UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001239

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: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS, SINO-U.S.
RELATIONS


1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news
coverage October 17-19 on the Council of Grand Justices'
constitutional interpretation regarding former President Chen
Shui-bian's legal case; on a seminar held jointly by Taiwan's
Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies (APS) and the U.S.-based
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) discussing
U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations under the Ma Ying-jeou and Obama
administrations; and on President Ma Ying-jeou becoming KMT Chairman
and the KMT's eighteenth national party congress over the weekend.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an op-ed in the
conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" foresaw
that the United States and China are going to strengthen their
political and economic relations. This is because the United States
needs China to deal with issues including the United States'
economic woes, Iran, North Korea and climate change. End summary.


3. Sino-U.S. Relations

"President Obama May Forge Stronger Bond with Beijing on China
Trip"

The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post"
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (10/19):

"As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for his first visit to
China next month, one inevitable question arises: How will the trip
impact the U.S.-China relationship, which has already become one of
the most important partnerships in the world today?

"The answer seems obvious. The impact will be for the partnership
to strengthen and become more co-dependent, both politically and
economically. The Sino-U.S. partnership has been upgraded from
being one between "competitors" to one between "strategic partners"
over the past decade. Furthermore, since Obama took office in
January, ties have been ratcheted up one notch higher as the new
president became beleaguered by a host of thorny issues, domestic as
well as international, that need a helping hand from Beijing. ...

"When Obama visits Beijing next month, he is expected to ask the
Chinese to invest more in Treasurys, and he may reach some sort of
quid pro quo with his host, like a reiteration of U.S. support for
one China, as well as opposition to protectionism. Obama, the new
Nobel peace laureate, should return home with a stronger partnership
with China, which he needs as an ally of sorts to carry out his
agenda of 'change' that the troubled world is awaiting with fervent
expectations."

STANTON