Media Reaction: U.S.-Taiwan Relations

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 002474 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: U.S.-Taiwan Relations ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news coverage November 10-13 on AIT Taipei Director Stephen Young's press conference Friday, in which he emphasized that "the UN referendum is neither necessary nor helpful"; on some newly-produced portable hard drives in Taiwan which were discovered to have been pre-installed with Trojan Horse viruses by China's Net Force; and on a U.S. citizen, who reportedly stowed away from China to Taiwan in mid-September. The mass-circulation "Apple Daily" ran a banner headline on page twelve November 10 that read "The United States Has Spoken Out Against [the UN] Referendum for the Fifth Time; Stephen Young: There is a Price to Be Paid in Mutual Trust between the United States and Taiwan." ¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" discussed AIT Director Stephen Young's press conference and said "to a certain extent, not only Taiwan but also the United States have been put on a short leash by President Chen Shui-bian." An op-ed in the pro-independence "Liberty Times," on the other hand, urged Young to respect the prevailing public view in the United States, Japan and Taiwan, which supports Taiwan's UN bid. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" said the United States is misguided with regard to the DPP's UN referendum. End summary. A) "Even the Americans Have Raised Their Voices and Spoken out [against President Chen Shui-bian]" The "Short Commentary" column in the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 400,000] wrote (11/10): "... In a press conference held Friday, AIT Taipei Director Stephen Young, with a rare and significant gesture, indicated that the United States believes Taiwan's UN referendum will pose a threat to cross-Strait stability and that 'there is a price to be paid in mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States' if Taiwan fails to heed the U.S. opinion. ... To a certain extent, not only Taiwan but also the United States have been put on a short leash by Chen Shui-bian. The bargaining chips Chen holds in his hands that make him so fearless are Taiwan's strategic significance for the United States and the U.S.'s strong moral obligations toward Taiwan. But the question is: wouldn't Taiwan's situation become more dangerous if such relations were jeopardized? Didn't [Chen] claim that the UN referendum was meant to protect Taiwan?" B) "AIT Director Young, Please Respect Public Opinion in the United States, Japan and Taiwan" Chang Ming-you, a graduate student at Kainan University's Public Affairs Department, opined in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 720,000] (11/12): "... AIT held a press conference on November 9, in which Director Stephen Young said the United States believes that Taiwan's UN referendum appears inconsistent with the spirit of President Chen Shui-bian's public commitments. "The referendum is neither necessary nor helpful," Young said, and he went further to emphasize in Chinese that the referendum is "bu bi and bu li." [I] am sure that many Taiwan people will feel indignant [about Young's statement] and wonder how the United States can interfere with Taiwan's right to exercise 'direct democracy?' This is the right of the [Taiwan] people empowered by democracy; to push for [the island's] UN bid is to maintain Taiwan's dignity, and all the more, it will fulfill President Chen's commitment to the Taiwan people. The AIT director should thus apologize to the Taiwan people for his remarks. ... "No international organization is able to turn down [the island's] application for membership using the name Taiwan, and Taiwan is the name of this country. Seventy percent of the people in the United States support Taiwan's referendum on its UN membership, and more than seventy percent of the Taiwan people also support such a move. Neither the U.S. government nor the international community should overlook Taiwan's voices, rights and interests. Young said with a threatening tone that "We call upon Taiwan's politicians and voters to adopt a careful and moderate approach to this issue, and to avoid risking acts that cannot really help Taiwan's actual international status." It might well be asked: If [the UN referendum] really cannot help Taiwan's status, it would mean that a democratic country cannot help protect the rights and interests of its people. [Should that be the case,] the United States, a democratic country which calls itself the 'world's policeman,' has lost its public credibility; all it wants is to exchange interests with 'China,' a totalitarian country, and totally ignore Taiwan's interests and peace. ... "Taiwan people should use our votes to assert our national dignity; we will not compromise because of AIT's threats. The United States has no right to oppose [us]. We want to awaken the international community's attention to Taiwan's status and interests. Moreover, we want AIT to shut up." C) "U.S. Misguided on DPP Referendum" The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (11/13): "Despite months of indirect and direct dialogue, the current United States administration under President George W. Bush is still unable to appreciate the underlying reasons for the referendum proposed by the governing Democratic Progressive Party advocating the use of the name of "Taiwan" to enter the United Nations. This state of affairs was revealed by American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young during a news conference November 9 with regard to what he termed a 'rough patch' in bilateral relations 'over this government's United Nations referendum.' Although commendably far more respectful of Taiwan's democracy than previous remarks by U.S. officials, Young stated that the upcoming referendum was 'neither necessary or helpful' and renewed Washington's call 'upon Taiwan's politicians and voters to adopt a careful and moderate approach to cross-Strait relations and to avoid risking acts that cannot really help Taiwan's actual international status.' "Contrary to Young's impressions, the 'bottom-up' referendum initiative was launched by the Democratic Progressive Party, which remains a civic organization even though it is the governing party, and an alliance of civic and social reform groups. ... Moreover, the fact that the petition campaign has received over 2.7 million signatures from Taiwan citizens, a number over 10 times the DPP membership, should indicate that many Taiwan citizens do believe that the referendum is 'necessary and helpful' to 'Taiwan's actual international status.' ... "We believe that it is unfortunate that Young did not reaffirm the position of former U.S. president Bill Clinton in March 2000 that any such resolution 'must have the assent of the Taiwan people.' Nevertheless, Young's position does match Washington's forceful reaction to the misinterpretation made of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 made by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this year when Ban stated that the October 1971 resolution which mandated the transfer of the 'China' seats from the late dictator Chiang Kai-shek's exiled Kuomintang regime to the PRC also meant that "Taiwan is part of the PRC" as far as the U.N. is concerned. ... "But the more fundamental question is, what does the U.S. envisage Taiwan to be politically? Young asserted that the U.S. does not support Taiwan's membership in international organizations for which statehood is a requirement and thus implied that Taiwan does not meet the standards of having statehood, but did say that Washington supports greater participation by Taiwan in international organizations and backs proposals for Taiwan to become a formal observer in the World Health Organization. Hence, if Washington does not consider Taiwan to possess 'statehood,' it at least considers Taiwan to be a distinct political entity. From this perspective, Washington's insistence that 'the status quo cannot be unilaterally changed by either side of the Taiwan Strait' implies that the U.S. would prefer Taiwan to remain an independent political entity without any change. "Although Young said Washington opposes Beijing's efforts to squeeze Taiwan's international space, his remarks also reveal a blindness over the persistent and ruthless drive by the PRC to squeeze Taiwan's actual room for participation and our status in international organizations, even those which do not involve statehood. ... As President Chen himself has noted, a referendum in which all of our citizens have the option to vote is vastly different from an opinion poll in terms of the breadth of participation, the preceding process of debate and deliberation and the legal mandate of an exercise in direct democracy that will also stand as an expression of the collective voice of the Taiwan people to safeguard their independence by officially becoming a full member of the international community." YOUNG