VZCZCXRO1368
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #0381 0441028
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131028Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2282
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/NSF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 9196
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1749
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4731
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4498
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 4085
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3482
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9653
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2373
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1051
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0260
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDC/NOAA NMFS WASHDC

UNCLAS BEIJING 000381 
 
STATE FOR OES/SAT, EAP/CM, ISN/MDSP AND T 
NASA/OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS FOR A/A O'BRIEN 
TOKYO FOR NASA ATTACHE TILMAN 
STATE PASS TO NSC 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA TSPL TPHY PREL KSCA CH
SUBJECT: Talking Points Delivered: CNSA Response to Satellite 
Collision Talking Points 
 
REF:  STATE 12948 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On February 13, ESTHOFF conveyed points in REFTEL 
regarding the collision of a U.S. and Russian satellite and 
discussed the issue directly by phone with Mr. XU Yansong of the 
China National Space Agency's (CNSA) International Cooperation 
Department. Post also transmitted points in writing to the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Americas Division. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In response to delivered points, CNSA's Xu said that China 
would work through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination 
Committee (IADC) to better understand the risk to China's space 
assets and future manned space missions. [NOTE: The IADC is an 
international governmental forum for coordinating issues associated 
with man-made debris in space. The Committee consists of eleven 
national space agencies, including those of the U.S., Russia, and 
China. End Note] Xu also said that China currently chairs the IADC 
Working Group on Protection, noting that the Chinese Academy of 
Sciences is conducting research on high-strength Aluminum alloys 
designed to shield satellites against small debris impacts. 
 
¶3.   (SBU) ESTHOFF asked if China's own space surveillance network 
had detected the collision or if China was developing its own debris 
assessment. Xu stated he did not know if China had detected the 
event or if China's Purple Mountain Observatory--a leading facility 
in China's space surveillance network--was focusing its resources on 
tracking the debris. [NOTE: China's space surveillance network is 
operated by the military and CNSA, a primarily civilian 
organization, is probably not privy to this information. End note] 
 
¶4.   (U) Post will report any additional information received from 
CNSA and/or MFA. 
 
 
 
PICCUTA