Cablegate: Getting to Know You: Nanjing Officials Warm to Consulate

VZCZCXRO1044
RR RUEHCN
DE RUEHGH #0046/01 0420822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110822Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8547
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 9214

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000046

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM, IIP/W, IRM/BPC/E-DIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI BEXP KPAO OIIP ECON CH
SUBJECT: GETTING TO KNOW YOU: NANJING OFFICIALS WARM TO CONSULATE
OUTREACH

REF: A. a) SHANGHAI 27 (Jinagsu People's Congress Opening)
B. b) 09 SHANGHAI 477 (Ambassador's Jiangsu Trip)
C. c) 09 SHANGHAI 421 (New York Legislature Event)
D. d) 09 SHANGHAI 320 (Independence Day Reception)
E. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Not for distribution outside USG channels.

SHANGHAI 00000046 001.2 OF 002

1. (SBU) Summary: Jiangsu provincial officials who were
initially suspicious of Consulate General efforts to implement
an "American Presence Officer" program in Nanjing a little over
a year ago are now keen on more contact with the Consulate.
Neighbor provinces Anhui and Zhejiang, watching the increased
Consulate focus on Jiangsu, are showing a new-found eagerness to
benefit from similar outreach. End summary.

2. (SBU) Consulate General Shanghai's dedicated provincial
outreach efforts began in October 2008 with the arrival of the
Consulate's first American Presence Officer for Nanjing. (Note:
The Department's original plan to place a U.S. diplomat in
Nanjing was rejected by the Chinese Government. The Nanjing APP
officer therefore covers the region from Shanghai. End note.)
The first task was to build contacts in Nanjing and convince the
Jiangsu provincial government that the assignment of a Consulate
officer dedicated to Nanjing affairs was a boost to relations
rather than somehow threatening.

3. (SBU) At the outset, the Jiangsu Foreign Affairs Office
(FAO) treated the new outreach officer with wariness. Initial
meetings in late 2008 regularly included a standard reminder
from the Chinese side that any permanent USG presence in Nanjing
would require an agreement between the United States and China's
Central Government. The Jiangsu FAO also protested in writing
the use of the title "designated officer for Nanjing" in
official correspondence as being incompatible with the bilateral
consular agreement, even though that same title was used by
Mission staff assigned to comparable positions in other parts of
China without objection by the relevant local authorities.

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From Plum Blossoms to Independence Day
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4. (SBU) As our outreach officer continued to plug away at
establishing relationships, nervous officials started to warm
up. Near-weekly travel to Nanjing and a willingness to accept
all invitations, even the Plum Blossom Festival, helped convince
suspicious officialdom that they had a lot to gain from
Consulate attention.

5. (SBU) Consulate General Shanghai's July 2009 Independence Day
reception in Nanjing saw a notable change in the official
attitude toward our outreach efforts (Ref D). The event marked
the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of
China that the USG had hosted an Independence Day reception in
Nanjing. The Jiangsu Provincial FAO showed clear apprehension
in our initial discussions, suggesting in a mid-June meeting
that no official above the provincial government secretariat
level would likely attend the reception. On the day of the
event, therefore, we were surprised to learn we could expect
high-level and extensive representation by the provincial
leadership. Arriving 30 minutes before the start of the event
and staying well after the ceremonial opening to work the crowd,
Jiangsu's vice governor in charge of foreign affairs led the
official delegation, accompanied by a Nanjing vice mayor and
representatives of the provincial People's Congress and the
provincial People's Political Consultative Conference.
Following the event, the Consulate received very positive
feedback from attendees who said they appreciated the focus on
Nanjing and Jiangsu and asked when the Consulate would host
another such reception.

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Tending the Relationship
------------------------

6. (SBU) Regular tending of the relationship has continued to
yield results. Post participation in an October celebration of

SHANGHAI 00000046 002.2 OF 002

the twentieth anniversary of the Jiangsu-New York sister state
relationship led to interaction with high-level officials,
including Jiangsu Communist Party Secretary Liang Baohua and
Provincial People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee member
Zhou Wei (Ref C). These connections proved instrumental in
gaining requested meetings during Ambassador Huntsman's December
trip as well as in Consulate attendance at the Jiangsu
Provincial People's Congress opening session in January 2010.

7. (SBU) Ambassador Huntsman's travel to Nanjing, Yangzhou and
Suzhou in December 2009 (Ref B) offered a timely opportunity to
introduce our new outreach officer to the leadership. Stressing
this officer's role as our dedicated point of contact for
Nanjing, Ambassador Huntsman reiterated the benefits to the
Chinese officials of having a central contact at the Consulate
for their questions, visits, and programs.

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What a Difference a Year Makes
------------------------------

8. (SBU) The Consulate's request to send observers to the
annual Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress was approved in 2010
after being refused in 2009, another testimony to the contacts
formed and relationships built over the course of the year. As
a result, our Deputy Principal Officer (DPO) and four other
Consulate reps attended the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress
opening session January 25-26 (Ref A). Media coverage of their
presence reached national levels and caught the interest of
officials in neighboring Zhejiang province, who told the DPO
they had seen press reports about his attendance. When he
suggested that Zhejiang might invite Consulate representatives
to its Provincial People's Congress annual session in 2011, the
officials seemed receptive.

9. (SBU) Comment: A little over one year into our enhanced
provincial outreach effort, Consulate General Shanghai has seen
considerable pay-off in the form of increased access. Even
though the Consulate has engaged in extensive public affairs,
political, economic, consular, and trade provincial outreach for
many years, having an officer dedicated specifically to this
effort has yielded tangible results and given us a new tool for
launching effective, targeted outreach aimed at the provincial
and sub-provincial jurisdictions outside Shanghai.
CAMPBA

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