MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S UN REFERENDUM, U.S.-TAIWAN

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000104 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: TAIWAN'S UN REFERENDUM, U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news coverage January 19-22 on the various steps taken by the DPP to review and remedy itself in the wake of its severe defeat in the January 12 legislative elections; on the KMT's selection of its nominee for the new deputy legislative speaker; and on the March presidential election. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the pro-unification "United Daily News" slammed President Chen Shui-bian for manipulating the elections by "bundling" them with referenda. The article said the UN referendum in March will be viewed again by most voters as a no-confidence vote against Chen. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," on the other hand, criticized the United States for blindly subordinating its foreign policy to Beijing and pressuring the DPP government not to create any trouble for Washington. The article concluded by saying that "A U.S. administration that puts appeasement of the demands of authoritarian states over the preservation of genuinely democratic allies has little legitimacy to claim true global leadership." End summary. ¶2. Taiwan's UN Referendum "Are [We] Still Going to Eat the Spoiled Rice Called 'UN Referendum?'" The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] editorialized (1/19): "... Referenda have become a pot of spoiled rice following the January 12 legislative elections, which were held simultaneously with two referenda. But it is not over yet; there are referenda on Taiwan's bid to 'join and re-join the UN,' which will be held in tandem with the March 22 presidential election. Chen Shui-bian, as usual, will spend hundreds of millions in government funds to bring this pot of spoiled rice to the Taiwan people, regardless of whether we like it or not or have the appetite for it or not. But is this spot of spoiled rice still edible? "The UN referendum will not get [Taiwan] into the UN; Chen already said that nothing will happen [in the wake of the referendum]. The UN referendum will not change [the Republic of China] into the 'nation of Taiwan'; Frank Hsieh said everything will be back to square one [after the UN referendum]. The UN referendum has done serious damage to mutual trust between Taipei and Washington, and it has torn Taiwan society apart. As described above, the UN referendum will again tolerate Chen and allow him to violate the Constitution, the law, and his [vow to] stay administratively neutral, and it will allow him to strip the [Taiwan people] ... of their dignity. In addition, it is already predictable that the UN referendum will fail to pass, just like the two referenda held on January 12. Referenda are such a holy practice, but Chen has brought them down to such a state! Most voters will continue to regard the DPP's UN referendum on March 22 as a no-confidence vote against Chen. ..." ¶3. U.S.-Taiwan RELATIONS "Washington Lacks Legitimacy in Policy on Taiwan" The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (1/22): "... In recent years, the Democratic Progressive Party government of President Chen Shui-bian has been censured and sanctioned by the Republican administration of U.S. President George W. Bush for undertaking initiatives to deepen and defend our democracy, including advocating constitutional reforms, instituting and holding referenda and proposing to join the United Nations. After an initially supportive stance toward Taiwan's democracy, the Bush administration has gradually subordinated its foreign policy to that of Beijing's by acting in the PRC's stead to pressure the DPP government to 'not make trouble' for Washington as it conducts its 'war on terror' or its war against Iraq, regardless of Taiwan's own interests and problems. "Hence, Washington has evidently never considered the feelings of Taiwan citizens when it metes out humiliating treatment to the democratically elected Taiwan president in transit stops or engages in direct and open criticism of democratic processes, such as the scheduled U.N. referendum. The latest example of U.S. blindness was displayed by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte during a visit to Beijing January 18, when he continued to criticize the DPP-initiated referendum on applying for U.N. membership under the name of Taiwan. ... "Moreover, Negroponte's statement shows that Washington has also failed to realize that parameters of Taiwan's POLITICAL and security situation have changed dramatically in the wake of the January 12 Legislative Yuan elections, in which the KMT snared an overwhelming RELATIONS three-fourths majority. Negroponte and U.S. policy makers who share his view seem blind to the implications of the very real prospect that the KMT may be able to re-establish its former one-party monopoly rule, and that the KMT's restoration will tilt Taiwan's political and economic policy framework in the PRC's direction and perhaps even accelerate 'ultimate unification.' ... "U.S. officials should ask themselves whether they will be worried by the restoration to monopoly power of an openly 'China-centric' party which may well be inclined to 'lean to one side' in favor of the PRC in the case of disagreements between Washington and Beijing. They should also consider what kind of message their appeasement of the restoration of a former authoritarian party, along with [that party's] service to Beijing in suppressing Taiwan's democratic progress, will send to the world, including democracy activists in Hong Kong or China itself. "A U.S. administration that puts appeasement of the demands of authoritarian states over the preservation of genuinely democratic allies has little legitimacy to claim true global leadership. We can only hope that the American people will seek to rebuild their country's reputation as a defender of democracy, freedom, justice and responsibility under a new U.S. president, and that the revival of American moral courage will not come too late to save a democratic Taiwan." WANG