Cablegate: China/G-20 Summit: Hu Jintao Will Attend, Mfa

VZCZCXRO7698
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHRN RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4084/01 3030807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290807Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0662
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHSS/OECD POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 004084

TREASURY FOR TSMITH
TREASURY FOR OASIA - DOHNER/HAARSAGER/CUSHMAN
TREASURY FOR IMFP - SOBEL/MOGHTADER
NSC FOR LOI
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EEB/OMA

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON KPAO PREL PGOV CH
SUBJECT: China/G-20 Summit: Hu Jintao will Attend, MFA
Provides Specific Requests

Ref: 1) STATE 113253 2) STATE 113256 3) BEIJING 04062

(U) THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE
HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION

1. (SBU) Summary: On October 27, Vice Foreign Minister He
Yafei asked CDA Daniel Piccuta to join him at the Ministry
to inform him that President Hu Jintao would attend the
Financial Summit. The Vice Minister asked for specific
logistical arrangements, including a larger Chinese
delegation, seating next to the President at dinner, high
precedence in the summit, and bilateral consultations prior
to drafting of the statement. He also requested U.S.
attention to security issues and a bilateral leaders'
meeting, offering flexible timing in order to make it
possible. He Yafei noted that a Hong Kong delegate might
attend, but he could not yet confirm this position.
Substantively, China is looking towards focusing on how the
financial system affects developing countries. End summary.

2. (SBU) Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei provided a letter
from President Hu Jintao to President Bush formally
accepting the invitation to attend the Summit on Financial
Markets and the World Economy in Washington, DC (see refs 1
and 2). He said Hu will lead a "huge" delegation. VFM He
said Hu had made a personal decision to attend both the
summit and the dinner. Reading from points, He
characterized Hu's attendance as a clear demonstration of
China's commitment to a global solution to the crisis, its
intention to play a "positive and constructive" role, and
the value it gave the bilateral relationship.

Summit Details and Protocol
---------------------------

3. (SBU) He hoped that the U.S. side would confirm meeting
specifics as soon as possible. In particular, he asked
about timing, location, the layout of the meeting room, how
long each leader would speak, whether or not there would be
roundtable discussions, participating countries, and the
number of participants allowed in the hall (see ref 3). He
had the following requests:
-- China be allowed to bring a somewhat larger delegation
into the hall (note: MFA staffers have told us that Hu
intends to bring two vice premiers, the foreign and finance
ministers, the central bank governor, and his Sherpa);
-- Hu Jintao be allowed to sit next to President Bush at
the dinner (note: the Chinese have drawn parallels to the
protocol precedence accorded President Bush at the
Olympics);
-- when deciding speaking order, that if Hu Jintao does not
speak first he be among the first; and
-- that the United States and China engage in bilateral
consultations before Washington drafts the summit statement.

4. (SBU) The Vice Foreign Minister promised full
transparency regarding China's consultations with emerging
and developing economies. He said he expected the process
to include both bilateral and multilateral elements.
(Comment: In earlier meetings (see ref 3), He had indicated
that China could hold multilateral meetings with developing
countries, and then possibly voice their collective
concerns in bilateral meetings with the United States. End
comment.)

Security
--------

5. (SBU) VFM He said security was China's number one
concern. He said that they will place Hu Jintao's security
in U.S. hands, and had full trust and confidence that that
United States would provide "foolproof" security. China's
advance team, he noted, was already in Washington focusing
on security arrangements.

Bilateral
---------

6. (SBU) It would be "timely and beneficial" for the two
presidents to conduct a bilateral meeting, according to He.
China had heard and understood the message that, because of

BEIJING 00004084 002 OF 002

the numbers involved, the President could not have a
bilateral with everyone, so he would be meeting one-on-one
with no one. He stressed that he was not urging a
bilateral during the summit, but offered the "personal"
suggestion that a meeting could occur after the summit had
ended on the afternoon of the 15th, or even on the morning
of the 16th if President Hu delayed his departure.

Hong Kong
---------

7. (SBU) Vice Foreign Minister He said that Hong Kong was
an important economic entity and a representative might
join the delegation. China will study the idea and respond
at a later date.

Substantive Focus
-----------------

8. (SBU) He said that China is now holding internal
discussions including the People's Bank of China and the
Ministry of Finance to determine its approach to the summit.
He speculated that China was interested in more than "just
reform" of international institutions and regulations. The
VFM said China is interested in the way that the global
financial system affects developing counties, in particular
Africa and Asia. He also noted that China wanted to focus
on the responsibility to keep the financial crisis from
spreading to the real economy, as well as a responsibility
to prevent a global recession.

Piccuta

© Scoop Media