VZCZCXRO2778
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHBJ #0259/01 0320851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010851Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7858
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000259 
 
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, INTERNET FREEDOM 
 
-------------------- 
  Editorial Quotes 
-------------------- 
 
ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN 
 
a. "The preemptive Cold War mentality" 
 
The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(01/30)(pg 
3): "When facing the United States' preemptive Cold War mentality 
and moral hypocrisy demonstrated in its arms sales to Taiwan, the 
people are very surprised.  The 'Taiwan Relations Act' is itself a 
product of Cold War mentality. Today, the U.S. government not only 
failed to fulfill its promise to gradually reduce arms sales to 
Taiwan and, over a period of time, to reach a final settlement, but 
also increasingly demonstrated their arbitrary inclinations.  The 
U.S. government's actions have created tension.  At its base, the 
United States intends to draw an ideological line, ending and 
guarding against China's development and progress by using every 
possible means.  The U.S. government is ignoring U.S.-China 
relations and is giving-in to military and industrial enterprises. 
This is a pathetic and short-sighted strategy.  Over the past year, 
the U.S. government tried to demonstrate an attitude based on 
'change' within a series of major international issues; but arms 
sales to Taiwan run counter to this attitude.  While claiming to 
respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the U.S. 
sent, through this arms sale, a seriously wrong signal. While 
shouting its support for the peaceful development of cross-strait 
relations, it has produced new instability in the Taiwan Strait 
area.  All of these issues; aren't they typical of the moral 
hypocrisy of the United States?  The Chinese Foreign Ministry has 
announced that, since the U.S.'s arms sales to Taiwan have seriously 
damaged Sino-U.S. relations, China has decided to take 
countermeasures.  If the U.S. government does not recognize and 
withdraw from its wrong decision as soon as possible, instead 
blindly following its Cold War mentality at the expense of China's 
core interests and major concerns, the U.S. will further damage 
Sino-U.S. relations, undermining the course of world peace, and 
will, in the end, suffer the consequence themselves." 
 
b. "China to impose sanctions against U.S. enterprises selling arms 
to Taiwan" 
 
The Shanghai-based Shanghai Media Group (SMG) publication, China 
Business News (Diyi Caijing)(02/01)(pg A4): "Sun Zhe, director of 
Research Center for China-U.S. Relations at Tsinghua University, 
said that since the 1979 establishment of Sino-U.S. diplomatic 
relations, the United States has never abided by the three Sino-U.S. 
joint communiqus on arms sales to Taiwan.  Ye Hailin, a researcher 
of the Asia-Pacific Political Office at the Chinese Academy of 
Social Sciences, said that Sino-U.S. relations should not be left to 
the mercy of the United States.  Whenever it needs bilateral 
cooperation, it will seek cooperation with China; but whenever it 
needs to solve its domestic issues, it will play the China card, 
which for China is unacceptable.  The U.S.'s arms sales to Taiwan 
may not drag Sino-U.S. relations down to the level in 2001, after 
the plane collision incident at South China Sea, but the 
relationship will certainly not be like Obama thinks, one to just 
pass on.  This time the American companies that China will sanction 
will mainly be Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin who produce Patriot-3 
missiles.  It will be more effective for Sikorsky who has both 
military and civilian products.  Chinese Foreign Ministry officials 
also said that Sino-U.S. cooperation on key international and 
regional issues will inevitably be affected." 
 
c. "Arms sales sours ties" 
 
The official English-language newspaper China Daily (2/01)(pg 8): 
"Despite Beijing's repeated protests and warnings of serious 
consequences for Sino-U.S. relations, Washington, as always, went 
its own way over the weekend and gave the nod to a massive arms sale 
package to Taiwan.  This is the stance the U.S. has taken vis-a-vis 
a 'stakeholder' - and sometimes 'constructive partner' - terms that 
it uses to describe China's ties with the world and itself.  Uncle 
Sam's $6.4 billion arms package to equip Taiwan, including Patriot 
anti-missile systems, Black Hawk helicopters and Harpoon missiles, 
reminds us how grudgingly Washington sees China's rise and its 
unwillingness to see compatriots across the Straits live in peace. 
Washington's arrogance also reflects the stark reality of how a 
nation's interests could be trampled upon by another.  We have to 
forget the pledge that "the United States does not seek to contain 
China" made by Barack Obama when he was warmly welcomed in Beijing 
just two months ago. Sincerity is subject to proof of action, not 
mere words.  The U.S. promised in a joint communiqu signed on Aug 
17, 1982 - which forms the cornerstone of Sino-U.S. relations - that 
"it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to 
Taiwan". It also pledged that Washington "intends to reduce 
gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time 
to a final resolution".  But how many times has Washington trashed 
 
BEIJING 00000259  002 OF 002 
 
 
its words for the sake of expediency or other ulterior motives?  For 
the world's only superpower, it now seems that a promise is not a 
promise.  The arms sale is gross interference in China's internal 
affairs.  It seriously undermines China's national security and 
national reunification, and thus inevitably casts a long shadow on 
Sino-U.S. relations.  China's response, no matter how vehement, is 
justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its 
national security is endangered and core interests damaged.  The 
U.S. decision not only runs counter to the common dream of pursuing 
development and cooperation among the people on both sides of the 
Taiwan Straits, but also exposes the U.S.' usage of double standards 
and hypocrisy on major issues related to China's core interests. 
Compared with the U.S., China is still weak, both economically and 
militarily. The countermeasures that China has taken - ranging from 
repeated protests to plans to halt military exchanges and punish 
U.S. companies involved in the arms sale - may not be forceful 
enough to compel Washington to mend its ways. But a message has to 
be sent loud and clear: If the U.S. shows no respect to China's core 
interests, it cannot expect cooperation from China on a wide range 
of major regional and international issues.  China must make sure 
that it means what it says." 
 
INTERNET FREEDOM 
 
"Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson responded to a question on 
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and the U.S. Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton's meeting on internet freedom" 
 
The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) 
(01/30)(pg 21): "Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu 
said that China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi clarified China's 
stance on Internet management and emphasized that the Internet is 
open and active in China.  Yang stressed that the Chinese people 
enjoyed adequate freedom of speech in line with the law and have 
access to various kinds of information, which is one important 
reason why the Chinese people unswervingly follow the path of 
socialism with Chinese characteristics.  Foreign Minister Yang noted 
earlier that to promoting the development of the Internet is a 
consistent policy.  China has its own national conditions and 
cultural traditions.  China's management of the Internet adheres to 
the law and is in line with common practice in the world.  China has 
been one of the world's major victims of hacker attacks.  China 
stands for closer international cooperation to jointly crack down on 
Internet hacking, protecting citizens' privacy according to the law 
and safeguarding network security." 
 
HUNTSMAN