MEDIA REACTION: U.S. IMAGE, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000474 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: U.S. IMAGE, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their April 18-20 news coverage on the third round of negotiations between Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS),which is slated for April 26 in Nanjing; on the Boao Forum held on Hainan Island, China last Thursday and Friday; and on the disappointing performance New York Yankees Taiwan pitcher Wang Chien-ming over the weekend. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" discussed the Summit of the Americas and the change in the United States' relations with other countries, as shown by U.S. President Barack Obama's holding out an olive branch to Cuba. The article said that with Washington's promise that "the United States will no longer be the big boss," there lies the opportunity for reconciliation. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," on the other hand, discussed U.S.-China-Taiwan relations and criticized the allegedly misleading remarks by Taiwan's representative to the U.S. Jason Yuan at the Legislative Yuan last week. The article said that "Washington should take care to avoid being used by the KMT government as a tool to legitimize a policy that may not necessarily be welcomed by the majority of the Taiwan people and which may compromise US interests in the East Asia region." End summary. ¶2. U.S. Image "No Longer Is the United States the Big Boss" The "Black and White" column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] wrote (4/20): "... [Former U.S. President George W. Bush] constantly met with protests and shoe-tossing [incidents] during his visits to other countries; President Barack Obama, by contrast, has been quite popular wherever he has gone. The reason lies in the fact that Obama's viewpoint of peace can bring beautiful imagination to the international community. At least, the big boss who used to be arrogant and bossy has changed both in his tone and posture. ... "Cuba has been a [fish] bone in the United States' throat of democracy. The brutal sanctions [of the United States] over the past century has suppressed Cuba's development, but the United States' notoriety as being 'a bogus democracy, and a hegemony in reality' has been following it like a shadow all the time. It all depends on Cuba's reactions as to whether or not it will accept the small olive branch that Obama has proffered. Even though Cuba was not able to attend the Summit [of the Americas], it remained a widely discussed topic in the summit. Cuba's absence had made Washington feel all the more the pain of the spine in its throat. It goes without saying that Obama wants to pull out the [fishbone], so he said, 'I am not here to talk about the past; I am here to talk about the future.' "Only one without historical burdens can speak of the future in such a relaxing way. The fifty-year-old grudges between the United States and Cuba, and the thirty-decade-long new hatred on top of old between the United States and Iran, including all the imbroglio of terrorism with the Muslim World, will likely open a new era of reconciliation in the hands of Obama. Surely it will not be an easy process, but with the promise that 'the United States will no longer be the big boss,' there lies the opportunity for reconciliation." ¶3. U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations "U.S. Must Be Impartial in Taiwan Politics" The pro-independence "Taiwan News" [circulation: 20,000] editorialized (4/20): "The role of the United States in cross-strait affairs and Taiwan politics has always been sensitive and ambiguous. Under the 30-year old Taiwan Relations Act, Washington has the obligation to assist Taiwan sustain economic prosperity, consolidate its human rights and democracy and bolster its own self-defense capability against possible attack by the authoritarian People's Republic of China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. The U.S. official line suggests no support for Taiwan independence, opposition to the use of force by Beijing against Taipei, encouragement of dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, the peaceful resolution of any disputes between Taiwan and the PRC and no interference in cross-strait affairs unless there is a military crisis. In practice, Washington has incorporated different strategies to influence Taiwan politics and cross-strait relations, such as the dispatch of two aircraft carrier task forces to waters near Taiwan to deter Beijing's missile tests in the run-up to Taiwan's first direct presidential election in March 1996 to public statements made by Bush administration officials in late 2007 opposing referendums held early last year under the then Democratic Progressive Party government. "The use or misuse by Taiwan leaders of previous Kuomintang and DPP governments of the positions of the U.S. government for partisan purposes has often bred mistrust between Taipei and Washington. An example occurred last week when Jason Yuan, Taiwan's representative to Washington D.C, told reporters that more than one U.S. official had told him that the signing of a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) would make it easier to push for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Taiwan and the U.S. By spinning a small portion of comments made by U.S. officials into support by Washington for the controversial ECFA agenda of the Ma government, Yuan showed that the restored KMT government is no less apt to 'use diplomacy for domestic purposes' than its predecessor. ... "Yuan, who is charged with the duty of representing the Taiwan government and all of the 23 million Taiwan people and with the reinforcing U.S.-Taiwan ties in a non-partisan way, should not repeat the alleged errors of the Chen administration of listening to a small number of U.S. officials and should instead ensure that any information he receives reflects an authoritative consensus from the top of the new Democratic administration of President Barack Obama. Third, Yuan's statement that a cross-strait ECFA will pave the way for a U.S.-Taiwan FTA is misleading if not outright wrong. ... "Moreover, the Obama administration may be pleased with the recent if temporary stabilization of the cross-strait situation, but the U.S. government would be trampling in very troubled waters if it tried to boost Ma's domestic support for the sake of cross-strait policy in the face of the KMT administration's poor performance in economic and domestic affairs, including the tangible regression in human rights, judicial fairness and news freedom and the erosion of Taiwan's substantive dignity and autonomy. ... Washington should take care to avoid being used by the KMT government as a tool to legitimize a policy that may not necessarily welcomed by the majority of the Taiwan people and which may compromise US interests in the East Asian region. Hence, if any Taiwan official misquotes or misinterprets U.S. positions, Washington should not be shy about issuing prompt and public clarifications. In sum, Washington should respect Taiwan's democratic process and debate on crucial cross-strait policy and remain impartial in Taiwan internal politics." YOUNG