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P 262318Z JUL 09
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002126 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM-HABJAN, EAP/CM, EAP/PD-STOLTZ 
STATE FOR OES DAS MIOTKE, OES/EGC, OES/ENV, AND OES/PCI 
STATE FOR S/SECC-STERN, S/P-GREEN, EEB, AND ECA 
STATE PASS TO CEQ SUTLEY 
USDOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
USDOC FOR MAC AND MAS 
USDOC PASS USPTO FOR WU 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL/MKASMAN/GIANNINI-SPOHN 
NSC FOR LOI, SHRIER 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP PREL PGOV ECON PARM MARR SENV ENRG KGHG CH
 
SUBJECT: Senior Hu Advisor Zheng Bijian Organizing China-U.S. Clean 
Energy Strategic Forum, Invites Secretaries Chu, Locke 
 
Summary 
------- 
¶1.  (SBU) Professor ZHENG Bijian, a senior advisor to China's 
president Hu Jintao, met with the U.S. Energy Secretary Chu and U.S. 
Commerce Secretary Locke, during their recent trip to China. 
Zheng's primary aim during the brief lunch meeting was to solicit 
the attendance of the two Secretaries at a China-U.S. clean energy 
strategic forum, which Zheng is planning in conjunction with the 
Brookings Institute.  Zheng said the forum will take place in 
Beijing and will be held in late October but he did not provide an 
exact date. [NOTE: Zheng is the former Executive Vice-President of 
the Communist Party Central Committee Party School, where all top 
Chinese leaders are groomed before assuming their official 
government positions.  When President Hu Jintao served as head of 
the Party School, he worked closely with Zheng to develop China's 
major policy themes and initiatives. From Deng Xiaoping's initial 
reform policies to his present status as the author of China's most 
recent guiding principle encapsulated in the phrase "Peaceful Rise" 
or "Peaceful Development," Zheng has been close to Chinese 
decisionmaking for more than twenty years.  END NOTE.] 
 
Zheng Expounds on "China's Peaceful Rise" 
----------------------------------------- 
¶2.  (SBU) Zheng stated the concept of China's peaceful rise in the 
twenty-first century--a concept he is credited with developing--is 
widely endorsed by China's leadership and accepted among the Chinese 
people. The most important aspect of peaceful rise, according to 
Zheng, is managing China's relations with the United States. He also 
said that China faces three great challenges: access to resources, 
energy being the priority; environmental protection and addressing 
air and water pollution; and finally economic and social 
development.  History has shown that among these challenges, the 
energy question "must be handled most carefully as to avoid the 
eruption of conflict."  Zheng said that the emphasis the new U.S. 
Administration is putting on clean energy cooperation with China is 
enhancing stability between our two countries, particularly with 
respect to the question of energy access. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In addressing the above three challenges, Zheng warned 
that U.S. and Chinese leaders also must avoid the "three mindsets": 
old colonialism (resource wars were rife during colonial times); old 
imperialism; and old cold war mentality. 
 
China-U.S. Clean Energy Strategic Forum 
--------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) Zheng stated that he had written a letter to China's 
Premier WEN Jiaobao on February 20 proposing the China-U.S. 
Partnership on Clean Energy Strategic Forum.  Wen responded the next 
day in support of the forum and ordered all relevant government 
departments to support this effort, according to Zheng.  The forum 
is tentatively scheduled for late October but Zheng did not provide 
 
BEIJING 00002126  002 OF 002 
 
 
a more specific date.  Zheng said his hope is that through the 
forum, the U.S. and China will emerge with a clear convergence on 
strategy for clean energy cooperation.  Moreover, Zheng hopes the 
forum will be a good prelude to a possible Obama-Hu meeting in 
November and to the Copenhagen climate change negotiations in 
December. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In order for the forum to be a success, Zheng said it 
requires support at the most senior levels of government thus he is 
asking both Secretary Chu and Secretary Locke to return to China in 
October to address the forum.  Zheng said China's Vice Premier LI 
Keqiang will host the event, which he promised will not be "a talk 
shop", but will produce real pragmatic results and establish a new 
"partnership for the 21st century." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Secretary Chu and Secretary Locke thanked Zheng for his 
long service to the Chinese people and said that given the U.S. 
President's commitment to clean energy, the invitations will be 
given the most serious consideration.  Secretary Chu suggested that 
in order for the forum to be successful, all voices should be heard, 
including those of representatives from industry, academia, and 
non-governmental organizations.  He also noted the importance of 
including U.S. and Chinese climate change negotiators in the 
conference.  Secretary Chu said the U.S. is ready to reduce its 
appetite for energy and intends to lead the world in reducing carbon 
emissions. He also said that it is the right of every country to 
pursue standards of living similar to those of the U.S. but in order 
to do this without further damaging the planet, we must develop new 
infrastructure (buildings, transport, power generation) that 
consumes much less energy and does not change the climate. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Secretary Locke told Zheng that while the debate over who 
is at fault for global warming goes on, the planet is running out of 
time.  The U.S. and China should work together to lead the developed 
and developing countries respectively in producing clean energy 
solutions.  This has the potential to create jobs and opportunities 
for both countries, but Secretary Locke warned that protectionist 
policies that unfairly favor Chinese companies will only delay the 
best technologies from making it to market.  He hopes that China 
will embrace foreign technologies while also becoming a leader in 
exporting green technologies around the world. 
 
GOLDBERG