Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AITTAIPEI843
2006-03-15 06:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: U.S. AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

Tags:  OPRC KMDR KPAO TW 
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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0843/01 0740617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150617Z MAR 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9087
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4862
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6051
UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000843 

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: U.S. AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS


UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000843

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: U.S. AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS



1. Summary: On the day marking the first anniversary of China's
passage of its "Anti-Secession Law," Taiwan's major Chinese-language
dailies focused their coverage on the call for a new investigation
into the 319 shooting incident, and other local issues. The
pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" ran a banner headline on its page
two that read: "Cessation of the National Unification Council (NUC)
and National Unification Guidelines (NUG) Are Accurate [Moves]; the
President Will Be Happy to Brief the Legislative Yuan [about the NUC
and NUG Matter]." Also, the pro-independence "Liberty Times,"
Taiwan's biggest daily, and pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" both
carried in their inside pages an opinion survey conducted by the
ruling DPP that reported that in the face of China's increasing
military buildup, 50 percent of those polled said they support
Taiwan independence, while 29 percent said they support unification
with China, and 13 percent said they support maintaining the status
quo.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, Lin Chong-pin, professor
at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs
& Strategic Studies, opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily"
that it is very important for Taiwan to have a clear and accurate
understanding of the "Anti-Secession Law" -- that is, China wants to
use economic, cultural and social forces to achieve its goal of
unification with Taiwan, and the use of force will be its last
resort. An editorial in the limited-circulation, conservative,
pro-unification, English-language "China Post" pointed out that the
NUC drama has served "a sobering lesson" to Chen - namely, "the
island has many options for the future but it has no choice at all."
A "Taiwan Daily" editorial marked the first anniversary of China's
passage of the "Anti-Secession Law" by calling for Taiwan to move
towards "de jure independence." An editorial in the
limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan
News" said the United States, instead of reining in Taiwan, should
encourage Taiwan to speak the truth about China's rise. End
summary.

A) "Seeing the True Face of the Anti-Secession Law Clearly"

[circulation: 500,000] (3/14):


"Beijing passed the 'Anti-Secession Law' exactly one year ago from
today. The move upset all of the Taiwan people, and countries such
as the United States and Japan also viewed it seriously. One month
later [following China's move], [U.S. President] George W. Bush went
to the European Union and used the 'Anti-Secession Law' to
successfully convince the latter not to lift its arms embargo on
China. But the shrill reactions from all sides [towards China's
move] have actually covered up the true face of the 'Anti-Secession
Law.' ...

"Judging from Beijing's practices toward Taiwan following the
passage of the 'Anti-Secession Law,' or the wording of the statutes
themselves and the contents of the law, [it is Qident that] the
focus of the law is to use economic, cultural and social forces to
achieve the goal of [China-Taiwan] unification. ... Beijing's
increasingly strengthened military power will only be used as a
backing, not a vanguard force, for its non-military tools - foreign
relations, economy, and culture - [to push for unification with
Taiwan]. ... Using force to attack Taiwan will be Beijing's last
resort.

"[As a result,] Taiwan's military strength must be maintained
appropriately. Taiwan must have clear national defense objectives:
namely, for the short term, it needs to have sufficient military
power so as to sustain itself until the U.S. military comes to
Taiwan's rescue; and in the long run, it needs to have sufficient
military strength as the backing for the island to engage in
cross-Strait negotiations, or the United States will make repeated
demands on Taiwan. Taiwan still has many opportunities and hopes.
But the top priority is that we must objectively and rationally
assess the overall climate we are in and work out a consensus. ...
Having a clear and accurate understand of the 'Anti-Secession Law'
should be the most important matter for Taiwan on the first
anniversary of the passage of the law."

B) "Many Options, But No Choice"

The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post"
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (3/14):

"Reports from Washington indicate that the Bush administration has
opted to accept at face value President Chen's explanations and
'move on' from his controversial scrapping of the National
Unification Council (NUC). ... By closing the chapter in a whimper,
Washington has done a huge favor to Chen again. But the president
and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are not allowed the
pleasure and sense of achievement of ruling out reunification with
the mainland as an option for Taiwan. The U.S. gives them nothing
to celebrate about loudly in public, lest it irritates Beijing
further to prompt harsher punishment from Washington. That's the
message brought by Richard Armitage, a former U.S. deputy secretary
of state, last week.

"Thus Chen's wish of building a de-unification legacy remains
incomplete. The NUC drama, however, has served a sobering lesson to
Chen and his fellow promoters of Taiwan independence. It
highlighted the cruel reality that the island has many options for
the future but it has no choice at all. ... Taiwan's status quo, 'a
self-ruled, democratic Chinese non-state,' as defined by the
powerful, is not the result of Taiwan's choice but an imposed fate.
China has been a reluctant subscriber to this arrangement because it
does not have the power to overturn it. The island also does not
have the capability to maintain or change the unreasonable status
quo. The latest episode clearly shows that even if Taiwan
'unilaterally' changed it, as Chen just did rhetorically, it
couldn't stand for long. ..."

C) "[Taiwan's] Anti-Aggression Day Marks the [Island's] Crisis of
Being Invaded by a High-handed Neighbor; [Taiwan] Should Move Toward
'De Jure Independence' by Rectifying Its Name and Writing a New
Constitution, in an Attempt to Deter China's Invasion"

The pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000] asserted
in an editorial (3/14):

"... We thus need to remind the masters of Taiwan that despite their
different political stands and ethnic groups, they must stay on high
alert and be cautioned: given the current climate inside and outside
Taiwan, only when all the 23 million Taiwan people unite together to
say 'No' to China and tell the international community that Taiwan
is not part of China can Taiwan safeguard its democracy, freedom and
prosperity. Only by doing so can Taiwan maintain the basic human
rights of its entire population and their descendents. ..."

D) "Taiwan Needs to Warn World of China's Rise"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (3/14):

"... Although maintaining the status quo has been U.S. policy in the
region, the rise of China's economic and military clout has already
considerably shaken and undermined the balance of forces and
influence across the Taiwan Strait compared to six years ago. In
this context, President Chen Shui-bian's February 27 decision to
'cease the operations' of the long-dormant National Unification
Council and 'cease the application' of the National Unification
Guidelines can be seen as a counter stroke directed against the
emerging Communist party-pan KMT camp alliance. ...

"The U.S. has to face the reality that the rise of the PRC threatens
to become a grave negative force for instability in the Asia-Pacific
region in a manner worryingly reminiscent of the similar 'economic
and military' rise of an intensely nationalistic Japanese state a
century ago. This danger cannot be 'risk managed' by compelling
Taiwan to remain passive and silent while our democracy and the
right of our 23 million people to make a free choice on our future
is increasingly threatened. Instead of being 'reined in,' Taiwan's
democratically elected government should be encouraged to speak the
truth by the United States, if the latter is to continue to lay any
claim to be the leader of a world 'democratic' camp."

KEEGAN