 
European countries have only had negative growth. Therefore, those 
who make negative comments about China's growth must simply be 
scared by the current financial crisis.  They are looking down upon 
China's endurance. Western media is making pessimistic evaluation of 
China's economic growth. However, western countries' economic 
performance has been far worse than China's. The Chinese economy is 
comparatively calm, indicating that it has achieved its preset 
mission in 2008, maintaining the economic growth at 8%. Though the 
growth rate slid to 6.8% for the fourth quarter, experts believe the 
slide is a normal phenomenon. It is related to government-control 
policy adjustment. Along with the relaxed government policy, 
economic growth rate will rebound. China's GDP has overall reached 3 
trillion yuan. Thus the current goal is just keeping a stable 
growth, no major ups and downs. China still has a great potential in 
development." 
 
PICCUTA