VZCZCXRO9644
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #2870/01 2871114
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 141114Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6440
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 002870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2034 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR KNNP MNUC SENV APEC KN KS CH
SUBJECT: PRC: A/S CAMPBELL'S MEETING WITH VFM HE YAFEI 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson.  Reasons 1. 
4 (b/d). 
 
¶1. (S) Summary:  China appreciates that President Obama plans 
to spend three days in China and hopes the visit will produce 
concrete results, China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told 
EAP A/S Campbell October 13.  China also hopes for a joint 
statement that will send a positive message that the U.S. and 
China are working together on major issues, and that the 
relationship is on the right track.  The announcement that 
President Obama will meet with the Dalai Lama in the future 
was a "shock" to China, VFM He claimed, and the U.S. should 
not underestimate the importance of the Tibet issue to China. 
 VFM He urged the U.S. to engage in bilateral discussions 
with North Korea as a way to return to the Six-Party Talks 
framework.  China welcomes expanded bilateral education 
exchanges and can reciprocate with even larger numbers of 
students traveling to the U.S. to study.  On trade, both 
sides must resist protectionist pressures that might 
undermine mutual trust.  VFM He assessed that international 
climate change negotiations are going poorly, drawing greater 
focus onto the U.S. and China's positions.  APEC is also 
performing poorly, and discussions at the upcoming APEC 
summit on its future will be important.  VFM He noted that 
China does not wish to see the U.S. excluded from Asian 
regional architecture concepts.  China attaches importance to 
bilateral space cooperation, including a visit by the NASA 
administrator.  Finally, VFM He urged the resumption of the 
launch of U.S. satellites on Chinese rockets.  End Summary. 
 
Presidential Visit 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (S) A/S Campbell began the October 13 meeting with VFM He 
Yafei by underscoring that, in preparing for the next stage 
of the U.S.-China relationship, it was important to arrange 
the best possible presidential visit in November.  Despite 
the considerable domestic pressures that had caused the 
President to limit other aspects of his Asia visit, he 
planned to spend a large amount of time in China.  This was a 
reflection of his commitment to the relationship and of his 
desire to "get off to a good start."  The substantive results 
of the visit would be, of course, the most important aspect, 
but we also needed to find the right "phrases and concepts" 
to characterize our relationship. 
 
¶4. (S) VFM He responded that China "appreciates the length of 
the visit."  In preparation, we should focus on some of the 
difficulties and obstacles, as these could lead to progress. 
What "worries China the most" was how to deal with sensitive 
issues during and after the Obama visit.  China looked for 
concrete results from the visit, but would need "a piece of 
paper" that will send a positive message that the U.S. and 
China are working together on the major issues, and that our 
relationship is on the right track. 
 
China's "Core Interests: Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (S) A/S Campbell noted that China referred to Taiwan, 
Tibet and Xinjiang as among its "core interests."  Some of 
these issues would best be left outside of the visit 
communique and restricted instead to our political dialogues, 
Campbell suggested.  The U.S. welcomed the positive steps 
China had taken on Taiwan, and when we met with the Taiwan 
authorities, we reassured them that we supported this 
peaceful cross-Strait dialogue.  On Tibet, China should note 
that we took no position on calls by Tibetan exiles for a 
semi-autonomous region.  Finally, on Xinjiang, since the July 
difficulties, we had taken a very careful stance.  The U.S. 
understood that these issues were very important to China, 
but they had significance to us, too, so China had to be 
careful not to "paint us into a corner," A/S Campbell warned. 
 
¶6. (S) VFM He replied that the principles on all three of 
these issues were clear, but how we handled them was still 
important.  China raised them not simply to please some 
domestic constituency, but because they bore upon China's 
sovereignty and territorial integrity.  The announcement that 
President Obama would meet with the Dalai Lama at the end of 
the year "came as a shock to us," VFM He said.  The U.S. 
characterized meetings between the Dalai Lama and the 
President as "a tradition."  The Dalai Lama was a political 
exile and the leader of an organization that wanted to 
"dismember" China, VFM averred. 
 
