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

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000890

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 AND U.S.



1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies continued to
focus their coverage March 17 on the freeway electronic toll
collection system scandal, the year-end Taipei mayoral race, the
rally planned by the DPP for March 18, and other local issues. The
pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest daily, quoted
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman in a
banner-headline news story on its page two that read: "U.S.
Official: China's Military Expansion Alters the Status Quo Across
the Taiwan Strait." The pro-status quo "China Times" ran a news
story on its page four with the headline: "[DPP Chairman] Yu
Shyi-kun Changes His Remarks: the Constitutional Reforms Will Not
Touch on [Taiwan's] National Flag and Title." The pro-unification
"United Daily News," on the other hand, carried a news story on its
page four with the headline: "If the Congress Blocks a
Constitutional Amendment Proposal, [the DPP Administration] Will
Hold a Referendum on 'Certain Specific Principles.'" The
sub-headline added: "The DPP and the Government Meet to Work out a
Timeline [for Taiwan's Constitutional Reforms]; the Two Ways [to
Push for Constitutional Reforms] - via the Congress and via the
Referendum - Will 'Not Contradict Each Other.' [High-ranking
Officials] Decline to Indicate Clearly Whether the Referendum Will
Involve [Taiwan's] Official Title and National Flag."


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times"
editorial said it hopes that the "Three Party Security Dialogue"
between the United States, Australia, and Japan, scheduled to start
tomorrow, will alert the Taiwan people about China's aggressive
nature. Washington correspondent James Wang said in the "Washington
Review" column of the pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" that Beijing
now sees opposition to 'de jure Taiwan independence' as its most
urgent and important task. Nat Bellocchi, former AIT chairman and
now a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group, opined in the
limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taipei
Times" that the debate in Taiwan and Washington on President Chen
Shui-bian's decision to cease the functions of the National
Unification Council (NUC) and the application of the National
Unification Guidelines (NUG) may be setting the tone for future
cross-Strait politics. An editorial in the limited-circulation,
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" discussed the DPP's
planned rally for March 18 and said "The greatest danger to our
autonomy lies in ignorance abroad about Taiwan's plight and apathy
at home among many of our own people who do not sufficiently
appreciate or cherish our hard-won right to choose our own road."
End summary.

A) "Taiwan People Lack Required Vigilance Against China's Aggressive
Nature"

The pro-independence "Liberty Time" [circulation: 600,000]
editorialized (3/17):

"... The entire world is concerned about China's non-peaceful rise,
while Taiwan, the first to bear the brunt of China's [non-peaceful
rise], appears indifferent to China's military expansion. For one
thing, the pan-Blue camp has more than once blocked the [U.S.] arms
procurement bill [in the Legislative Yuan], hindering Taiwan from
building effective defense deterrence capabilities and paying no
attention at all to the lives, properties and safety of the 23
million people of Taiwan. Also, according to a poll survey released
by the Institute for National Policy Research, more than 30 percent
of the respondents said they have no idea that China is an
undemocratic country. This is really unbelievable. In other words,
some Taiwan people are unaware of the threats posed by a
totalitarian regime to their democracy. They also lack sufficient
vigilance of, or countermeasures against, the [potential] dangers of
China's attack against Taiwan, triggered by the Chinese leaders'
moves to ignite the nationalistic sentiments of its people. This
newspaper therefore hopes that the 'Three Party Security Dialogue'
that will be held by the United States, Australia, and Japan
tomorrow will alert the Taiwan people to pay attention to the crisis
of Taiwan's survival and pass the [U.S.] arms procurement bill as
early as possible. Taiwan needs to strengthen its national defense
and vigilance so as to effectively deal with the threats posed by
China's non-peaceful rise."

B) "Beijing Upgrades Its [Official] Level But Softens Its Tone When
Responding to [Taiwan's] 'Cessation of the National Unification
Council and National Unification Guidelines'"

Washington correspondent James Wang said in the "Washington Review"
column in the pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000]
(3/17):

"... Chen Shui-bian's announcement to 'cease the functions of the
NUC and application of the NUG' was in reality a decision that put
Taiwan back on a democratic track. Taiwan will not regard union
with China as its only option [for the future] and will not accept
'unification' as its predetermined destination. Such a development
will have a great impact on the international community, especially
on the United States' false 'one China' policy, and this will be the
international ramification that China is most concerned about.
Thus, in response, Beijing pulled out the 'one China' principle that
it had forced the international society to accept and accused Chen's
'cessation of the NUC and NUG' as 'a serious provocation against the
internationally acknowledged one-China principle and cross-Strait
peace.'

"Beijing's [current] strategy is to move its line of defense a
little bit backwards and look at Taiwan as de facto independent.
What it wants to prevent is 'de jure Taiwan independence.'
Beijing's new defense line is to define Taiwan's constitutional
reforms as 'de jure independence' and it will take the opposition to
'de jure Taiwan independence' as its most urgent and important task.
..."

C) "Taiwan-US Ties: All Politics Is Local"

Nat Bellocchi, former AIT chairman and now a special adviser to the
Liberty Times Group, opined in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] (3/17):

"... The issue of 'ceasing' the National Unification Council and
guidelines seems to have blown over, but some differences of opinion
- most likely resulting from domestic politics in both Washington
and Taipei - continued to be debated. This debate may be setting
the tone for future cross-strait politics. ...

"The US needs to find a way of maintaining its interests in East
Asia in the face of China's expansion, both in the region and
internationally. The US' relationship with China will inevitably be
an important factor in cross-strait issues. At the same time, the
US will need to keep abreast of political changes in Taiwan's
relatively young democracy."

D) "Let the World Hear Taiwan's Voice"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (3/17):

"... Numerous opinion polls show that the majority of our people
generally grasp what is really at stake. For example, a poll of
1,072 Taiwanese released Wednesday by the Institute for National
Policy Research showed that 83.1 percent think 'the government
cannot decide on its own whether on unification or independence
without the approval of the people,' with only 5.6 percent
disagreeing. Nearly 66 percent rejected the claim by Beijing that
'Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China,' while 9.5
percent agreeing with it. The fact that these majority findings
cross political boundaries demonstrates the spread of the value of
'democratic self-determination' among Taiwanese. This result also
offers the most salient and potent rebuttal of any arguments by
either the United States or the KMT for the retention of the
misbegotten National Unification Council and its undemocratic
National Unification Guidelines, which were single-handedly created
by the KMT in the early 1990s. ...

"Indeed the INPR poll, and other similar previous surveys, indicates
a high sense of anxiety over whether the current nature of
cross-strait economic interaction is truly beneficial to the welfare
of most of the Taiwan people and our democratic way of life. ... The
greatest danger to our autonomy lies in ignorance abroad about
Taiwan's plight and apathy at home among many of our own people who
do not sufficiently appreciate or cherish our hard-won right to
choose our own road. ..."

KEEGAN