VZCZCXRO5089
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3325/01 3480925
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140925Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7203
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003325 
 
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: PREL ECON SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN, CLIMATE CHANGE, NEW 
ENERGY, AFGHANISTAN 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
¶1.  ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN 
 
"Chinese military issues warning about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan" 
 
The official Communist Party international news publication Global 
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(12/14)(pg 16): "A Chinese Ministry of Defense 
official said that if the U.S. sells arms to Taiwan it will not only 
damage China's interests, but will cause even greater damage to U.S. 
interests.  The possibility of such an arms sale has given rise to 
great uncertainty in U.S.-China relations.  A Chinese expert said 
that regardless of Obama's reason for doing this - to pacify 
domestic arms dealers or the conservatives who criticize him for 
lowering his head to China - U.S.-China relations will surely 
experience a setback if he actually goes through with it.  The White 
House should be prepared for all consequences.  Compared to the 
optimism of the media in Taiwan, international media outlets were 
rather shocked by the news of Obama's possible arms sale to Taiwan. 
Wang Jianmin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social 
Sciences' Taiwan Studies Institute, said that the United States has 
shown its outright hypocrisy on arms sales to Taiwan.  The weapons 
that the U.S. has sold to Taiwan have not only increased in number, 
but are also more advanced technologically.  The Taiwan issue, which 
was replaced by economic issues as the focal point in U.S.-China 
relations over the past year due to the financial crisis and warmer 
cross-Strait relations, may once again become the main source of 
friction in the bilateral relationship." 
 
¶2.  CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
"Climate change is threatening China's development" 
 
The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual 
publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official 
publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(12/13)(pg 
A17): "Luo Yong, the Deputy Director General of the China 
Meteorological Administration's National Climate Center, said that 
climate change has become a serious challenge to sustainable 
development in China, as most of the world's climate-related 
disasters have occurred in China and extreme heat waves could hit 
China more frequently.  As evidence, he cited the fact that summer 
heat waves have occurred more frequently; there have been more days 
with temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius than in 1998; regional 
droughts have intensified; there have been droughts in Northern 
China in eight of the past 20 years; and the Changjiang and Huaihe 
Rivers have flooded more in recent years.  These climate-related 
disasters will increase the cost of China's economic development and 
thus pose a threat to its development." 
 
¶3.  NEW ENERGY 
 
"Will new energy become a new point of friction between China and 
the U.S?" 
 
The official Xinhua News Agency international news publication 
International Herald Leader (Guoji Xianqu Daobao)(12/14)(pg 10): "On 
the development of new energy resources, China should adopt a clear 
national policy and a firm stance, which is not be influenced by 
changes in the international economic or political environment. 
China should make clear to its various government departments and 
its society at large that its efforts to develop new energy 
resources are solely motivated by the fact that it wants to enhance 
the competitiveness of new energy resources against traditional 
fossil fuels to protect the country's natural resources and benefit 
our offspring.  China's development of new energy resources is not 
intended as a way to deal with international pressure, nor to make 
foreigners happy, nor as an expedient measure to resist foreign 
trade sanctions.  China should treat the U.S. intention to cooperate 
with China in developing new energy resources as an opportunity to 
meet China's long-term development needs.  The development of new 
energy resources should not become a new area for diplomatic 
friction between the United States and China, but rather an area for 
bilateral cooperation." 
 
¶4.  AFGHANISTAN 
 
"Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan easier said than done" 
 
The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual 
publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official 
publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(12/12)(pg 
B07): "Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan is really just an 
undercover troop surge plan.  In fact, Obama has finally come to the 
same conclusion as Bush about the 9/11 incident: that it was part of 
a terrorist war, rather than just an individual crime.  The war in 
 
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Afghanistan is a war of invasion made possible by the breaking of 
the UN's framework, not just the sending of international police 
units to the country to arrest the criminals.  However, an increase 
in the number of troops will not easily resolve the problem either. 
Obama hopes to quickly train a new Afghan government to combat the 
Taliban on its own, but the fact of the matter is that there is a 
great gap between the quality of the two countries' soldiers. 
Afghanistan will be unable to afford the cost of its security forces 
for at least the next 15 to 20 years, and the new Afghan regime is 
as fragile as its security forces.  It is difficult to predict the 
future of the war in Afghanistan and for at least the next 18 months 
a settlement is unlikely." 
 
 
GOLDBERG