North Korea 
----------- 
 
¶7. (S) On North Korea, A/S Campbell explained that the U.S. 
was willing to engage the DPRK in bilateral dialogue, but our 
desire was for the DPRK to return to the Six-Party Talks. 
Within the Six-Party Talks, we could continue bilateral 
 
BEIJING 00002870  002 OF 003 
 
 
discussions.  First meetings with the North Koreans "can be 
difficult," and it was in neither U.S. nor Chinese interest 
for such a meeting to come shortly before the President's 
visit, A/S Campbell explained. 
 
¶8. (S) VFM He replied that "we have been doing our best" to 
bring the DPRK back to the Six-Party Talks.  As the U.S now 
had the opportunity to engage the DPRK, it should do so. 
"Start a dialogue, see what they can offer, and then return 
to the comprehensive Six-Party Talks framework," VFM He 
advised. 
 
Educational Exchanges 
--------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) A/S Campbell explained the U.S. proposal for a new 
program that would double the number of U.S. students 
studying in China over the next four years to 100,000.  VFM 
He replied that China appreciated the idea and that, in 
principle, the students would be welcomed.  China could 
reciprocate, but the number of students would be much larger. 
 VFM He referred A/S Campbell to a proposal made by State 
Counselor Liu Yandong to Secretary Clinton that the two 
countries develop a larger "humanities exchange" framework. 
 
Trade Issues 
------------ 
 
¶10. (S) VFM He raised "trade and protectionism" as key issues 
to China.  After 30 years of engagement, the U.S.-China 
economic relationship was solid, "but we must not do anything 
to undermine this."  While China's trade with other countries 
was dropping, in the latest figures it continued to rise, if 
slightly, with the United States.  There was strong pressure 
on both sides to adopt protectionist trade measures.  The 
tire safeguards case had been "a bitter lesson" for China. 
We had to guard against new protectionist measures or risk 
undermining our mutual confidence.  A/S Campbell replied that 
the U.S. was clear about China's position.  Both sides had to 
continue to engage on these issues, not least through the 
SnED. 
 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
¶11. (S) VFM He said climate change would be "the number one 
or number two topic" at the presidential meeting, and that 
the whole world would be watching for results.  People were 
saying that the climate negotiations were "off track," 
putting an even greater focus on what the U.S. and China put 
forward.  The Danes and French had suggested advancing 
political negotiations for Copenhagen because the technical 
track was failing.  A/S Campbell said that, in his personal 
view, climate change was the biggest threat to the human 
race.  There was pressure on us both to succeed. 
 
Asian Regional Architecture 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12. (S) Addressing Asian regional architecture, VFM He said 
that China saw the U.S. role in Asia as important and would 
do nothing to exclude it.  At the same time, the U.S. had to 
respect China's interests.  At the upcoming APEC meeting, 
APEC's future would be on the agenda.  "APEC is not really 
working," VFM He averred.  "It is mostly a platform for 
bilateral meetings."  VFM He noted suggestions that the U.S. 
join in the East Asian Summit, and Dr. Kissinger's proposal 
for a "Cross-Asia Community." 
 
¶13. (S) A/S Campbell agreed that APEC was not performing 
well, noting it should have been in the lead in dealing with 
the economic crisis.  There had been a proliferation of 
dialogues in recent years.  The G20 had been a major step 
forward in shifting the global architecture away from 
strictly Europe and toward Asia.  The U.S. and China should 
have dialogue on multilateral organization building in Asia. 
Any new bodies should be pan-Pacific, not Pan-Asian, A/S 
Campbell urged.  VFM He agreed. 
 
Space Cooperation 
----------------- 
 
¶14. (S) VFM He raised aerospace cooperation, noting that the 
director of NASA might visit China.  Perhaps through such 
cooperation we could send astronauts together to the moon, he 
commented.  One more immediate step the U.S. could take, 
however, would be resuming permission for U.S. satellites to 
be launched on Chinese platforms.  If legal hurdles prevented 
this, we could go back to the most recent understanding, on 
which satellite launches had been approved on a case-by-case 
basis, VFM He noted.  A/S Campbell agreed that space could be 
an area for cooperation and pledged to contact the director 
of NASA upon his return to Washington. 
 
BEIJING 00002870  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶15. (U) The delegation cleared this message. 
HUNTSMAN