MEDIA REACTION: AVIAN FLU, CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004299

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - ERIC
BARBORIAK
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW ESTH
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AVIAN FLU, CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

Summary: 1. Taiwan dailies October 22 - 24 focused on two
local issues: President Chen Shui-bian started a campaign
Saturday to boost the public support for DPP candidates in
the year-end elections; Acting Kaohsiung City Mayor Yeh Chu-
lan released Friday the investigative report on the scandal
of the Kaohisung Mass Transit system, and the report finds
no major irregularities in the case.


2. With regard to editorials and commentaries, the centrist,
pro-status quo "China Times" editorialized that Taiwan
should deal with China and the WHO at the same time in order
to prevent avian flu from attacking Taiwan. The pro-
independence "Taiwan Daily" urged in its editorial (10/24)
that the DPP government should work on Taiwan's economic
problems and win the 2008 presidential elections in order to
prevent China's annexation of Taiwan. Another editorial of
"Taiwan Daily" (10/22) argued that both China and the United
States should not oppose the Taiwan authorities in terms of
using "Taiwan" as the name of the country. End summary.


I. Avian Flu

"The Bird Flu Has Come, but Taiwan Has to Face a Lot More
Challenges"

The centrist, pro-status quo "China Times" [circulation:
400,000] editorialized (10/22):

". [I]n order to carry out well the prevention of a new wave
of bird flu that has gotten on the world's nerves, Taiwan
has to face a lot more challenges than other countries. In
particular, [we should pay attention to] how Taiwan
cooperates with China, a `nest of viruses' viewed by
international medical agencies; and how Taiwan seeks support
from the World Health organization (WHO). In fact, Taiwan
doesn't have enough `chips' to overcome these two variables:
there is only a strait between Taiwan and China, and cross-
Strait exchanges of passengers and goods are frequent.
Smuggling in the coastal area has also become a blind spot
to prevent bird flu outside the island, i.e. Taiwan's
territory. The world depends on the WHO to manage and
distribute the insufficient supply of Tamiflu. Since Taiwan
is not covered under the WHO net, it becomes a hot potato
for Taiwan to obtain vaccines that cannot be bought by
money. ."

II. Cross-Strait Relations


1. "As Long as Taiwan People Support in 2008 Their Own
Regime and Develop [Taiwan's] Economy Wholeheartedly, China
Could Never Annex Taiwan"

The pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000]
said in its editorial (10/24):

". Taiwan has faced a dilemma of domestic disturbance and
foreign aggression: the pan-Blue alliance incorporated the
pro-unification press, and they have not only showed
pessimistic views toward Taiwan's future, but have actually
destroyed Taiwan; China, on the other hand, played the role
of a `wire-puller.'. When the pan-Blue alliance and China
talk about Taiwan, they express the attitude that Taiwan has
nowhere to go, and the island could no longer survive; but
when they talk about China, they show the feeling of
prosperity and development, [with business] chances
everywhere. This is quite a sharp contrast. . [The DPP
government] should propose solutions that would effectively
upgrade Taiwan's economy, and it should review the problem
of the growing unemployment rate. It is pragmatic for the
government to push for policies that will satisfy peoples'
needs. ."


2. "China Constrains and Blockades [Taiwan's International
Space] by Frightening Means, Due to the Reason that Taiwan
Does Not Have an Independent National Sovereignty"

The pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000]
editorialized that (10/22):

"The Constitution of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) that
Taiwan has been using includes the territories and people of
the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and the People's
Republic of Mongolia. It is doubtless an infringement of
sovereignty to China and Mongolia. Moreover, the P.R.C. has
never recognized the existence of the R.O.C. Hence, the
Beijing authorities have no reason to oppose the Taiwan
people's plan to abandon the obsolete and unrecognized
symbols, such as the name and the constitution of the R.O.C.

"On the other hand, the U.S. Senate passed the `Taiwan
Relations Act' after the United States established
diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. The
fact that the U.S. Senate did not name it as the `Republic
of China Relations Act' means that the United States has
identified Taiwan as an international legal body independent
from China. ."

KEEGAN