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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
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R 262332Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3115
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0696
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2116

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2029 
TAGS: PARM PM PREL CH
SUBJECT: PRC PROTESTS DOD CHINA MILITARY POWER REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 28316 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor Ben Moeling.  Reason 
s 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Reading unenthusiastically from prepared 
remarks, MFA DG for North American and Oceanian Affairs Zheng 
Zeguang formally protested to the A/DCM DOD's annual report 
to Congress on China's military power.  Zheng criticized the 
report as containing "erroneous and unfounded" accusations 
that have undermined U.S.-China relations.  China will 
continue to pursue "peaceful development" and has legitimate 
needs to build its military for national security purposes, 
Zheng claimed.  The Taiwan portion of the report triggered a 
recitation by Zheng of China's standard talking points, 
followed by the assertion that China handles disputes through 
consultation and in accordance with international law.  Zheng 
closed with a complaint that the report had come out when 
Washington and Beijing have a "stable and good beginning" for 
relations under the new U.S. administration, arguing that we 
need to "eradicate the negative impact" of the report to 
reduce the damage done to the bilateral relationship, 
particularly mil-mil relations.  The A/DCM pointed out that 
the report is mandated by Congress, and encouraged China's 
responsible participation in world affairs and increased 
military transparency.  The A/DCM reiterated the U.S. 
commitment to our one China policy.  End Summary. 
 
ATMOSPHERICS SUGGEST MFA NOT ENTHUSIASTIC 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) MFA North American and Oceanian Affairs Department 
Director General Zheng Zeguang called in the Acting DCM March 
26 to discuss the 2009 DOD report to Congress on China's 
military power.  Acting POL M/C and Assistant Naval Attache 
accompanied the A/DCM.  Zheng stated that "last year I did 
this with your predecessor after the 2008 report was 
released, and now I get to do it again."  Zheng spoke in 
English but worked from a text prepared in Chinese.  Zheng's 
delivery was quiet and unemotional, and in setting up the 
meeting, the MFA U.S. Division Director made a point of 
telling Acting POL M/C that "we have to do this, let's just 
get it out of the way so it will not be an issue when we are 
working on our leaders' meeting." 
 
POINT ONE: CHINA NOT HAPPY WITH THE REPORT 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) Zheng said that before DOD issued the report, the 
Chinese government had discussed the issue with USG officials 
in Beijing and Washington, urging the USG to stop issuing 
these reports and disseminating "untrue theories" of the 
China military threat.  Zheng criticized the report for 
containing "erroneous and unfounded accusations against 
China," and for criticizing China's "legitimate and normal" 
defense buildup.  Zheng said the report's discussion of the 
PRC military threat against Taiwan is "rhetoric that serves 
as an excuse for the United States to continue to sell arms 
to Taiwan." 
 
¶4. (C) Zheng protested what he described as the report's 
claims that China is projecting power to ensure access to 
resources and enforce claims to disputed territories, as well 
as the report's "irresponsible remarks about China's naval 
strategy."  The report has "seriously violated" the norms 
guiding international relations and the three Sino-U.S. joint 
communiques and undermined both the overall bilateral 
relationship and strategic trust between our two countries, 
Zheng stated. 
 
POINT TWO: CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT "PEACEFUL" 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) China's adheres to a "peaceful development policy," 
Zheng continued, and will continue to pursue a security 
policy that is defensive in nature.  China has all along been 
"a strong force safeguarding peace and stability in Asia 
Pacific and the world." 
 
¶6. (C) Zheng advised that China is a sovereign country with 
22,000 km of land borders and also 18,000 km of coastline. 
To safeguard national security and territorial integrity, 
China needs to continue its defense buildup.  "This is the 
solemn right and responsibility for any sovereign country in 
 
BEIJING 00000809  002 OF 003 
 
 
the world."  China will not participate in any arms race, and 
neither will it pose a threat to any country, Zheng declared. 
 It is "erroneous and unacceptable" for the United States to 
continue the annual practice of using the report to 
disseminate and spread the idea of a "China threat." 
 
POINT THREE: TAIWAN 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Zheng reminded the A/DCM that Taiwan is an 
"inalienable part" of Chinese territory, and that recent 
months have seen the steady improvement and development of 
the cross-Strait relationship.  He recited the PRC mantra 
that China will continue to strive for peaceful development 
of cross-Strait relations on the basis of mutual trust, 
putting aside disputes, seeking common ground, resolving 
differences and win-win.  However, no matter how the Taiwan 
Strait situation evolves, China will continue to uphold the 
one-China principle, oppose Taiwan independence and oppose 
firmly two Chinas or One China, One Taiwan. 
 
