MEDIA REACTION: DALAI LAMA'S TAIWAN VISIT, JAPAN'S

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001063 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - THOMAS HAMM DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: DALAI LAMA'S TAIWAN VISIT, JAPAN'S ELECTIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news coverage September 1 on China's reaction to the visit by the Dalai Lama to Taiwan; on the "surprising" results of the KMT's primary for the year-end Hualien County Magistrate election; and on the H1N1 epidemic in Taiwan. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an op-ed in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" discussed the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan and said the Green camp appears to be the winner while the Blue camp has made substantive gains from the Dalai Lama's visit. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" lashed out at President Ma Ying-jeou and called him a "puppet" in handling the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan and cross-Strait relations. With regard to the landslide victory of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in nationwide elections Sunday, an op-ed in the pro-unification "United Daily News" said DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama will seek to form an equilateral strategic triangle among the United States, Japan and China. A column in the KMT-leaning "China Times" also discussed the future direction of Japan's foreign policy and said the DPJ will draw itself farther away from Washington but closer to Beijing so as to balance the current situation and pursue Japan's own interests in its relations between the United States and China. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" said the rise to power of the DPJ "may affect the U.S.-Japan security relationship" and suggested that the DPP counteract possible efforts by Beijing and the KMT to take Taiwan out from under the U.S.-Japan security umbrella. End summary. ¶2. Dalai Lama's Taiwan Visit A) "Green [Camp] Saves Its Face While the Blue [Camp] Makes Substantive Gains" Professor Chen Mao-hsiung from National Sun Yat-sen University's Department of Electrical Engineering opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] (8/31): "... For the United States, it hopes that the status quo will be maintained and no conflicts will emerge in the Taiwan Strait. If it were [Taiwan's] ruling party that came forth and invited the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan, not only would cross-Strait relations go downhill, but also the United States would face a dilemma. But this time it was the opposition party that made the invitation, and the ruling party also did something appropriate to draw a clear line between itself and the Dalai Lama -- a move that not only justified its decision [to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan] but also saved the United States from getting into any trouble. ... The international media firmly believes that the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan will step on the red line drawn by China, [but] that was because they do not understand the confrontation between the Green [camp] and the Blue [camp] in Taiwan and the triangular relationship between the two camps and China. The stronger the Green camp [tries to] push, the [more] it will draw the Ma administration and China closer together. Only when the Ma administration tries proactively to let Taiwan be annexed by China, will the actions by the Green camp become a [force for] resistance. If the goal of the Ma administration is to maintain the status quo [across the Taiwan Strait], the antagonism between the DPP and China will, on the contrary, create room for the Ma administration to [maneuver] and bargain [with China]; as a result, the DPP's actions can be regarded as aiding [Ma]." B) "Now the Punishment Begins" The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (9/1): "... Beijing also had to act because of its global propaganda strategy to isolate the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause. Muted, targeted criticism, with an indirect snipe at Ma through its boycott of the Deaflympics' opening ceremony, was its only option. While it needs Ma to remain in power and to be able to effect pro-China policies such as an economic cooperation framework agreement, Beijing is also using the Dalai Lama's visit to remind Ma who is in charge. Consequently, Beijing will likely tell the Ma administration that while it was willing to show flexibility by not reacting too strongly to the visit, the price for this would come in the form of concessions -- by Taiwan. "This development suggests that Ma is in a vicious circle. He is forced to make political decisions based not on his Cabinet's assessment of what is best for the country, but as unavoidable concessions to activist elements such as Morakot victims, the DPP and Beijing. It's even worse if a president has to make a concession to mitigate the harm done by a previous concession, as could happen after Beijing seeks to cash in on its "goodwill" in not retaliating over the Dalai Lama's visit. When political imperatives are driven by external forces -- as is the case here -- a president is no longer a leader. He's a puppet." ELECTIONS ¶3. Japan's Elections A) "Last Wishes of [DPJ Leader] Yukio Hatoyama's Grandfather -- Multilateral, Independent Diplomacy [for Japan]" Professor He Sishen from Fu Jen Catholic University's Department of Japanese Studies opined in the pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] (9/1): "... Even though the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will sense more acutely the pressure from the United States in the wake of its victory, ... the DPJ will still highlight in its foreign policy [the need to] construct an equal partnership with the United States. To accomplish such a goal, Japan will have to strengthen its relations with its neighboring countries in East Asia, in particular, its relations with China. It is expected that Sino-Japan relations will continue to advance after the DPJ takes over the helm. ... "Yet if the United States, in its increasing need to work with China on various international issues, tries to push Japan toward China, there will be more chances for the 'U.S.-Japan-China leaders' summit,' currently advocated by Japan, to be held. Needless to say, the DPJ will try to avoid the possibility of allowing the United States to replace Japan with China; instead, while seeking to make Japan get rid of its reliance on the United States, the DPJ will take advantage of its relations with China to build leverage for its relations with the United States and thus create an equilateral strategic triangle among the United States, Japan and China. ..." B) "The Foreign Diplomacy Direction of the Democratic Party of Japan" The "International Lookout" column in the KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 120,000] wrote (8/31): "The landslide victory of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in nationwide elections Sunday was something expected. What one needs to pay attention to should be the future direction of Japan's [foreign] policy. What deserves [our] attention are: First, is Japan moving toward a [diplomatic] objective of a multilateral approach that [links itself more closely] with the world, or it will still retain its unilateral [direction] of looking up to the United States? Second, will it change its previous thinking of 'getting out of Asia' and return to [join] Asia? Third, how is Japan going to deal with its relations with the United States and China? Will it possibly emphasize the trilateral cooperation among the United States, China and Japan? ... "A plain and simple observation [shows that] the DPJ government will draw itself a little farther away from the United States and a little bit closer to China, in an attempt to balance the current situation and to pursue Japan's own interests [in its relations with] China and the United States. [It appears that the] DPJ has not yet thought of forming an alliance among the United States, China and Japan." C) "DPJ Triumph Offers Challenge for Taiwan" The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (9/1): "Japan experienced its most dramatic political turnabout in decades Sunday when the opposition centric (sic) Democratic Party of Japan scored a landslide victory over the long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic party in lower house Diet elections, a triumph that will pave the way for DPJ President Hatoyama Yukio to become the first non LDP prime minister in 16 years. ... At the same time, the rise to power of the DPJ, which has opposed the dispatch of Japan Self-defense Naval Forces to the Indian Ocean and closer relations with the PRC and other Asian neighbors, may affect the United States-Japan security relationship. In the past, Tokyo had always followed Washington's lead in exchange for protection by America's "nuclear umbrella," but the DPJ has already indicated that it has no intention of continuing this slavish mentality in the future and will have its own strategic thinking that will reflect the national interests of Japan and its people, even though it will not consider abolishing the 2006 U.S.-Japan agreement on the adjustment of U.S. force deployment. "Whether the DPJ, which has good ties with the DPP, will also adjust the content of the U.S.-Japan security relationship to exclude Taiwan is unlikely, but by no means inconceivable. Since the KMT, and hard-line "independence" proponents in the DPP, have traditionally had closer ties with LDP and other elements of the Japanese right-wing, the sudden rise to power of the center-left DPJ will leave the rightist KMT government under China-centric President Ma Ying-jeou in a rather awkward position. ... The DPP should jump ELECTIONS to rise out of such narcissism and realize that the DPJ's example shows that center-left grassroots parties can defeat rich and rightist one party dominant parties in single seat district parliamentary elections. Moreover, only active initiatives to promote dialogue with DPJ parliamentarians by the DPP can counteract possible efforts by both Beijing and Ma's China-centric KMT administration to take Taiwan out of the U.S.-Japan security umbrella and into the PRC's orbit. Proactive party diplomacy on the DPP's part is essential now to help ensure that the first real change of skies (sic) in Tokyo in over five decades will lead to greater strategic independence from both the PRC and the U.S. and the promotion of interests of Japan's people in terms of the values of democracy and social justice." STANTON