MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S NAME CHANGE CAMPAIGN, U.S. ARMS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000323

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: TAIWAN'S NAME CHANGE CAMPAIGN, U.S. ARMS
PROCUREMENT



1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their
coverage February 9 on KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, who told the press
Thursday that he will resign if indicted for the mayoral allowance
case during his tenure as Taipei mayor; on the DPP government's name
change campaign, and on other political issues. The pro-status quo
"China Times" ran an exclusive front-page headline that read
"Chinese to Announce before Lunar New Year: Ban on Chinese People
Visiting Taiwan to be Lifted April 1." In terms of editorials and
commentaries, an editorial in the pro-independence "Liberty Times,"
Taiwan's largest-circulation daily, discussed the DPP government's
name-change campaign and said that only by doing so can Taiwan be
transformed into a normal country. An op-ed piece in the
limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taipei
Times," on the other hand, discussed U.S. arms procurement. The
article said "(t)he recent failures to pass a defense budget in the
legislature make it all the more difficult for even the most ardent
friends and supporters of Taiwan's democracy and continued progress
to respond in the affirmative." End summary.


2. Taiwan's Name Change Campaign

"Democratic County Must Not Worship Symbols Representing an
Authoritarian Regime"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 550,000]
editorialized (2/9):

"... The DPP government has been proactively pushing the campaign to
revise history textbooks for high school students, to change the
names of the Chinese Petroleum Corporation and other relevant
[state-run] enterprises, to remove statues of [Generalissimo] Chiang
Kai-shek [from military premises around the island], and to
eliminate military guards and MPs stationed at Chiang's mausoleum.
This campaign in fact has the double significance of 'eliminating
the authoritarian legacy' and 'eliminating the legacy of an alien
regime.' The DPP's big moves have naturally triggered a strong
backlash from the Blue camp, but only by thoroughly 'getting rid of
the authoritarian legacy' and 'getting rid of the legacy of an alien
regime' can Taiwan become a truly democratic country. ...

"Following the transfer of political power in 2000, the first
nativist regime was established in Taiwan. Even though [this
development] confirmed the fact of Taiwan's independent sovereignty,
Taiwan is not yet a normal country. Thus, the rectification of
Taiwan's name, writing a new constitution for Taiwan, and moves to
'get rid of the authoritarian legacy' and 'get rid of the legacy of
an alien regime' have become necessary steps to transform [Taiwan]
into a normal country. Among these steps, the goal to rectify
Taiwan's name and write a new constitution are not easy to achieve
without long-term efforts, due to limitations from the outside
environment. As for 'getting rid of the authoritarian legacy' and
'getting rid of the legacy of an alien regime,' there has not been
too much obstruction. The DPP administration should have started to
do so immediately after it came to power, and it is lamentable that
it did not start proactively to push the campaign until President
Chen was about to conclude his second term. ..."


3. U.S. Arms Procurements

"Neglecting Defense Budget a Folly"

Kurt Campbell, CEO of the Center for a New American Security in
Washington, opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei
Times" [circulation: 30,000] (2/9):

"... Washington NOW expects a certain self-sufficiency among its
allies and friends in the region, and behind the diplomatic niceties
there is a growing dissatisfaction and impatience in Washington
about the lack of progress in the defense arena in Taiwan. This
alienation will likely grow as the defense effort continues to
stall. Finally, the US presidential sweepstakes is already in full
swing, and a new generation of candidates and their advisors must
again be apprised of the importance of maintaining peace and
stability in the western Pacific.

"However, given pressing realities elsewhere and the changing power
dynamics in the region, this tutorial in both Democratic and
Republican circles is taking on new difficulties and complexities.
Asian advisors to aspiring politicos from both sides of the aisle
now dread answering the inevitable question that crops up during
preparatory sessions on the region, namely, 'why should the US be so
concerned about providing security to a place that seems ambivalent
at best about its own defense?' The recent failures to pass a
defense budget in the legislature make it all the more difficult for
even the most ardent friends and supporters of Taiwan's democracy
and continued progress to respond in the affirmative."

YOUNG