MEDIA REACTION: CHINA-RUSSIA MILITARY EXERCISE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003522

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: CHINA-RUSSIA MILITARY EXERCISE



1. Summary: The Taipei dailies gave extensive coverage
August 23 to the 17-hour riot by Thai workers in
Kaohsiung and the Government Information Office's (GIO)
clarification regarding its delay in distributing to
local charity groups the money collected for last
December's tsunami relief efforts. All the major
Chinese-language newspapers in Taiwan, however, also
reported on the Ministry of National Defense's move to
transfer NT$7 billion from the special budget for the
U.S. arms procurement bill to Taiwan's regular annual
budget. The pro-unification "United Daily News" ran an
exclusive news story on its front page that was topped
with the headline: "Aborigine passports are altered en
masse." The sub-headline added: "A cross-national ring
purchases I.D. cards from possibly `over a thousand'
aborigines [residing] in Hualien and Taitung, uses them
to apply for passports and sells them at a high price
to mainland Chinese being trafficked [to other
countries]. U.S. and Canadian governments express
concern [about this]."


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, most
newspapers editorialized on the GIO's failure to
efficiently handle the relief money collected for
helping tsunami victims. Professor Yang Yung-ming of
National Taiwan University commented on the China-
Russia military exercises in an op-ed piece in the mass-
circulation "Apple Daily," noting that China's
strategic intent to use military force to maintain its
national interest and position in the region is very
clear. An editorial in the limited-circulation, pro-
independence, English-language "Taiwan News" said the
Sino-Russia military exercises constitute an act
inimical to peace and security in Northeast Asia and
will inevitably intensify military competition in the
region. End summary.

A) "China and Russia Want to Establish a Security
Protection System"

Yang Yung-ming, professor of political science at
National Taiwan University, commented in the mass-
circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 570,000]
(8/23):

". The joint Sino-Russia military exercises do not
represent a military alliance between the two
countries, but the drills did manifest multiple
significances in various aspects such as weaponry,
tactics, strategy and politics. Any judgment made from
a single perspective cannot define the big picture as a
whole. One thing is certain, though -- namely, China's
strategic intent to use military [force] to maintain
its national interest and position in the region is
very clear. The political and military interaction and
cooperation between China and Russia will likely enter
a new stage in the Sino-Russia security protection
system, and in the future, the security strategy
situation in East Asia will no longer be single-
handedly controlled by the United States. These are
the new situations that Taiwan needs to acknowledge and
encounter."

B) "China Signals Ambitions in Joint War Games"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News"
[circulation: 20,000] editorialized (8/23):

". The most worrisome aspect of the exercises is that
they constitute a major indication that China's
strategy of economic opening is being transformed into
a strategy of cross-border projection of military
force.

"In contrast to Moscow's cautious decision to avoid the
sensitive Taiwan Strait, Beijing clearly intended to
manifest its capabilities to project force not only
eastward toward Taiwan and the East China Sea through
simulation of blockade actions, but also showed its
potential to intervene in the Central Asia region
comprised by the five country Shanghai Cooperation
Organization. .

"There can be little doubt that the decision to hold
the joint exercises aims to display China's military
muscles to neighboring countries, notably Japan and
Taiwan, and indirectly, the United States. .

"In sum, the holding of the joint exercises constitutes
an act inimical to peace and security in Northeast Asia
and will inevitably intensify military competition in
the region.

"The display of PRC military prowess with advanced
offensive Russian-made weaponry also sends a sobering
message to Taiwanese citizens and politicians about the
necessity and urgency of upgrading our own defensive
preparations."

KEEGAN