¶8. (C) Zheng urged the United States to abide by its 
commitments on Taiwan, adopt the one-China principle, observe 
the three joint communiques, oppose Taiwan independence and 
oppose Taiwan's participation in any international 
organization in which statehood is required for membership. 
He also urged the United States to stop selling arms to 
Taiwan and stop official military contacts with Taiwan so as 
not to hurt the peaceful development of cross-Strait 
relations and U.S.-China relations. 
 
POINT FOUR: CHINA IS LAW-ABIDING 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Zheng claimed that China "upholds the principle of 
resolving disputes through consultation and peaceful 
negotiation on the basis of international law."  He urged the 
United States to "have a clear understanding of China's 
policy in this regard and rectify the erroneous practice of 
making irresponsible remarks about China's tactics and 
policies in dealing with territorial disputes with other 
countries."  He claimed that issuing the report "hurts the 
trust between China and other countries and creates problems 
for peace and stability in the region." 
 
POINT FIVE: NOT NOW, WE'RE DOING SO WELL! 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Zheng complained that the report was issued "just 
when we have had a relatively stable and good beginning with 
the new U.S. administration."  He noted the upcoming 
"high-level exchanges," including the meeting between our two 
presidents, and said that the current state of relations "did 
not come about easily and required hard work on both sides." 
 
PERORATION: "ERADICATE THE NEGATIVE IMPACT" 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Zheng said China urges the United States "to discard 
Cold War mentality and biased opinion and view China's 
foreign and defense policy in an objective and fair manner." 
China calls on the United States to "stop making 
irresponsible remarks that hurt mutual trust and cooperation, 
and stop this practice of issuing the so-called military 
power report."  China also urges the United States "to take 
immediate actions to eradicate any negative impact on 
relations as the result of this report.  In so doing, the 
United States can reduce the damage done between our two 
countries and our two militaries." 
 
DCM RESPONDS 
------------ 
 
¶12. (C) The A/DCM responded that the report is mandated by 
the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2000, 
and that the report is intended to be factual, descriptive 
and analytical.  It does not attempt to draw conclusions, he 
said, but is intended to let the facts speak for themselves. 
He noted that the report discusses weaknesses, as well as 
strengths, of the PRC's military. 
 
¶13. (C) U.S. policy seeks to establish a positive and 
cooperative relationship with China, one in which we deepen 
and strengthen our ties on issues of common interest and 
 
BEIJING 00000809  003 OF 003 
 
 
candidly address differences where they persist, the A/DCM 
said.  He quoted Secretary Clinton's statement that "this is 
not a one-way effort.  Much of what we will do depends on the 
choices China makes about its future at home and abroad." 
 
¶14. (C) The A/DCM reiterated that the United States welcomes 
the rise of a stable, peaceful and prosperous China, and 
encourages China to participate responsibly in world affairs 
by taking on a greater share of the burden for the stability, 
resilience and growth of the international system.  He noted 
that despite the welcome development of China's routine 
publication of defense white papers (the most recent being 
China's National Defense in 2008 published on January 20, 
2009), much more could be said by China about its build-up of 
strategic nuclear and conventional capabilities.  China has 
left unclear to the international community the purposes and 
objectives of the PLA's evolving doctrine and capabilities. 
 
¶15. (C) On the subject of Taiwan, the A/DCM restated U.S. 
policy by declaring that the United States remains committed 
to our one China policy based on the three joint communiques 
and the Taiwan Relations Act.   He said the United States 
does not support Taiwan independence and believes that 
cross-Strait issues should be resolved peacefully in a manner 
acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait, and opposes 
unilateral actions by either side to alter the status quo 
across the Strait.  He took the opportunity to urge China to 
work towards a peaceful resolution of its differences with 
Taiwan.  He reminded Zheng that we make defense articles 
available to Taiwan to allow it to maintain a credible 
defense as provided for in the Taiwan Relations Act, and 
urged China to reduce military deployments aimed at Taiwan 
and to pursue a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. 
 
¶16. (C) Showing a bit more spark, Zheng said the United 
States should recognize that it is "only a member of the 
international community" and should follow the norms of 
international relations and respect territorial sovereignty 
and integrity.  He said that the United States should look at 
China's "legitimate defense buildup" in an objective and fair 
manner, and discard its Cold War mentality and zero-sum 
perception of China-U.S. relations.  He protested that the 
Taiwan Relations Act is "a unilateral piece of U.S. 
legislation.  The three communiques signed by the United 
States constitute the guiding principle for Taiwan policy, 
not the TRA," he said. 
PICCUTA