MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000535 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 Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their April 17 news coverage on recent interaction between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait; on the DPP's selection of its new chairman; on speculation over possible personnel arrangements for the new Ma Ying-jeou administration; and on a recent annual military drill involving Taiwan leaders. Almost all papers on their inside pages reported on a Chinese National Judicial Examination Center announcement Wednesday that people from Taiwan are now allowed to take China's bar exam and to practice law in China. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" cautioned the incoming Ma administration to be cautious in negotiating for peace with Beijing. An editorial in the pro-independence "Taiwan News" also warned that the KMT's 'open door' policy to China is both dangerous and naive. End summary. A) "Toward Greater Cross-Strait Peace" The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (4/17): "... Despite the seemingly rosy prospects, there are still pitfalls and uncertainties. Although more contacts with the mainland will help lower tension in the Taiwan Strait, Beijing's tendency to regard the island as a province of the People's Republic of China with no sovereignty of its own must be taken into consideration when the Ma administration proceeds with its plans to promote peace across the Strait. ... "The ROC on Taiwan is a sovereign state, whose birth came long before the founding of the PRC. Taiwan has never been ruled by the Beijing regime. Until and unless the rulers of the mainland accept this fact, it will be extremely hard for the two sides to enter into a pact that can safely and effectively serve as the basis for exchanges. The administration that will be formed under Ma must be cautious in dealing with the Beijing regime. Pursuing rapprochement is the hope of most Taiwan residents, but the island's interests and security must come first in negotiating for peace with the mainland." B) "KMT 'Open Door' Risks Our Future" The pro-independence "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (4/27): "The participation by Kuomintang vice president-elect Vincent Siew in last weekend's Boao Forum For Asia, during which he met People's Republic of China State Chairman Hu Jintao and other PRC official and business heavyweights, is already being touted as a great boost to Taiwan's allegedly 'stagnant' economy and stock market. ... These expectations, which are now being deliberately fanned to spur a speculative 'bubble' market, are likely to fall flat for the most of Taiwan's 23 million citizens. "In immediate terms, it is unrealistic to expect a dramatic boost from the Hu - Siew meeting since the PRC state chairman did not provide any concrete replies to the 'four expectations' proposed by the KMT vice president-elect, including Beijing's approval of direct chartered air links, permission for PRC tourists to visit Taiwan and the rapid restoration of semi-official talks. In the longer-run, Taiwan's long-term economic health and competitiveness may not be as closely related to the alleged deadlock in cross-strait relations as KMT leaders and pro-KMT media pundits have led our people to believe. ... "Besides fostering a speculative 'bubble' market, excessive economic integration with the PRC will risk the disruption of Taiwan's genuine 'wellspring' of economic progress as suppliers of advanced technology from United States, Japan and Europe become more worried over the possible erosion of protection for intellectual property rights and the possible migration of advanced 'dual use' (civilian and military) technology to PRC state firms. Siew's blithe assumption that it is possible to 'separate politics from economics' is not only dangerously naive but will serve as a cover for the restoration of the power of the KMT political elite and their associated economic and business vested interests who stand to gain through accelerating economic integration with the PRC. Without a strong regulatory framework to protect our core technology and block the importation of PRC management methods and labor imports, Taiwan will not only lose its political independence and economic autonomy but will also lose the internal dynamism that is essential for our continued economic progress and prosperity." YOUNG