VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #0928/01 2821150
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091150Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0879
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3274
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7484
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2820
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5525

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000928 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV OPRC NP
SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: U.S, INDIAN PERCEPTION OF 
CHINA 
 
¶1.  This cable reports on a relevant opinion piece 
in Nepal's prominent non-English press. 
 
¶2.  Centrist vernacular daily Kantipur (Nepal's 
largest daily with circulation of 150,000), ran an 
opinion piece titled "American Psychology under the 
Shadow of Chinese Power." The piece, written by the 
paper's senior reporter, said the United States and 
its strategic partner India are treating China 
cautiously because they do not want to irritate the 
emerging power, China. It argued that the six 
decades of communism established by Mao Tse-tung has 
started having a psychological impact on both the 
United States and India. This argument is based on 
two incidents -President Obama's decision not to 
meet the Dalai Lama before his upcoming meeting with 
the Chinese President, and Indian silence over the 
Chinese Embassy's discriminatory visa policy for 
India's Jammu and Kashmir residents. 
 
Translated excerpts: 
 
¶3.  "The U.S. President decided this week not to 
meet the Dalai Lama. Obama is visiting Beijing next 
month. Possibly, his assessment was that the Beijing 
Summit against the backdrop of meeting with Dalai 
Lama would not be a happy one. Lama has not only met 
all American presidents since George Bush Sr. in 
1991, he has also been well-received by them. Bush 
was not only the president to meet Lama at a public 
function; he was also the one to award Lama with 
Congress' highest civilian award at Capitol Hill. 
Giving respect to the Dalai Lama is U.S policy. It 
can be analyzed as an indirect U.S. policy of 
[supporting] Tibetan independence. However, the 
United States has made a written commitment toward a 
One China policy that includes Tibet, Hong Kong, 
Macau, and Taiwan." 
 
¶4.  "Obama deferred the pre-scheduled meeting with 
Nobel Peace Laureate Dalai Lama by an indefinite and 
unwanted period for the sake of meeting with the 
Chinese President. Probably New Delhi was the 
hardest-hit by this American gesture to improve 
relations with China. Possibly the South Block's 
grievance has reached the Department of State." 
 
¶5. "The Dalai Lama is India's diplomatic bargaining 
card. The occasional entry of Free-Tibet proponents 
into the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi is not a 
weakness of Indian security, but is a "tacit 
understanding." Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama 
Rao faced diplomatic humiliation for this reason 
when she was the Indian Ambassador to China." 
 
¶6. "... According to an Indian news report, the 
Chinese Embassy in New Delhi started issuing 
different visas to residents of the Indian state of 
Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of issuing visas in the 
passports, it started giving visas as separate 
documents. This means sovereign China is trying to 
give different recognition to a certain territory of 
sovereign India. India could have strongly opposed 
this dangerous Chinese policy. The Indian External 
Affairs Ministry takes this issue seriously, but 
does not want to bring it into debate." 
 
¶7. "These examples of totally uncustomary diplomacy 
of the United States and India indicate increasing 
Chinese influence. It hints at the mentality of 
these strategic allies and their need to maintain 
good relations with China, or at least not confront 
China." 
 
¶8. "... These two developments have long-term 
implications. The immediate background is the 
Chinese show of military strength at the 60th 
anniversary of Chinese [communist] rule at Tiananmen 
Square. The U.S. and Indian armies are 
psychologically weaker in front of sophisticated 
Chinese weapons and a committed Chinese army. 
Afghanistan and Iraq have diplomatically weakened 
the United States and India to a big extent. With a 
suicide attack at the American Embassy and two 
attacks at the Indian Embassy in Kabul, they are 
 
facing concerns about being unable to secure their 
people and their armies." 
 
MOON