VZCZCXRO1678
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1147 1190801
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290801Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3705
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS BEIJING 001147 
 
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 PREL ECON
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: H1-N1, OBAMA'S 100 DAY, U.S.-CHINA 
RELATIONS 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
¶1. H1-N1 
 
"H1-N1 approaches East Asia" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/29): "The WHO has upgraded the emergency 
status of the H1-N1 virus to level 4, this adjustment has created 
tension in many countries. The U.S. has published its plan to deal 
with the possibility that 2 million people could die from H1-N1. 
South Korea - whose people frequently visit China - confirmed a 
suspect case in their country yesterday.  China has begun emergency 
planning for the possibility that the country could become infected 
with the virus. A lot of people travel within the country of China. 
Because of this, there is a great possibility that China may be 
infected by H1-N1. China's experience with SARS prevention will help 
stop H1-N1 from spreading. The virus may become weaker after the 
infection. In the U.S., there no deaths have been reported yet.  It 
shows the virus has lightened. Thus it may not be as serious as in 
Mexico even if it spreads to China." 
 
¶2. OBAMA'S FIRST 100 DAYS 
 
"A comment on Obama's 100 days of diplomacy" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/29): "For the past 100 days, the Obama 
administration practiced smart-power diplomacy. The U.S. has changed 
its stance on many issues. It started to listen to its allies' 
opinions, adopt a mild policy in dealing with China and Russia, and 
the Islamic countries as well, and especially tried to offer an 
olive branch to Iran, Syria and Cuba. The U.S. is focused on 
rebuilding its soft power and overseas image. The U.S. aims at 
exchanging other countries' financial support and military support 
by giving respect to them. The problem is whether or not it can 
work. On the recent NATO summit and EU summit, America's goal of 
getting NATO and the EU to take on more responsibilities has failed. 
Domestic conservatives in the U.S. have criticized Obama's policy 
for gaining insufficient returns. Without a payoff, criticism will 
increase. It is still early to talk about the impact of the U.S. 
diplomatic changes." 
 
¶3. U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS 
 
"U.S. scholars discuss dealing with China in South East Asian 
policy" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(04/29): "Recently China provided 10 billion 
U.S. dollars in infrastructure funds and 1.5 billion worth of credit 
to ASEAN countries. This move has aroused the U.S. concern. American 
scholars indicate that China's increasing influence in South East 
Asia will negatively influence America's strategic influence in the 
region. Chinese experts also believe that because of China's 
economic growth, China's exchanges with South East Asian countries 
have become frequent and will further increase in the future. The 
U.S. always compares the influence of the U.S. and China in the 
region, afraid that U.S. strength is weakening. However, such doubts 
will not influence normal U.S.-China communications.  Such voices 
will not be the mainstream opinion of the United States either. 
China should promote its policy and ask the U.S. to accept a more 
powerful China." 
 
PICCUTA