VZCZCXRO2094
PP RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0270/01 3330138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290138Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3546
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4257

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000270 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/PD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM EAID ECON PGOV SOCI OVIP KPAO CH
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER DISCUSSES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DURING 
VISIT TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PROJECT IN SICHUAN QUAKE ZONE 
 
REF: A) CHENGDU 090, B) CHENGDU 218 
 
CHENGDU 00000270  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) The message contains sensitive but unclassified 
information.   Not for distribution on the internet. 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) SUMMARY: Former President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady 
Rosalynn Carter, and officials from the Carter Center and 
Habitat for Humanity, traveled to Sichuan Province November 19 
to meet volunteers at a Habitat home-building project in 
Qionglai City, 80 kilometers southwest of Chengdu.  At a press 
conference there, Carter thanked Chinese officials for their 
cooperation with Habitat, and appealed for increased cooperation 
and religious freedom.  The media, in widespread coverage, 
praised Carter's spirit of volunteerism as an example that 
Chinese leaders should follow.  Post took advantage of visit to 
highlight the 30th anniversary of US-PRC diplomatic relations, 
including Carter's historical role. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a private conversation with Consul General, 
President Carter recalled how Deng Xiaoping had promised Carter 
expanded religious freedom, leading China to: adopt a related 
clause in its 1982 constitution; and allow the printing and 
availability of bibles in China.  Carter, noting the Carter 
Center's work in monitoring village-level elections in China, 
expressed disappointment that current President Hu Jintao had 
done little to expand the freedom of the Chinese people.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
Habitat for Humanity's Sichuan Project 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Former President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., Former 
First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and representatives from the Carter 
Center and Habitat for Humanity International traveled to 
Sichuan Province to visit November 19 the site of a Habitat 
home-building project in the earthquake disaster zone.  The 
visit was part of Habitat for Humanity's 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn 
Carter Work Project, which took place November 15-20 with 
projects in Chiang Mai, Thailand; Hanoi, Vietnam; Phnom Penh, 
Cambodia; Vientiane, Laos; and Qionglai City, Sichuan Province, 
China.  Consulate supported the delegation with public affairs, 
logistical, security, medical, and motorcade support. 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Habitat for Humanity focused the project's China visit on 
Qionglai City (population 650,000, 80 kilometers southwest of 
Chengdu).  Habitat is working with government authorities in 
Qionglai to build a series of multi-story homes, with the goal 
of providing safe, affordable and decent housing for poor 
families.  Habitat plans to complete homes for 300 families 
during the first phase and hopes to work with the government to 
expand the project to a total of 1,200 families.  During the 
week of November 15-20, more than 200 Chinese, American, and 
third-country volunteers worked in unseasonably cold weather to 
complete 20 homes as part of the first phase. 
 
 
 
Carter Urges Expansion of Cooperation, 
 
Notes Improved Religious Freedoms 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) At a press conference, Carter appealed for continued 
cooperation to allow Habitat to expand its work in China.  He 
also took the opportunity to stress American values of equality, 
highlighting that on a Habitat project there was no distinction 
between rich or poor, inferior or superior.  He concluded his 
press conference by alluding to the importance of religious 
freedom in China.  When asked to comment on his observations of 
how China had changed since his first visit, he said, "I was in 
China in 1949.  Everyone was dressed exactly the same.  No one 
could move from one village to another~. There was no freedom of 
worship.  No bibles were permitted in China.  Now, everything 
has changed.  China is a great, growing nation, economically and 
politically.  There is freedom of worship throughout China. 
Bibles are distributed freely, and you have one of the greatest 
 
CHENGDU 00000270  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
economic systems in the world." (Note: Carter traveled to China 
as a young man just a few months before the establishment of the 
PRC.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
Carter Recalls Deal with Deng on Religious Freedom, 
 
