US embassy cable - 05LIMA478

UNCLAS LIMA 000478 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, ECON, PE, CH, Dignitary Visits 
SUBJECT: CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT ZENG QINGHONG'S VISIT TO 
PERU 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Handle Accordingly 
 
1. (U) Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong, accompanied by a 
delegation of 124 persons, paid an official visit to Peru on 
January 26 to 28.  The visit here was the second leg of a 
five-nation sojourn within Latin America and the Caribbean, 
which also includes Mexico, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, 
and Jamaica. 
 
2. (U) At a meeting with the Chinese Vice President on 1/27, 
President Toledo expressed his satisfaction with Peru-China 
relations, saying ties were at their highest point in 
history, thanks to the broad consensus that Toledo had 
arrived at with Chinese President Hu Jintao.  Toledo praised 
the two countries' good political relations and close 
economic ties, said that Peru recognizes China's full market 
economy status, and reiterated Peru's adherence to a 
"One-China" policy.  Toledo called for expanded cooperation 
in the fields of infrastructure and tourism, and invited 
Chinese businessmen to invest in Peru.  In his turn, Zeng 
Qinghong voiced appreciation for Peru's support regarding 
Taiwan and on human rights issues.  Zeng noted that China was 
Peru's second largest trading partner and third largest 
market, and that Peru ranks second in terms of Chinese 
investment in Latin America. 
3. (U) After their meeting, the two leaders participated in 
the signing of eight cooperation agreements.  These included 
a mutual legal assistance treaty, and agreements on economic 
and technological cooperation, tourism, investment and 
energy.  The GOP gave particular emphasis to the signing of 
an MOU making Peru an official tourist destination for China, 
which is projected to immediately increase the number of 
Chinese visitors here annually from 4,000 to 40,000. 
 
4. (U) During his visit, Zeng Qinghong also met with the 
Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community (Peru, Venezuela, 
Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia).  This encounter was described 
as the highest-level meeting since China and the Andean 
Community signed a 2000 agreement establishing a Political 
Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism.  Zeng and the Foreign 
Ministers reviewed political, economic and social relations. 
The Andean Ministers endorsed China's "peaceful 
reunification" and "one country, two systems" policies.  The 
two sides also identified trade, investment, natural 
resources, technology, environment, sustainable development 
and fighting illicit drug trafficking as priority areas for 
future cooperation. 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT:  President Toledo was clearly pleased with 
the opportunity that Zeng's visit gave him to rise above the 
wearying day-to-day political fray here, and announced that 
he had accepted an invitation for an official visit to China 
in May.  Embassy has requested meetings with Foreign Ministry 
and Chinese Embassy reps to discuss the impact of Zeng's 
visit, and we will report further septel.  Future reporting 
will also assess the impact that increased Chinese tourism 
here might have on alien smuggling to the U.S. 
CAULFIELD 
 
 
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