Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 08BEIJING3385, PARTY ENJOYS BOOST THANKS TO OLYMPICS, BUT SOME

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08BEIJING3385.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BEIJING3385 2008-09-02 10:30 2010-12-28 21:30 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Beijing
VZCZCXRO3005
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3385/01 2461030
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021030Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9664
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003385

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2033
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KOLY CH
SUBJECT: PARTY ENJOYS BOOST THANKS TO OLYMPICS, BUT SOME
ANGER OVER COSTS

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson
for reasons 1.4 (B/D).

Summary
-------

1. (C) China's top leadership and a sizeable majority
of the Chinese public view the recent Beijing-hosted
Olympic Games as a great success, according to Embassy
contacts. Most academics and journalists we spoke
with in the week following the August 24 closing
ceremony told us the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is
enjoying an increase in legitimacy as a result.
However, several of the contacts warned that these
gains are tempered by widespread resentment of the
"excessive" costs of hosting the Games. Some
interlocutors believe Politburo Standing Committee
members Xi Jinping, who was in charge of overall
Olympic preparations, and Zhou Yongkang, responsible
for internal security, have benefited politically from
pulling off an Olympics free of serious disruption.
Others feel President Hu Jintao is the biggest winner
from the Games. End summary.

Boost to Party Legitimacy...
----------------------------

2. (C) The central leadership views the recent
Beijing-hosted Olympics as a great success that has
given the regime a boost in legitimacy, according to
numerous contacts we spoke with in the days following
the August 24 closing ceremony. Dong Lisheng
(protect), a political scientist at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, told PolOff the Games "far
exceeded" the expectations of top-level Party leaders,
who welcomed the public's nationalistic response as a
boost for Party legitimacy. Freelance journalist Chen
Jieren (protect), who is the nephew of Politburo
Standing Committee member He Guoqiang, said "70
percent" of the public supported the Games. For most
Chinese, Chen said, the Olympics were about "standing
up" and winning the world's respect and were thus
successful. Chen Hao (protect), Executive Editor-in-
Chief of the International Herald Leader, a newspaper
run by the Xinhua News Agency, said the Olympics
represent a clear "political achievement" (zheng ji)
for the Party that will make it easier for the central
leadership to implement its policies in the coming
months. Professor Su Hao (protect), of China Foreign
Affairs University (CFAU), offered a similar
assessment, saying that the success of the Games
resulted in a "large boost in legitimacy" for the
government and a surge of national pride.

...but Resentment over Costs
----------------------------

3. (C) While contacts generally agreed the Olympics
will boost public support for the Communist Party,
many of our interlocutors cautioned that any
legitimacy gains are diluted by wide-spread criticism
over the excessive expense of hosting (which was
announced as over USD 40 billion, including
infrastructure investment). Wu Yin (protect), Vice
President of the public opinion polling firm Horizon,
told PolOff August 28 that many Beijingers believe
hosting the Olympics has accelerated the rise in fuel
and food prices. Strict security, Wu continued,
dampened public enthusiasm during the Games and there
is lingering disappointment that the much-anticipated
economic benefits to Beijing's service industry failed
to materialize. In the end, Wu argued, gains in
public support for the Party will be minimal, at best.
Guan Renfeng (protect), a graduate student at Xinjiang
University who visited Beijing during the final
weekend of the Games, told PolOff August 25 that he is
proud of his country's Olympics effort but he gives
the government an "A minus" rather than an A "because
they spent too much money." Guangming Ribao editor
Dong Yuyu (protect) commented that while the majority
of Chinese "reflexively" support the Olympics and feel
proud, the public feels uneasy about excessive
government spending. Dong said many Chinese, had they
been given a choice, would have supported spending
these resources on education and health care rather
than hosting the Olympics. Niu Xinchun (protect), a
scholar at the Ministry of State Security-affiliated
Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International
Relations (CICIR), told PolOff August 25 that a
"significant portion" of the Chinese public resents

BEIJING 00003385 002 OF 002


the enormous costs of hosting the Games. CFAU's Su,
however, felt such concerns over spending are
overblown, noting that the cost of the Olympics was
just a small percentage of China's total GDP.

Central Dissatisfaction with BOCOG
-----------------------------------

4. (C) Ding Kuisong (protect), Vice Chairman of the
CCP Party School-affiliated think tank China Reform
Forum, said Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) Member
and Vice President Xi Jinping was placed in charge of
the overall Olympics effort due, in part, to high-
level dissatisfaction with missteps by the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the 29th
Olympiad (BOCOG). BOCOG's alleged mistakes included
agreeing "without sufficient coordination" to global
torch relay routes that were "inappropriate." Ding
said Xi, and even CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao,
personally made many Olympics-related decisions,
including logistical arrangements for President Bush's
attendance at the opening ceremony. Dissident scholar
Liu Junning (protect), told PolOff September 2 that
he, too, had heard of tension between BOCOG and the
central leadership over the torch relay fiasco, but
Liu said it was always the plan to have the Central
Government take the lead role in the final weeks.

Olympic Victory for Xi Jinping, Zhou Yongkang
---------------------------------------------

5. (C) Chen Jieren told PolOff that both Xi Jinping
and fellow PBSC member Zhou Yongkang, who is in charge
of China's security apparatus, benefited politically
from the Games. Overseeing the Olympics was the first
major assignment for Xi since being promoted to the
PBSC in October 2007. While Chen said that some of
Xi's rivals at the top may have secretly hoped that Xi
would stumble, the success of the Games has, in fact,
burnished Xi's image. Zhou Yongkang, meanwhile, is
now "exceptionally powerful," Chen said. Zhou had
already received a great deal of praise following the
Sichuan earthquake due to the quick response of
security forces, Chen explained, and the lack of a
major security incident at the Olympics further
strengthened Zhou's standing. Dong Lisheng, of CASS,
largely echoed Chen's comments, saying Xi passed his
first major test as a top-level leader.

Hu Jintao and Collective Leadership the Real Winners
--------------------------------------------- -------

6. (C) Guangming Ribao editor Dong Yuyu concurred that
Zhou is very powerful and his stock is rising because
of his performance over the last year and during the
Olympics. However, Dong did not agree that Xi
Jinping's political stature had risen as a result of
his Olympics assignment. According to Dong, the
Party's Central Secretariat assumed overall management
of the Games and it was "natural" for Xi, as head of
the Secretariat, to take the leading role. Moreover,
Xi still coordinated all Olympic decisions with the
rest of the Politburo Standing Committee. If
anything, Dong argued, the Olympics was a "collective"
triumph for the entire Party leadership, not just Xi.
Liu Junning agreed, saying Hu Jintao, not Xi Jinping,
is the main beneficiary of the Olympics given Hu's
prominence during the Games. (Note: In addition to
hosting world leaders and presiding over the opening
ceremony, Hu made high-profile appearances at several
events.) "It was clear to everyone that Hu Jintao was
the real host of the Olympics," Liu said.
RANDT