MEDIA REACTION: U.S. ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN

UNCLAS TAIPEI 002752 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/RSP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - ROBERT PALLADINO DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S. ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN ¶1. Summary: As the Taipei dailies continued to keep their eyes on local politics and a local public security incident, the pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest daily, carried a news story on page two that reported on Acting Under Secretary of Commerce Peter Lichtenbaum's testimony before a Congressional hearing Thursday; it carried the headline: "United States bans exports of sensitive military and civil dual-use technology to China." The sub-headline added: "Acting [U.S.] under secretary of commerce testifies before a Congressional hearing that [his Department] will propose new restrictions to strengthen control of exports to China; [He] also names China's semi-conductor plants as a big challenge [for the United States]." ¶2. The limited-circulation, pro-independence, English- language "Taiwan Daily" ran an editorial criticizing the upcoming KMT chairmanship election. The editorial also criticized the Pan-Blue Camp's attempt to block the bill governing U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in the Legislative Yuan. End summary. "Taiwan Must Reject KMT's Jingoism" The pro-independence "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (6/24): ". The opposition KMT and its shrinking splinter People First Party have already made significant `contributions to the cause of unification' by blocking the NT$480 billion purchase of advanced defensive weapons by Taiwan from Washington. "These systems, especially the proffered eight diesel- electric submarines and P-3C `Orion' submarine hunting aircraft, would play a major role in enhancing the overall quality of anti-submarine defenses from the Luzon Strait through Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa island chain. "Breaking the U.S.-managed line of dense in the western Pacific, which stands in the way of the PRC's ambitions to become an ocean-based naval power, is one of Beijing's top strategic priorities. "The sensitivity of this region was demonstrated by the repeated prowling of the area by PRC surveillance ships and by China's attempt to slip a submarine through the Okinawa chain last November that sparked a formal protest to Beijing by Tokyo. "Regardless of sovereignty issue, the bottom line is that it is absolutely in Taiwan's best interests that another democracy, namely Japan, continues to exercise substantial control over the Diaoyutais. "The only real-world alternative is allowing the zone to become a sieve for surface or submarine naval incursions by a hostile and authoritarian PRC. ." PAAL