MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000725 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: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies centered their coverage March 8 on the government's investment in Taiwan's high-speed rail project, the interpellation at the Legislative Yuan, the 27th anniversary of the death of Taiwan democracy pioneer Lei Chen, and other political issues. The pro-unification "United Daily News" ran an exclusive news story on its front page that quoted U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner as saying Taiwan's decision to cease the functioning of the National Unification Council (NUC) was a mistake; he added that he is not sure whether the United States will still come to Taiwan's aid under these conditions. The newspaper also carried a news story on its page four with the headline: "The United States Is Still Waiting for Bian to Clarify That `The NUC Still Exists.'" The sub-headline added: "No Matter Whether the VOA Report Is Incorrect Or Not, a Senior State Department Official [Said]: It Is of Great Importance That There Should Be No Ambiguity [with Regard to Chen's Public Announcement]." The pro- independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest daily, carried a similar news story on its page two with the headline: "The United States Requests That Taiwan Clarify Its Announcement on the Cessation of the NUC and NUG." ¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, the "Free Talk" column in the "Liberty Times" criticized the pan-Blue camp for being spineless for hurrying to recall President Chen because of the cessation of NUC functioning while overlooking China's attempt to annex Taiwan. An editorial in the pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" hailed Chen's decision about the NUC and refuted Beijing's claim that "Taiwan is an indivisible sacred territory of China." A commentary in the limited-circulation, conservative, pro- unification, English-language "China Post" predicted that Chen would take additional steps during his remaining time in office to upset Washington and Beijing while claiming that nothing has changed. End summary. A) "Spineless Animal" The "Free Talk" column in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000] noted (3/8): ". The `cessation of the National Unification Council (NUC) and National Unification Guidelines (NUG)' is Taiwan's domestic affair. [President Chen] gave the right of democracy back to the Taiwan people by ceasing [the functioning and application] of the dormant NUC and NUG, and the move had nothing to do with changing [Taiwan's] sovereignty, national title or national flag. But the pan- Blue camp got desperate [by Chen's move]; it rushed to file a motion to recall and impeach the president and also to launch a big demonstration [to protest Chen's announcement]. "Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and its national title now is the Republic of China (ROC). But the People's Republic of China (PRC) unilaterally regards Taiwan as part of its territory. It a plain fact that [the PRC wants to] annex and invade [Taiwan] in an attempt to terminate and destroy the ROC. The `cessation of the NUC and NUG' is a small matter, while the [attempt to] `terminate' the ROC is something humongous [that deserves to be treated seriously]! The pan-Blue camp, which claimed repeatedly that it would stand to safeguard the ROC, has now turned into a spineless animal and servile sycophant to China when the PRC declared that it wants to terminate the ROC! [We] must never put Taiwan's future into the hands of this spineless political animal, or it will surely bury the sovereignty and dignity of the ROC and Taiwan's democracy and freedom!" B) "Taiwan Is Our Land and by No Means an Indivisible Sacred Territory of China!" The pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000] editorialized (3/8): ". The `one China' concept has been popular from the twentieth century to the twenty-first century, and the PRC `firmly believes' that it possesses Taiwan's sovereignty. The ROC, in the meantime, has even greater ambitions - it included Taiwan, the PRC, and the Republic of Mongolia all into its territory. This is an over-century-old joke, but the less amusing part about it was that not only China believes firmly in this . joke that deceives itself and others, but the pan-Blue camp in Taiwan also sees it as a banner [i.e. rallying point]. . President Chen's announcement to `cease the NUC and NUG' was exactly aimed at cutting off the paradoxical `one China' somniloquy, correcting the distorted situation, making Taiwan's position in line with the reality and relevant laws, and putting [the right] to determine Taiwan's future back to the hands of its residents by upholding the [principles of] democracy and freedom. This is because Taiwan has always been the sacred territory of the Taiwan people; it has never been an indivisible sacred part of China!" C) "When Is a Change not a Change?" Frank Ching opined in the conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] (3/8): ". Why is Mr. Chen [Shui-bian] doing this when the council [i.e. NUC] and guidelines [i.e. NUG] existed only paper anyway, especially when doing so risked alienating his main supporter, the United States? The answer seems to be that the president, with two years of his term left, does not want to be rendered irrelevant. His popularity had sunk in December to a historical low of around 10%, and Mr. Chen, by taking this action, is regaining the support of hard-core pro-independence voters. . "No doubt, in the next two years, Mr. Chen will take additional steps that will make both his enemies in Beijing and his supporters in Washington feel decidedly uncomfortable. And he may well claim while doing so that nothing had changed." KEEGAN