MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 004174 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: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their coverage December 22 on the second trial hearing for the Presidential Office Allowance for State Affairs case, and on other local political issues. All papers reported that First Lady Wu Shu-chen is unlikely to appear in court today due to poor health. In terms of editorials, most papers continued to focus on local politics. An editorial in the limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," however, discussed an article entitled "Taiwan's Independence," which was published recently on a website hosted by two left-wing U.S. think tanks. The editorial said the article "offers at least a glimmer of hope that at least some foreign policy analysts in the U.S. left realize that the key to lasting peace and progress in the Taiwan Strait and East Asia does not lie in helping Beijing annex a democratic Taiwan but in 'educating' the PRC leadership away from outdated and rigid 'Sinocentric' myths." End summary. "U.S. Left Discovers Justice for Taiwan" The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (12/22): "During the past two years, there have been numerous signs that the tide in foreign policy and East Asian policy and academic circles in the United States had been swinging in favor of the Chinese Communist Party-ruled People's Republic of China and against the possibility of 'Taiwan independence' or self-determination. ... It is therefore significant that a whiff of fresh air has appeared in an unexpected quarter, namely from the Web site 'Foreign Policy in Focus' (www.fpif.org) hosted by two U.S. left-wing think tanks, the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies and the New Mexico-based International Resources Center. On December 20, the FPIF Web site posted an article entitled 'Taiwan's Independence' by Ian Williams, a frequent contributor to WPIF Web site and the United Nations correspondent for 'The Nation' weekly, the oldest and arguably most influential publication on the U.S. left. ... William's article is a notable exception as it sketches the outlines for a progressive position on the Taiwan Strait conundrum that puts priority on protecting an independent and democratic Taiwan. ... "For those in the U.S. left who take values such as democracy, social justice, peace and opposition to U.S. militarism seriously, the Taiwan Strait question poses numerous dilemmas since it features a threatening authoritarian but formerly admired 'socialist' PRC regime against a democratic Taiwan, which was seen as a pariah U.S. client state during the KMT era. Now, Taiwan poses one of the few cases in which the military and diplomatic might of the United States is supporting the continued existence of a genuine 'center-left' democracy instead of dictatorships or monarchies. The FPIC [sic] article offers at least a glimmer of hope that at least some foreign policy analysts in the U.S. left realize that the key to lasting peace and progress in the Taiwan Strait and East Asia does not lie in helping Beijing annex a democratic Taiwan but in 'educating' the PRC leadership away from outdated and rigid 'Sinocentric' myths. In our view, a progressive position would be to urge Beijing to acknowledge the reality of Taiwan's independence and working out a new relationship with Taiwan as an equal state and as a future ally and friend instead of a target of annexation and thus a foe." WANG