Expresses Disappointment with Hu Jintao 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a private conversation with Consul General in route 
to the work site, Carter recalled one meeting with Chinese 
leader Deng Xiaoping, in which Deng thanked Carter for "being a 
great friend of China," and asked Carter if "China could do 
anything to repay him." Carter explained that he made three 
requests to Deng: 1) expanded religious freedom for the Chinese 
people; 2) the free printing and distribution of bibles in 
China; and 3) permission for missionaries to operate freely in 
China.  The next day, Deng said that he: 1) would expand 
religious freedom for Chinese, 2) would allow the 
printing/distribution of bibles; but 3) could not allow 
missionaries to come to China.  Carter then noted that Deng had 
later included a clause on religious freedom in China's new 
constitution of 1982, and that the world's largest printer of 
bibles was China, where bibles are widely available to the 
public. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Carter also recalled how the (Atlanta-based) Carter 
Center had monitored four grass-roots elections in China, which 
are allowed at the village level.  Carter explained that, under 
this electoral system, candidates who are not Communist Party 
members are also allowed to run.  Noting that he had met 
(current President) Hu Jintao "several times," Carter stated 
that he was disappointed that Hu had done little to expand the 
freedom of the Chinese people.  (Note: Carter told CG that his 
conversation with Deng took place after he left the White House 
(in January 1981).  From the context, the Carter-Deng 
conversations apparently took place in 1981 or in 1982, before 
the current Chinese constitution's adoption in December of 1982. 
 Carter referred CG to the Carter Center's website for more 
information.  www.cartercenter.org/documents/531.html reports on 
a 1997 Carter Center effort to monitor village-level elections 
in Fujian and Hebei provinces, and notes that (in 1987) Deng had 
stated that "full democratization would take 50 years in China." 
 End Note.) 
 
 
 
Public Diplomacy Efforts Pay Off With Positive Media Coverage 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) During the weeks leading up to the Carter visit, Post 
intensified public diplomacy outreach efforts to increase 
community awareness of the visit and to promote local media 
coverage.  As the visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of 
the normalization of relations between the United States and 
China, Consul General and other officers wove the announcement 
of Carter's visit and discussion of his role in the 
normalization of relations into approximately 12 anniversary 
lectures at universities in key cities throughout the consular 
district.  Additionally, Consul General discussed the history of 
US-China relations, and the impending visits of President Obama 
and Former President Carter, during a series of press 
roundtables in Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang, and Kunming. 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) The widespread media coverage of the FPOTUS visit was 
highly positive and focused on the Habitat project as well as 
the Carters' spirit of volunteerism.  "Chengdu Daily" 
(circulation 300,000) gave a detailed report of the building 
project, stressing Carter's hope that the people of Sichuan 
Province would benefit from the volunteers' assistance.  Similar 
stories were carried by Xinhua News, "China Daily," and 
Sichuan's financial dailies.  In addition to television and 
newspaper coverage, several online sources carried vivid photos, 
news stories, and commentary.  Eastday.com commented on the fact 
that President Carter spent time eating and working with 
ordinary volunteers, thus setting a good example for China's 
high-level leaders.  Chat room discussions picked up on this 
 
CHENGDU 00000270  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
thread.  Several comments praised Carter's 26 years of volunteer 
work with Habitat for Humanity, and compared this type of 
behavior with the typical behavior of high-level Chinese 
leaders, commenting that the Chinese people have much to learn 
from Carters' example of service. 
 
 
 
The Civil Society Context: Reduced Space for NGOs 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) Habitat began working in China in 2000, and previously 
worked in Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces.  Following 
the devastating May 2008 earthquake, the organization set up 
operations in Sichuan to assist in the housing reconstruction 
process, arriving along with an influx of an estimated 200 other 
domestic and international non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs).  As discussed ref A, NGOs have operated widely in the 
quake zone since May 2008, often filling gaps in the official 
response.  However, after a period of notable freedom of action 
in the early post-disaster months, they have faced an 
increasingly "managed" operating environment, with relations 
with local officials usually the key determinant of whether they 
can continue their work or not.  Larger organizations with savvy 
government relations and a willingness to stay away from 
sensitive issues - whether domestic or international -- have 
been typically able to expand their post-quake work, while some 
smaller NGOs that want to maintain more autonomy have found 
themselves increasingly squeezed out. 
BROWN