MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000201 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - LLOYD NEIGHBORS DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies gave extensive reporting and editorial coverage January 26 to President Chen Shui-bian's official petition to the Council of Grand Justices Thursday, requesting a ruling on the constitutional questions of presidential immunity and the "state secret privilege" in connection with the trial in the Presidential Office Allowance for State affairs case. All papers, on the other hand, fronted-paged news of two Taiwan women who reached the finals of the Australian Open, the first Taiwan tennis players to do so. The pro-unification "United Daily News" front-paged the results of its latest survey, which showed that former Premier Frank Hiseh's approval rating has risen rapidly to 19 percent, while the Taiwan public's favorable opinion toward KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou hit a new low of 44 percent. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's largest-circulation daily, commented on China's rise. The article said as China's economy thrives, it does not use the money to improve its people's lives; instead, it has spent more money on a military buildup and has become even more tyrannical. End summary. "[People] Must Have Thorough Understanding of Nature and Truth about 'China's Rise'" The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 550,000] editorialized (1/16): "... In other words, China's rise has become the prevailing trend, and Taiwan businesses have played a key role during the process. That is, in the trade and economic interaction between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, China has gained far more from Taiwan than Taiwan has gained from China. Taiwan's capital, technology, and talent flew westbound in bulk, constituting a major driving force for China's economic development, while Taiwan itself became the victim of the westbound Taiwan investors. But while interpreting the rise of China, most people in the world, including those pro-unification people in Taiwan, all mistook the effect as the cause, or even turned a blind eye to the extreme number of Taiwan businessmen going west. Moreover, they disparaged Taiwan, as if it has to rely on China so as to be able to survive. Based on this premise, they lashed out at the regulatory measures the Taiwan government imposed on Taiwan business investments in China, and threatened the Taiwan government to get it to lift its ban and ease its regulations, saying recklessly that it is the only way for Taiwan to survive. ... "... In its rise, China used 'human-sea tactics' to foster its economic development; it is not a mature economy in which the core values lie in brainpower and quality, let alone the fact that China is a barbarous country when it comes to human rights, freedom, and democracy. It really does not deserve to be called a big country. The better China's economic development gets, the less its government spent on improving its people's lives. On the contrary, it directed its [economic] power in the wrong direction, spending its money on military buildup as a warmonger, and it has grown more tyrannical in political terms, as if [its rapid economic development] were used as its capital for its intent to dominate the earth. ..." YOUNG