MEDIA REACTION: CHINA'S LAUNCH OF LUNAR EXPLORER

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 002418 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CHINA'S LAUNCH OF LUNAR EXPLORER Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news coverage October 30 on mounting gasoline prices, on the 2008 presidential election, on the UN referendum, and on the soaring stock price index in Taiwan, which reached a seven-year high Monday. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the pro-unification "United Daily News" discussed China's recent launch of the Chang'e lunar explorer. The article suggested that Taiwan pay attention to Beijing's changes in its international and cross-Strait strategies. An editorial in the conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" said "[t]he Chang'e expedition will drastically increase China's military capability and its influence on other countries." End summary. A) "Interpreting [the Launch of] Chang'e [Lunar Explorer]: Taiwan's [Cross-Strait Policy] Should Still Focus 70 Percent on Politics and 30 Percent on Military" The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] editorialized (10/30): "... The launch of the 'Chang'e-1' lunar explorer was in reality a prelude to Beijing's plan to build a space station, which will be followed up by the establishment of a space command center and deployment of space weapons. What is noteworthy is not the military intention behind the 'Chang'e-1' lunar explorer but Beijing's change in its international and cross-Strait strategies. Beijing will no longer 'show off its might by saber-rattling;' instead, it has started to emphasize its 'soft power' of exploring energy on the moon [sic]. But this does not mean that Beijing no longer attaches great importance to military development; the two-digit growth in China's defense budgets over the past two decades evidently indicates its attempt to continue developing its military strength, except that it has turned to develop it in a low-profile manner. China's successful launch of an anti-satellite missile in early 2007, making it the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to have such capability, as well as its move to make public new weapons such as the J10 fighter jets, Type 094 and 093 nuclear-powered submarines, and the Dongfeng-21 mid-range ballistic missiles, have all highlighted that Beijing is also expanding its 'hard power' significantly. ..." B) "China Flying to the Moon" The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (10/30): "The launch of the lunar explorer Chang'e from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern Sichuan province Wednesday garnered international media attention as a move that at once heated up the space race in Asia and enhanced China's status as a major power. ... "China's military has been in charge of the space program from the beginning. The Chang'e expedition will drastically increase China's military capability and its influence on other countries. No wonder, in his report to the just concluded 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Hu Jintao surprisingly did not threaten to use force against Taiwan, as mandated by a 2005 Anti-Secession Law, despite Taipei's plan to hold a referendum on joining the U.N. as a non-Chinese state." YOUNG