MEDIA REACTION: U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001517 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. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused October 25-27 news coverage on the DPP's mass rally in Taipei on Saturday to protest the Ma Ying-jeou Administration's alleged tilt toward China; on the upcoming visit to Taiwan by China's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin; and on the Taiwan government's announcement that the daily trading limit on the local stock market would revert to its normal 7 percent starting Monday to boost the market's liquidity. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" discussed the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the global situation. The article said the world is looking forward to the election of Barack Obama of the Democratic Party and the possible changes he may bring to the world. End summary. "The World Is Looking Forward to Changes" Jou Yi-cheng, founder of the Third Society Party, wrote in the "Hall of Fame" column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] (10/27): "... Despite the fact that some people may like it and some hate it, the United States remains the overlord of the globe. Yet in the eyes of a majority of the people in the world, the United States has become a repugnant superpower in the last eight years. The Bush Administration's unilateralist foreign policy, its launch of the war in Iraq, [the United States'] withdrawal from the 'Kyoto Protocol' governing greenhouse gas emissions, and President George W. Bush's personal words, deeds and style -- all of these have stripped the United States of its justification as a leader; all the more, they have turned the country into another kind of 'rogue state.' ... Barack Obama's election and the possible changes that he may bring are thus something that the world is looking forward to. The foreign policy of Democratic Obama will naturally be leaning toward idealism/liberalism; it will emphasize cooperation, alliance, negotiation and will attach great importance to human rights, environmental protection and labor issues. Nevertheless, it will be incorrect to assume that there will be big changes to the United States' grand strategy once Obama is elected. Should Obama rise to power, U.S. foreign policy will likely adopt a middle-of-the-road approach, namely, a [combination of] the traditional realism school and liberalism school -- some kind of middle-of-the-road line coming together following the bitter lesson learned after the failure of the Bush Administration's neo-conservatism line. ... "For Taiwan, a U.S. leader who attaches great importance to values such as democracy and human rights but who does not push American values by using force, as Bush did, is certainly welcome. Given that nowadays the chances are slim of containing China strategically, Taiwan should form an alliance of values with the Western democratic world, not an alliance of geopolitical strategy. ... With the United States' and Japan's full trust and cooperation, Taiwan's efforts to improve relations with China and thereby facilitate changes in China will meet the island's greatest interests. ..." YOUNG