VZCZCXRO7915
PP RUEHAST RUEHCN RUEHDH RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHTM RUEHTRO RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1432/01 1490918
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290918Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4197
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001432 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SPECIAL ENVOY STERN 
STATE FOR EAP/CM-HABJAN 
STAET FOR OES, OES/EGC, OES/ENV, EAP/CM AND EB 
STATE PASS TO CEQ SUTLEY 
USDOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL/MKASMAN 
NSC FOR LOI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG CH KN KS
SUBJECT: CODEL KERRY MEETING WITH PRC NPC FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN LI ZHAOXING 
 
BEIJING 00001432  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) Foreign 
Affairs Committee Chairman Li Zhaoxing and Senator John Kerry 
(D-MA) May 27 both noted multiple avenues for cooperation on 
climate change at the December 2009 UN Conference on Climate 
Change in Copenhagen.  Twenty-nine pieces of environmental 
protection legislation had passed the NPC, and China was now 
learning from the U.S. experience of three decades ago, said 
Li.  Senator Kerry told Chairman Li that the United States 
now 
had the technology to help China avoid making the same 
mistakes it had, and if China purchased climate change 
technology from the United States, it would gain more 
efficient companies with lower production costs.   China's 
large population and "unbalanced" development made solving 
this problem more difficult, said Chairman Li.  The best 
Chinese iron and steel plants rivaled those in the United 
States, but the vast majority were "still backward" and 
unable 
to afford green technology.  Senator Kerry emphasized that if 
China continued to develop the way it was going, there would 
be massive repercussions.  Chairman said he agreed, but 
underscored that countries should modernize in accordance 
with 
the common goals and principles of Bali and Kyoto. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. Participants 
----------------- 
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) 
Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry 
A/DCM William Weinstein 
Frank Jannuzi, Professional Staff Member, Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee 
Kathleen Frangione, Professional Staff Member, Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee 
LT Mitch McGuffie, Navy Escort 
Christopher Green, First Secretary 
Alex Berenberg, Notetaker 
 
Chinese Participants 
-------------------- 
Li Zhaoxing, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee of the 
National People's Congress 
Other NPC officials 
 
Pelosi Visit, Shanghai Initiatives 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) At a May 27 lunch meeting, Chinese National People's 
Congress (NPC) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Li Zhaoxing 
noted to Senator John Kerry (D-MA) that Speaker of the House 
Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to China had focused on bilateral 
cooperation on environmental protection, and while in 
Shanghai 
she had learned about the new energy conservation measures in 
place there.  Factories built after 2006 must be fifty 
percent 
more energy efficient; car use was discouraged and there were 
subsidies for those who used public transportation, said Li. 
China, and particularly Shanghai, could learn much from the 
United States in the field of wind energy, he added. Senator 
Kerry highlighted that China was the world largest producer 
of 
solar panels, so both countries had much to learn from one 
another. 
 
Copenhagen Conference and Cooperation on Climate Change 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Chairman Li emphasized that U.S.-China 
"commonalities" on climate change "far exceed differences." 
The two counties were the largest oil importers, largest 
 
BEIJING 00001432  002 OF 003 
 
 
energy emitters, and largest energy consumers, so there were 
multiple avenues for cooperation at the December 2009 UN 
Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen on environmental 
protection, energy conservation, and climate change.  Senator 
Kerry underscored that if China and the United States acted, 
"everyone would follow," and it would frame Copenhagen's 
outcome.  Li said he agreed that China and the United States 
should mobilize other countries to "tackle the challenge 
together."  In the Arctic, noted Li, Russia and the Northern 
European countries had an "important role to play."  African 
countries faced the threat of desertification and the 
tropical 
rainforests of Latin America were in danger of becoming 
"tropical grasslands."  Li remarked that he had seen a photo 
comparison of Oregon's Mt. Hood a few decades ago and today, 
noting the lack of its snowcap. 
 
NPC Committee Responsibilities 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Li said he was a "freshman" in the NPC, and 
explained 
the three main responsibilities of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee were foreign policy-related legislation, 
supervision 
of the State Council, Supreme People's Court, and People's 
Procuratorate, and exchanges with foreign countries promoting 
China's "peaceful development."  In addition, the Foreign 
Affairs Committee was responsible for the foreign liaison 
activities of other committees, ensuring that meetings were 
"mutually beneficial and on an equal footing."  The NPC 
environmental protection and resources committee was 
responsible for related legislation, and 29 pieces of 
environmental protection legislation had passed the NPC; 
China 
had learned from the U.S. experience of three decades ago, Li 
stated.  The latter committee also supervised inspections and 
recommended shutting down violators whose emissions exceeded 
permissible levels. 
 
Purchasing Clean Energy Technology 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Senator Kerry told Li that the United States now had 
the technology to help China avoid making the same mistakes 
it 
made decades earlier, including technology to make power 
plants 50 percent cleaner, cutting 35-40 percent of 
greenhouse 
gases and at less cost, paying for itself in the first twenty 
years.  Regarding the 4,450 coal fired power plant units in 
China today that are under 50MW, said the Senator, all could 
be converted to solar power with today's technology.  Senator 
Kerry noted that if China purchased climate change technology 
from the United States, it would gain more efficient 
companies 
with lower production costs and the United States would gain 
as well. 
 
¶7. (SBU) China's large population made solving this problem 
more difficult, said Chairman Li.  The situation in China was 
"unbalanced," with the best iron and steel plants rivaling 
those in the United States, but the vast majority "still 
backward" and unable to afford green technology.  According 
to 
Chinese government statistics, 43 million people lived below 
the poverty line in China and by the standard of 1 USD per 
person per day, there were 140 million living in poverty. 
Although China's GDP was now third in the world, its per 
capita GDP was far behind.  He also noted difficulties in 
purchasing technology from the United States, with 
restrictions on dual-use items as well as high prices. 
 
Need for Action 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Senator Kerry emphasized that China's economy and 
 
BEIJING 00001432  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
impact were so great that it was not appropriate to talk 
solely on a per capita level.  "The atmosphere doesn't 
measure 
that way," he said.  If China continued to develop the way it 
was going, there would be massive repercussions.  Scientists 
were more urgent with him in private than they were in 
public, 
and there was "bigger" damage happening "faster" than 
expected, explained the Senator.  Once the United States and 
China agreed on a way forward, the marketplace would factor 
the carbon costs into decisions, leading to a transformation 
of the economy, he said.  Chairman Li said he "could not 
agreed more" with Senator Kerry's assessment and analysis, 
and 
China and the United States should work together to ensure 
that a "tragic situation" would not take place.  However, Li 
said countries should modernize in accordance with the common 
goals and principles of Bali and Kyoto.  On a per capita GDP 
basis, China ranked 103th or 104th in the world, he stated. 
PICCUTA