MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000517 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: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their April 15 news coverage on President-elect Ma Ying-jeou's announcement of his appointment of KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung as the new Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman; on Ma's comments on current developments in cross-Strait relations after Vice President-elect Vincent Siew's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao over the weekend; and on various reactions to Taiwan's proposed opening of charter flights, tourism from the Mainland, and Chinese yuan currency exchange starting in July at the earliest. ¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" criticized Vice President-elect Vincent Siew's trip to the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) as a failure and slammed President-elect Ma Ying-jeou's for his haste to improve cross-Strait relations. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" said that whether China intends to mend cross-Strait relations can only be revealed after Ma and Siew are inaugurated. An op-ed in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" took the example of Siew's meeting with Hu to shed light on the issue of Ma's wish to visit the United States. End summary. ¶3. Cross-Strait Relations A) "Watch Out! The Boy [next to the Boss] Has Pulled a Drill out of His Pocket" The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 720,000] editorialized (4/15): "... The Boao Forum for Asia's appearance on the stage after Taiwan's presidential election is an extremely good touchstone, which provides the Taiwan people an opportunity publicly to see whether there is room for the existence of 'one China with respective interpretations' for both sides across the Taiwan Strait. The facts show that [the] 'one China' [formulation] appeared in a news release of China's Ministry of Commerce. [Taiwan's Vice President-elect Vincent] Siew's delegation did not mention [one China with] respective interpretations during the whole trip or confirm with [Chinese President] Hu [Jintao] the connotations of the 1992 consensus. The so-called 'two sides across the Taiwan Strait recognizing that both parties have different definitions of one China' is unable to stand the test. ... "Therefore, Quasi-President Ma [Ying-jeou] claimed yesterday that since three parties out of four among the United States, China, Taiwan (the DPP and the KMT) have confirmed the '1992 consensus, which is one China with respective interpretations,' it is therefore unnecessary to mention it every time, because the foundation of cross-Strait interaction has been established. This is an illusion of self-comfort. From now on, if [Ma wants] cross-Strait relations to progress far and with stability, [he] should not act like an ostrich who is 'afraid of interpreting one China' and cast a mist on the precision and direction of policy-making. ..." B) "How Deep Are Hu's 'Deep' Thoughts?" The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (4/15): "What will truly reveal [Chinese President] Hu [Jintao]'s intent or the depth of his 'deep' thought will be how he treats Siew and other elected Taiwanese officials, including President-elect Ma Ying-jeou, once they assume office and can no longer pretend to meet officials from other countries as heads of NGOs. Only then will we be able to see if the KMT win in the presidential election truly brought about a departure in Sino-Taiwanese relations and in Hu's stance on Taiwan. ... "As an official who has yet to begin office, [Taiwan's Vice President-elect Vincent] Siew still has more freedom of action than he will have a little more than a month from now. After he and Ma replace the Democratic Progressive Party administration on May 20, they will know again that in a democracy, power comes with responsibilities and that the public will hold them to account - and significantly more than heads of NGOs and non-elected officials. "As a result, their actions and rhetoric will increasingly reflect the aspirations of the public, and what they are bound to say is unlikely to resonate with Beijing. "Conversely, if they fail to do that and fail to fine-tune their behavior to reflect the expectations of those who elected them, their stay in office could be a short one indeed. ..." ¶4. U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations "Have a Look at Ma Ying-jeou's Visit to the United States from the RELATIONS Siew-Hu Meeting" Edward Chen, a professor at the Graduate Institute of American Studies in Taiwan's Tamkang University and currently a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago, opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] (4/15): "... Why on earth is the United States overcautious on [Taiwan's President-elect] Ma [Ying-jeou]'s visit to the United States? Is [the United States] afraid of setting a precedent? Regarding visits by our country's highest leader [to the United States], the United States has decided [these] on a case-by-case basis. "Therefore, it was arranged for [former Taiwan President] Lee Teng-hui to visit Cornell University in Syracuse in New York State. [Taiwan's President] Chen Shui-bian could have a high-profile transit stop in New York City. Chen also had rather had a 'journey to nowhere [in 2006]' and rejected the arrangement of having a transit stop in Alaska. In fact, instead of worrying about setting a precedent which our country's president-elect will take and visit the United States before his inauguration, why does the United States not take this opportunity to allow Ma's visiting the United States to set a precedent, by which Washington only allows a Taiwan president-elect who respects and harmonizes with the United States' interests visit the United States before inauguration. "[Taiwan's Vice President-elect Vincent] Siew has successfully spoken to the world on behalf of Taiwan through his meeting with [Chinese President] Hu [Jintao] and his participation in the Boao Forum for Asia. If Ma steps on Japan's territory before his inauguration, it is not unlikely that the United States will become an 'outsider' during the improvement of cross-Strait relations and the integration of the East Asian economy. "The biggest problem for the Bush administration is that, even though the United States encourages the resumption of dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait itself, Washington does not know how to face the reality once cross-Strait relations improve. Undoubtedly, Ma's mainland policy after he assumes office will more or less create an impact on U.S. interests in Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region. But since Washington has no intention and cannot possibly stop positive interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, it should work proactively to play its role well and not just wait hesitantly and be dictated to by the bureaucracy and the Cold War-thinking of the State Department. In particular, that is a 'just taking without giving' approach and not a good way to treat a friend when [Washington] just used words like 'expecting' and 'suggesting' while not agreeing to Ma's visit to the United States." YOUNG