VZCZCXRO5723
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1433/01 1491008
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291008Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4200
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001433 
 
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: NORTH KOREA, INDIA, CHINA'S SAVINGS RATE, 
CLEAN ENERGY 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
¶1. NORTH KOREA 
 
"It is an inferior policy to pressure with a nuclear test" 
 
The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication 
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao)(05/28): "The 
recent nuclear tests conducted by the DPRK may become a crucial step 
in future DPRK issues.  The test shows that the DPRK has upgraded 
their 'warnings' into regular 'pressure tactics.'  North Korea used 
a test satellite launch, in the first half of this year, to urge the 
U.S. to emphasize North Korea's issues and to begin conducting 
dialogue.  However, the strategy did not have any obvious effect. 
North Korea's nuclear test has put further pressure on the U.S. and 
other major countries.  However, neither pressuring with developed 
nuclear weapons, nor using distance missiles as a threat can really 
solve the impasse on the Korean peninsula.  There is no better 
resolution than the Six Party Talks.  The answer to the question: 
can North Korea's repetitive nuclear tests promote dialogue, is 
definite 'No'.  North Korea's use of the nuclear test as a pressure 
tactic is an inferior policy decision for any party.  Regional 
denuclearization doesn't focus on any specific country, but it will 
create a positive development environment for all of the countries 
in the region." 
 
¶2. INDIA 
 
"The U.S. and India borrow military equipment from each other to 
contain China" 
 
The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication 
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao)(05/28): "The U.S. 
and India have worked out a logistics agreement.  In the future they 
will work together to gain combat efficiency. This will help India 
combat China and Pakistan.  The U.S. can further depend on the 
agreement to help influnce the situation in the South Indian Ocean. 
 The agreement can make the U.S. military's activities in the South 
Asia Sea and in the Indian Ocean more convenient.  The U.S. and 
India can further depend on this agreement to further develop their 
military alliance.  This 'military alliance-to-be' directly 
threatens China and Pakistan.  In recent years, India has stepped 
away from traditional non-alliance policy making.  This logistical 
agreement with the U.S. is a turning point.  The protection and 
security of China's transportation lines in the Indian Ocean is 
becoming more urgent." 
 
¶3. CHINA'S SAVINGS RATE 
 
"Savings: Pros weigh heavily against cons" 
 
The official English-language newspaper China Daily (05/29): "The 
government has decided to make domestic consumption the engine of 
sustained growth. But many people tend to confuse it with personal 
consumption. And industrial lobbies have been urging the government 
to issue preferential policies for the property sector and the auto 
industry to help boost consumption. ...The experience taught us that 
a high rate of savings should be viewed as a virtue, not as a vice. 
It's the inappropriate use of savings that is to blame for the 
economic ills of today. ... 
In the U.S., most people are addicted to credit cards and spending 
money they have not earned. Ironically the economic crisis has 
forced people to rely even more on credit cards to maintain their 
lifestyle, which in the first place they should not have acquired. 
...Credit cards are a very recent phenomenon on the mainland. The 
danger is here, so we have to learn from other countries' experience 
to avoid similar mistakes, or sooner rather than later we will be 
facing the same crisis. ...We have to learn to make good use of our 
high savings rate, instead of encouraging the middle class to buy 
more houses and cars, and spend like there is no tomorrow. ...When 
welfare schemes make people feel more secure, they would be more 
willing to spend. The social and economic infrastructure will also 
ensure sustained economic growth. Proper channeling of savings into 
investment and social spending will enhance real private consumption 
in the long run. Higher savings will then imply higher investment 
and, in turn, higher GDP and a more robust growth. Without proper 
savings, a high private consumption rate will lead to disaster, as 
has been the case in many Western countries. If a high savings rate 
is as bad as many Western economics would like us to believe, then 
how come we have succeeded and they have failed to weather the 
economic storm?" 
 
¶4. CLEAN ENERGY 
 
"Discussion concerning clean energy legislation in the United 
States; developing countries will likely become the excuse of their 
 
BEIJING 00001433  002 OF 002 
 
 
opponents" 
 
Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper 
21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(05/29): "On May 
21st, the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of 
Representatives passed the Clean Energy and Security Act. The act 
promises that in 2020 the U.S. will reduce its greenhouse gas 
emission by 17% based on the amount of 2005. However, this 
commitment is apparently far from what Central Europe expects. This 
is the first time that the U.S. tried to promise its goals for 
greenhouse gas emission reductions legislatively. Currently, except 
the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Appropriations, 
most of the committees are not likely to change the content of the 
act. On May 26th, when Senator John Kerry, Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee Chairman, moderated the Sino-U.S. Clean Energy Forum, he 
stated that the U.S. has begun to accept the concept of same but 
differentiated responsibility. He thinks that different countries 
have different capabilities, but China should bring forward a 
mandatory goal of greenhouse gas emission reduction. Nevertheless, 
Qing Tai, Chinese Foreign Ministry Special Representative on Climate 
Change, stated that the challenges to climate change are the result 
of the uncontrollable emissions emitted when developed countries 
were progressing towards industrialization. The per capita amount of 
developed countries emissions is still higher than developing 
countries. We should tell these countries, explicitly, that we are 
the victims. As the problem makers, the developed countries don't 
have the right to ask us to accept the same responsibilities as they 
have. On this issue, involving their own interests, developing 
countries are not afraid of any pressure." 
 
PICCUTA