MEDIA REACTION: SECRETARY CLINTON'S ASIA TRIP

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000196

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: SECRETARY CLINTON'S ASIA TRIP


1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused
February 20 news coverage on Taiwan's sagging economy, on the
on-going investigation into the corruption case against former
President Chen Shui-bian and his family, on the possibility of
signing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)
between Taiwan and China, and on the results of the recently-held
college entrance exam island-wide. Nearly all major
Chinese-language papers reported on a "New York Times" story
Wednesday, which quoted U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Timothy
Keating as saying in Hong Kong that he is willing to invite military
officials of China and Taiwan to the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii
to have talks.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the
pro-independence "Liberty Times" discussed Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton's recent remarks on the cross-Strait situation and
said that "the 'peace in the Taiwan Strait' welcomed by the United
States is by no means the 'peaceful unification' claimed by China,
nor is it the 'false appearance of peace' that President Ma intends
to trade at the expense of [Taiwan] losing its economic independence
and political autonomy." An op-ed piece in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times" written by an American commentator
discussed Clinton's Asia trip and said, "her decision to make her
first overseas trip to Asia, particularly China, was a smart one
and, if done with aplomb, could yield enormous returns for the
administration of US President Barack Obama as it attempts to
re-establish world leadership." End summary.

A) "We Want Peace, not 'Peaceful Unification' That Deprives
[Ourselves of Our] Sovereignty"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 700,000]
editorialized (2/20):

"Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu is currently on a visit in the United
States at the invitation of the State Department. Chen said in
Washington D.C. that U.S. officials noted positively the warming
[relations] across the Taiwan Strait. The United States does not
want to be forcibly dragged into conflicts between the two sides of
the Taiwan Strait and is pleased to see alleviated tensions in the
Taiwan Strait, [Chen added,] but Washington also attaches importance
to the opinions of Taiwan's opposition parties. ...

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently on a
visit in Asia, pointed out that the United States supports and
encourages mitigated tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Yet Clinton
also unequivocally emphasized that articles in the Taiwan Relations
Act clearly demand that the United States provide support for
Taiwan's defense. This indicates that the 'peace in the Taiwan
Strait' welcomed by the United States is by no means the 'peaceful
unification' claimed by China, nor is it the 'false appearance of
peace' that President Ma intends to trade at the expense of [Taiwan]
losing its economic independence and political autonomy. Rather,
the message released by the United States is closer to what Mayor
Chen meant when she said the price for alleviated tensions in the
Taiwan Strait can never be the loss of Taiwan's sovereignty or a
retrogression of Taiwan's human rights. ..."

B) "Clinton Can Usher in Real Change"

Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society's Center on US-China
Relations, opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei
Times" [circulation: 30,000] (2/20):

"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off to China. Her decision
to make her first overseas trip to Asia, particularly China, was a
smart one and, if done with aplomb, could yield enormous returns for
the administration of US President Barack Obama as it attempts to
reestablish world leadership. That Clinton chose to go to Asia
now, when the US State Department remains unsettled - with no
ambassador in Beijing, many old officials having departed or
leaving, and many new appointees still unseated - attests to her
determination to stake out Asia as her own area. What she brings to
this task is openness and an eagerness to construct a new
architecture for Sino-US relations. But, even as a host of other
issues come into play, strengthening this most important of
bilateral relationships requires a new, underlying common interest.
Paradoxically, the challenge of climate change is a good place to
look. ...

"As they contemplate this turning point, China's leaders should be
aware of how malleable US foreign policy currently is. Although they
are accustomed to experiencing the US as a dominant, often censuring
'great power,' the reality now is that the US is beginning not only
a new presidential administration, but a whole chapter in its
history. ... It is not that former US president George W. Bush's
administration left Sino-US relations in such bad repair, but that
the possibilities for a substantial change for the better have never
been greater. Clinton's openness to new approaches and her early

trip to Beijing provides an incomparable opportunity for Chinese
leaders to help make the fight against global climate change - which
is perhaps the most important challenge to confront the world in our
time - a common odyssey."

WANG