MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT,

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001733

SIPDIS

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

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A


TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT,
U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS



1. Summary: As Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies continued to
center their reporting May 19 on alleged involvement in insider
trading by President Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law, who withdrew from
the DPP Thursday, coverage also focused on Chen's approval of the
island's first-ever National Security Report and local corruption
scandals. The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest
daily, ran a banner-headline news story on page four with the
headline: "First-Ever National Security Report Does Not Stipulate
Timetable for [Cross-Strait] Direct Transportation." The
pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" also ran a front-page headline on
the National Security Report, saying that a democratic Taiwan and
the pursuit of peace will be the island's strategic pivot. Several
papers carried on inside pages remarks by Presidential Office
Secretary-General Mark Chen in Washington D.C. that the United

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States is concerned about the process of Taiwan's constitutional
changes.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times"
editorial praised Chen for approving Taiwan's first National
Security Report, and urged both the ruling and opposition parties to
forge a consensus with regard to Taiwan's future strategic pivot.
An opinion piece in the limited-circulation, pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times" criticized Deputy Secretary of State
Robert Zoellick's recent remarks in a congressional hearing. The
article said "Zoellick's remarks reflect the US' heavy bias toward
China and how it is being threatened by Beijing," and that "the
'Zoellick incident' also shows that the State Department does not
have talent capable of presenting creative ideas." An editorial in
the limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan
News" urged the Taiwan government to use independent diplomacy to
protect Taiwan's democracy. End summary.


3. Taiwan's National Security Report

"Both the Ruling and Opposition Parties Should Forge Consensus in
Working Out Sketch of Taiwan's Future Strategic Pivot"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000]
editorialized (5/19):

"... [Thursday's] National Security Council meeting reviewed and
passed Taiwan's first-ever national security report, announcing the
direction Taiwan's sustainable development under the covetous eyes
of its strong enemy. This first-ever national security report of
Taiwan will be presented to President Chen Shui-bian for his
approval, and after it is published, it will become the guideline
controlling the government's future administration. ...

"In a nutshell, the National Security Council has been
institutionalized; it is no longer an agency under an authoritarian
system, but a crisis management agency in a democratic county. In
the wake of increasing Chinese threats, it is legitimate and
justifiable for Chen to host such an NSC meeting. In particular,
... the government needs to have some guidelines to follow so that
it can make 'national security' a consensus between the ruling and
opposition parties, and come up with a strategic pivot for Taiwan's
future development. The hosting of such an NSC meeting was thus of
great significance."


4. U.S.-Taiwan Relations

A) "US Playing into Beijing's Hands"

Professor Chen Hurng-yu of National Taiwan University's Department
of History opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei
Times" [circulation: 300,000] (5/19):

"... China has time and again said that it would attack if Taiwan
declares independence. Since US and Chinese thinking on this issue
is beginning to converge, they share the same interest in the Taiwan
issue. Washington and Beijing are clearly seeking a quid pro quo,
and this is by no means advantageous to the nation. ... Zoellick
made it clear that Chen is seen as a proponent of Taiwanese
independence. If the US is friendly toward Chen, then it might be
translated into US support for Taiwanese independence, eventually
drawing the US into a cross-strait war. ...

"Looking at the current international situation, it is puzzling to
see the US accept China's repeated threats to wage war against
Taiwan. Has the US stopped being critical of Beijing because it has
established a strategic partnership with this warmonger? The US
should come up with a strategy to end or cool down Beijing's
belligerence, but instead it is joining it. Zoellick's attitude is
a good example of this. What is at issue is whether the US really
believes China will use force if Taiwan formally declares
independence, or whether it will pretend that it sees eye to eye
with China in exchange for other strategic benefits. ...

"China has vowed to take Taiwan by force if Taiwan moves toward de
jure independence. Surprisingly, the US has accepted China's
threat. Will the US really accept this unreasonable proposition?
Hasn't the US State Department consulted experts in international
law? If the US' Taiwan policy continues along this trend, Taiwan
will sooner or later shake off US interference, for in the eyes of
Taiwanese intellectuals, the US is allying itself with China to
strangle Taiwan. Zoellick's remarks reflect the US' heavy bias
toward China and how it is being threatened by Beijing. The
'Zoellick incident' also shows that the State Department does not
have talent capable of presenting creative ideas. Under China's
shadow, the US is moving forward with hesitation and without firm
moral stance."

B) "Using Independent Diplomacy to Protect Democracy"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (5/19):

"The People's Republic of China government has recently sent several
delegations to Taiwan in a very low-profile manner to probe the
impact of PRC State Chairman Hu Jintao's visit to the United States
on Taiwan and to discover what President Chen Shui-bian's next step
will be. A major preoccupation of Beijing and its sycophants abroad
is whether Chen's promotion of a 'bottom-up' second-phase
constitutional re-engineering will lead Taiwan toward 'formal
independence,' a bogeyman that has been conveniently resurrected as
a possible ' provocation' by the incautious statements by U.S.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick during a House of
Representatives committee hearing last week. ...

"It was evident that Hu did not receive his anticipated benefits
from visiting Bush and that Hu's disappointment appeared to be
Taiwan's gain. However, the subsequent flap between Washington and
Taipei over the transit arrangements for President Chen's state
visits to Paraguay and Costa Rica revealed that Washington was
actually more concerned with avoiding ruffling Beijing's feathers
and appealing for the PRC's cooperation in dealing with the Iran
nuclear proliferation issue and other international affairs than
with accommodating Taiwan's presidential diplomacy efforts.
President Chen and his foreign policy team must handle the new, more
complex situation in the triangular relations very carefully. ..."

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