MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000927 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: U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies gave extensive coverage April 26 to New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming, who played in his first Major League Baseball game Wednesday after a leg injury in the pre-season. News coverage also focused on the 2008 presidential elections, on the Olympic torch relay issue, and on the Executive Yuan's plan to recover the KMT's ill-gotten party assets. Two major Chinese-language dailies -- the pro-independence "Liberty Times" and the pro-unification "United Daily News" -- carried in inside pages the news that AIT Taipei Director Stephen Young plans to give a press conference on May 3, and both papers speculated on the topics Young may possibly address. The "United Daily News" also ran a news story by Washington correspondent Vincent Chang on page four with the headline "The United States Does Not Support Taiwan's Development of Offensive Weapons." ¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times" editorial discussed a recently-published "Defense News" article on Chinese spies working in Taiwan. The article criticized the Blue camp for blocking major arms procurements and urged the Taiwan government to maintain vigilance and establish a security mechanism in an attempt to save the island from the crisis of being annexed. End summary. "U.S. Defense News Weekly Warns Taiwan: Infiltrating Chinese Spies Makes [the Island] Beset with Crises" The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 500,000] editorialized (4/26): "... The inside stories revealed by the Defense News weekly regarding how Chinese spies work in Taiwan did not surprise us. Given Beijing's eager intent to annex Taiwan, it is natural that China will not wait for Taiwan to collapse itself but will use every means it can to achieve its goal, including those that Beijing is particularly good at - infiltration, united-front, and divisive tactics, as well as sowing discord among people. ... "In fact, big holes have been found in Taiwan's national defense system, and the crises Taiwan is facing are multi-faceted. In terms of strengthening Taiwan's military buildup, the Blue camp's moves to block the major arms procurement budget have made Taiwan's military's plan to renew its weapons impossible, and as a result, the military's weapons and equipment have gradually grown obsolete. How is our poorly-equipped military supposed to defend Taiwan against China's well-equipped, invincible army? This is indeed a big crisis for Taiwan. What is even more worrisome is the fact that the Blue politicians are blocking major arms procurements for the island on the one hand and busy traveling between both sides of the Taiwan Strait on the other in an attempt to hollow out Taiwan by encouraging more Taiwan businessmen to go west in the name of promoting cross-Strait trade and economic exchanges. ... "In other words, what the U.S. Defense News weekly exposed is nothing but the tip of the iceberg. Both the public and private sectors in Taiwan must work together to maintain vigilance and build up a security mechanism in order to take precautions and save Taiwan from the crisis of being annexed [by China]." YOUNG