MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN MAYORAL ELECTIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 004103

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - DAVID FIRESTEIN
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN MAYORAL ELECTIONS



1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies continued to
focus its coverage December 12 on the aftermath of Saturday's Taipei
and Kaohsiung mayoral elections, their impact on each political
party's future development and on the 2008 presidential elections.
The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's largest-circulation
daily, ran a banner headline on page three that read "DPP Pushes for
3-in-1 Voting in 2008 [i.e. the legislative, presidential elections,
and the referendum on retrieving the KMT's party assets]"


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times"
editorial called Saturday's election results a significant warning
signal for the KMT and its party chairman Ma Ying-jeou. The article
urged the KMT thoroughly to review its political line which deviated
from Taiwan's mainstream public view. An editorial in the
pro-status quo "China Times" also said the KMT's top priority now is
to construct its own discourse on nativism. An editorial in the
limited-circulation, conservative, pro-unification, English-language
"China Post" said the election outcomes indicated "no improvement or
progress, but prolonged woes for Taiwan." An editorial in the
limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan
News," urged both the Blue and Green camps to "cease cutthroat
partisanship and engage in a more healthy and constructive form of
competition." End summary.

A) "KMT Must Thoroughly Review Its Line That Deviates from Taiwan's
Mainstream Public View"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000]
editorialized (12/12):

"... In a nutshell, the results of last Saturday's Taipei and
Kaohsiung mayoral elections are a big warning signal for the KMT and
Ma Ying-jeou's plan for the 2008 presidential elections. It seems
that political maneuvering approaches that appeal to image-shaping
no longer worked, and the seemingly impressive myth of Ma Ying-jeou
is on the verge of falling apart. Ma must demonstrate a more
pragmatic leadership. More importantly, the KMT must resolutely
relinquish its ill-gotten party assets, act quickly to handle those
party members who have been allegedly involved in corruption, review
its drastic approach of showing opposition for opposition's sake,
and genuinely play the role of a rational opposition party. The KMT
will then have a bright future in the wake of such thorough
reforms."

B) "Constructing Nativism Discourse Is the KMT's Top Priority"

The pro-status quo "China Times" [circulation: 400,000]
editorialized (12/12):

"Results of the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections showed on the
surface that the island's political landscape of the Blue camp
keeping the north while the Green camp holding the south remains
unchanged. But in reality, the results indicated that the DPP,
which has been dogged by corruption scandals over the past year, has
at least held its ground and would not fall apart. In contrast, the
election results should be viewed as a setback for the KMT, which
was generally believed to enjoy a higher approval rating prior to
the elections. ...

"... [T]he DPP's primary appeal for every election held after 2000
remains the assertion of maintaining a nativist regime. This
strategy has all the more highlighted that insufficient discussion
on nativism has become the KMT's Achilles heel regarding its future
development. The KMT should ponder the true contents of its
discourse on nativism. We want to remind the KMT that the party's
future will be limited as long as it fails to have a comprehensive,
convincing and reliable discourse on nativism. ..."

C) "Ma's Loss Isn't Taiwan's Gain"

The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post"
[circulation: 30,000] noted in an editorial (12/12):

"Results of Saturday's elections show Taiwan's political landscape
remains unchanged, with the pro-independence green camp keeping the
south and the pan-blue opposition holding the north. The Kuomintang
(KMT) lost its best chance of wresting Kaohsiung from the
scandal-plagued Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This means not
improvement or progress, but prolonged woes, for Taiwan. It was a
setback for KMT chief Ma Ying-jeou, his first electoral defeat since
becoming party chairman last year. ...

"By helping the DPP candidate to win against the odds, the embattled
president now can claim to enjoy considerable support among the
fundamentalist supporters. Barring another scandal that directly
implicates him, any further attempts to unseat him are futile. Ma
may come under scrutiny from within the KMT. His leadership will be
challenged and party members will criticize him for his
unwillingness to sacrifice for the party. His reluctance to resign
from office after he was investigated by prosecutors for alleged
embezzlement is no holier than that of the president. ..."

D) "Voters Demand Healthy Competition"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" circulation:
20,000 editorialized (12/12):

"Besides displaying the strong will of Taiwan voters to maintain our
hard-won democratic achievements, the results of Saturday's Taipei
and Kaohsiung mayoral and city council polls sent a clear message to
both the 'green' camp led by the governing Democratic Progressive
Party and the 'blue' camp of the opposition Kuomintang that the two
camps should cease cutthroat partisanship and engage in a more
healthy and constructive form of competition. ... The DPP's
success in retaining its eight-year hold on Kaohsiung City and its
fundamental base of electoral support in Taipei did show that
inner-party calls for Chen to resign were premature and eased
divisions and an emerging power struggle within the party. The
polls also put the DPP potential competitors for the party's
presidential nomination back on a more or less equal footing, even
though former premier and ex-Kaohsiung City mayor Frank Hsieh may
have gained a slight edge in the wake of his impressive campaign in
Taipei City and the contribution of his legacy in Kaohsiung to the
narrow victory of DPP standard-bearer Chen Chu in the southern port
metropolis. ...

"The KMT's failure to 'win back' Kaohsiung after eight years of DPP
administration is a timely 'wake-up call' to leaders and supporters
of the pan-KMT camp on the widespread wishful thinking that Ma is
'the one' who can easily recover Taiwan back for the former ruling
party in March 2008. Saturday's result also exposed to all Taiwan
citizens the 'Achilles heels' of the KMT, namely its poor
leadership, lack of clear or progressive policy for Taiwan and the
persistence of its ingrained culture of institutional, not
individual, political corruption. ... On the other hand, the
self-liquidation of the People First Party and the departure of PFP
Chairman James Soong should free the KMT from political hijacking by
the PFP remnants, especially on such issues as the long-delayed
procurement of advanced defensive weapon systems from the United
States and the long-frozen nominations to the Control Yuan. ..."

YOUNG