VZCZCXRO5232
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #0727/01 0790919
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200919Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2991
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000727 
 
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: U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS, COCA-COLA'S 
ACQUISITION, AIG 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
¶1. U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS 
 
a. "Gates suddenly weakens the threat of China and Russia" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(03/20): "The U.S. Defense Secretary Gates has 
suddenly suggested that there is no reason to send more war ships as 
escorts in the South China Sea. The Pentagon has mentioned that 
while China's challenge reached its climax a few days ago, the 
Pentagon has reversed its opinions on the conflict. Chinese experts 
indicate that in order to pacify the conflict in the South China 
Sea, the Pentagon must blame itself for initiating the conflict. 
The Pentagon controls far more overseas troupes than U.S. diplomats. 
The belligerent nature of the U.S. Army is likely to irritate 
existing diplomatic issues.  After World War II, the Pentagon, and 
the military industrial groups behind it, has had increasing 
influence on U.S. foreign policy. Due to the large size of the 
Department of Defense, the U.S. has always been looking for enemies 
and has implemented hard-line policies. Gates' comments show that 
currently, confrontations with China and Russia don't fit into the 
interests of the U.S. Currently, the core issue of the Obama 
administration is the financial crisis." 
 
b. "The West should change its post-modern racialism" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(03/20): "Among Westerners, who pay attention 
to the Tibet issue, some support Tibet because they are ignorant of 
the truth and others support Tibet even though they are well 
educated, professional, middle class citizens. These people pay 
attention because they have a different value system and an altered 
point of view. These people believe that in one country there should 
be one nationality because multiple nationalities only suppress each 
other. This is why they are sympathetic to the Tibetans. They 
believe in Western democracy. 
 
The Communist Party's governance is not democratic. These people 
[middle class professionals] think that the issue in Tibet is an 
issue concerning Tibetan democracy. The West's concept of human 
rights emphasizes political rights and the freedom of the human 
being. They think that the Tibetans, under the Communist Party's 
control, don't have political rights and freedom. Furthermore, these 
people [middle class professionals], who live in Western 
modernization, are physically living in downtown but psychologically 
are separate from one another other. Tibet is an ideal home for 
these people. 
 
These people's logic is: what they have possessed is the best and 
what they want to possess is also the best. They want to pursue the 
so-called ideal home for themselves, but have denied the rights of 
the Tibetan people to pursue modernization. This is a typical 
'post-modern racialism.' For China, more communication will work 
with the first group of people [those who are ignorant], however, 
for the other group [those who are middle class professionals], 
China can only expect that they give up their prejudice themselves. 
Sometimes prejudice is more terrible than ignorance." 
 
¶2. COCA-COLA'S ACQUISITION 
 
"Anti-monopoly decisions should focus on technical levels" 
 
21 Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao) under Guangdong 
21 century publishing company Ltd. (03/20): "Although the public 
notice concerning this decision has five paragraphs, no specifics 
were revealed. It reads more like a memo. No wonder people doubt 
that this a government decision rather than a legal verdict. We 
should obviously pay more attention to the technical level. We 
should allow people to debate based on market information and 
statistics rather than wondering whether this is trade 
protectionism. China should gradually accumulate more accurate 
statistics for their future use in anti-monopoly judgments. 
 
China says no to Coca-Cola. It doesn't mean the Anti-monopoly law 
started to take an effect. On the contrary, this is the first time. 
China should be cautious in using the law in order to establish a 
technical and legal example for the future. However, what people 
have seen is just a vague conclusion report. On the contrary, it has 
made overseas investors think that this is a political decision. The 
decision is shocking, not in the way that the law is being 
implemented, but in the direction of the government's policy." 
 
¶3. AIG 
 
"AIG Bonuses show the ethical risks of intervention" 
 
BEIJING 00000727  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
21 Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao) under Guangdong 
21 century publishing company Ltd. (03/20): "The U.S. House of 
Representatives are hoping to pass a tax bill that encourages AIG 
employees to give back their bonuses. However, if they do not give 
the money back and sue the government, the government is likely to 
lose in the Supreme Court. We will soon see that as the bailout plan 
expands, the government will sink deeper and deeper into the ethical 
mire. The government is paying that ethical price for AIG, however, 
the government is actually cashing the ethical check that it signed 
for financial security. This check dates back to 1913 when the FED 
began. The U.S. government should learn its lesson, to not sign this 
type of check again and allow their people to take responsibility 
for their own choices. This way the government will have ethical 
peace." 
 
PICCUTA