VZCZCXRO6144
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3336/01 3490741
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150741Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7231
INFO RUEANAT/NASA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC 0772
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDC/NOAA NMSF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECU WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 9459
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1866
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5004
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4673
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0031
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3655
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9798
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0144
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1428
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1427
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003336 
 
STATE FOR OES/SAT, EAP/CM, ISN/MDSP AND T 
NASA/OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS FOR A/A O'BRIEN 
TOKYO FOR NASA ATTACHE TILMAN 
PARIS FOR NASA ATTACHE BARRY 
MOSCOW FOR NASA ATTACHE BUZZARD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA TSPL TPHY PREL CH
SUBJECT: CHINA MANNED SPACE ENGINEERING OFFICE (CMSE) WELCOMES 
HIGH-LEVEL BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS ON MANNED SPACE 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On December 8, ESTH Offs met with representatives from 
China's Man Space Engineering Office (CMSE) to discuss next steps 
for initiating bilateral discussions on cooperation in human 
spaceflight, as stipulated in the  Joint Statement released during 
President Obama's visit to Beijing in mid-November.  NASA 
Administrator Charles Bolden has tentative plans to make his first 
trip to China in April 2010, and NASA Assistant Administrator for 
External Relations Michael O'Brien will visit Beijing in early 
February 2010 to prepare for Bolden's trip.  The meeting on December 
8 was the first time Embassy officers have had an opportunity to 
interact directly with CMSE.  (NOTE:  While CMSE may be a 
non-military entity, it is well-known that ultimate authority for 
China's manned space program resides with the People's Liberation 
Army's General Armaments Department (PLA/GAD). END NOTE) 
 
AN EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP ON MANNED SPACE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mr. GUO Guanchen, CMSE's Deputy Director for International 
Cooperation (Deputy Director General-level) led off the meeting by 
acknowledging that the space relationship between China and the 
United States had been a rocky one.  Guo attributed this to the U.S. 
side but noted that in his view, the tenor of the relationship began 
to change in March 2009, when the Space Foundation--a U.S.-based 
organization dedicated to expanding space science and 
exploration--awarded the Foundation's prestigious annual award for 
achievements in space exploration to a group of Chinese manned space 
leaders and astronauts. (NOTE:  Embassy Beijing helped expedite 
visas to the United States for this delegation so that they could 
make the awards ceremony in time, assistance which CMSE apparently 
still remembers positively.  END NOTE) According to Guo, following 
their visit to the United States, CMSE hosted the Space Foundation 
for a reciprocal visit to China.  CMSE showed the delegation, which 
also included journalists from leading industry magazines "Aviation 
Week" and "Space Technology," all of the major manned space 
facilities in Beijing's "Space City," as well as the 
highly-restricted Jiuquan Manned Space Launch Center in Gansu 
Province. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Guo further stated that he was pleased to see a "door 
opened" with respect to manned space and stated that CMSE would be 
open to a broad dialogue "about anything."  In fact, CMSE already 
has been studying ways in which China and the United States can 
begin a dialogue on manned space, and said that CMSE would propose 
forming a small working group with NASA that can map out how a 
dialogue should proceed. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In response to ESTH Counselor's query about the possibility 
of NASA Administrator Bolden visiting the Jiuquan Manned Space 
Launch Center during his April 2010 visit, Guo expressed some 
reluctance, citing that it would take three days just to reach the 
site from Beijing, and remained noncommittal.  Nevertheless, he did 
boast of the "great visit" that the Space Foundation had taken to 
Jiuquan earlier in the year.  Guo assured ESTH Counselor that 
previous difficulties associated with high-level NASA officials 
visiting the Jiuquan site were due to poor timing, but now that 
"proper groundwork" has been laid by the two presidents, China's 
space establishment may be more receptive to this latest request to 
visit Jiuquan. 
 
TWO TRACKS AND TWO HOSTS:  CMSE AND CNSA 
---------------------------------------- 
 
BEIJING 00003336  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) With respect to who should "host" Administrator Bolden in 
April, Guo suggested that both CMSE and the China National Space 
Administration (CNSA) should serve as "co-hosts;" however, he made 
clear that CMSE does not want any overlap or mixing of the two 
schedules for the "manned" and "unmanned" tracks.  (NOTE:  Previous 
NASA interactions with Chinese space authorities have revolved 
around contacts with CNSA, the nominal lead for China's civilian 
space program, which could partially explain why previous requests 
to visit the Jiuquan facility were refused.  END NOTE) Guo also 
indicated that CMSE meetings and site visits should take place 
first, suggesting that the Administrator spend the first three to 
four days with CMSE on manned space issues, and then conclude the 
trip with two days on "unmanned" issues, with CNSA as host.  He also 
noted that CMSE and CNSA would issue separate letters inviting 
Administrator Bolden to China. 
 
NEXT STEPS:  DIPLOMATIC NOTES AND PREPATORY TALKS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Guo further suggested that the best next step would be for 
Embassy Beijing to send separate diplomatic notes to CMSE and CNSA 
so that internal Chinese government inquiries and approvals can 
begin.  In addition to specific details associated with 
Administrator Bolden's delegation, CMSE emphasized that the 
diplomatic notes should specifically welcome a reciprocal visit to 
the United States by an appropriate Chinese counterpart, and seemed 
interested in the suggested possibility of Chinese space officials 
attending a scheduled NASA shuttle launch in July 2010. 
 
¶8. (SBU) CMSE agreed that a first meeting with NASA Assistant 
Administrator for External Relations Michael O'Brien face-to-face 
during his next trip to Beijing (currently February 1-3, 2010) would 
be an ideal way to lay the groundwork for the Administrator's April 
visit. 
 
MEETING PARTICIPANTS 
-------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The following CMSE officials participated in the meeting 
with ESTH Offs: 
 
--Mr. GUO Guanchen, Deputy Director of International Cooperation 
(DDG-level), China Manned Space Exploration Office (CMSE) 
 
--Mr. LIU Shujun, Deputy Director of the Planning Bureau 
(DDG-level), CMSE 
 
-Mr. NIU Aimin, Senior Engineer, Planning Bureau, CMSE 
 
--Mr. ZONG Ye, Program Officer, Planning Bureau, CMSE (Zong will be 
Post's primary working-level contact during this process.) 
--Mr. FENG Wei, Program Officer, Planning Bureau, CMSE 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT: NASA currently is reviewing draft text of the 
diplomatic notes.  In order to ensure full coordination on this 
effort, CMSE contacts will have a chance to offer additional input 
on the exact wording of these diplomatic notes before they are sent 
formally to recipients.  Post anticipates that these diplomatic 
notes will go out in final in early- to mid- January.  During this 
discussion with CMSE, interlocutors were not entirely dismissive of 
CNSA; however, they did make it clear that they consider CMSE to be 
at the top of the space hierarchy in China.  END COMMENT. 
 
GOLDBERG