Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09AITTAIPEI574
2009-05-13 08:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: U.S. AND TAIWAN'S STATUS
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHIN #0574 1330818 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 130818Z MAY 09 FM AIT TAIPEI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1564 INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9177 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0609
UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000574
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. AND TAIWAN'S STATUS
Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused May 13
news coverage on the Taiwan government's decision to open up 99
sectors in manufacturing, services and public works to Chinese
investment; on whether Taiwan's representative to the U.S. Jason
Yuan received U.S. permanent residency; and on the first anniversary
of the Ma Ying-jeou Administration. In terms of editorials and
commentaries, an op-ed piece in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times," written by John Tkacik, a retired
U.S. Foreign Service Officer, discussed the recent remarks by a
Japanese representative to Taiwan on the island's "undetermined"
status and the U.S. government's position on this issue. The
article concluded by saying that "[I]n the end, a doctrine of
Taiwan's 'undetermined' status is the only formulation under
international law that might permit Taiwan to exist separately from
the PRC. It is the only formula that permits the major democracies
of the world -- the US, Japan, the UK, Canada and Australia, to name
a few -- to maintain their support of Taiwan's democracy in the face
of Chinese accusations of 'gross interference in China's domestic
affairs.'" End summary.
"Taiwan's 'Undetermined' Status"
John Tkacik, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer and former chief
of China intelligence at the State Department's Bureau of
Intelligence and Research in the first Clinton Administration,
opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times"
[circulation: 30,000] (5/13):
"It is hard to believe that retired ambassador Saito Masaki, head of
the Japan Interchange Association (JIA),Tokyo's de facto embassy in
Taipei, would deliver himself of so profound a 'personal'
observation as 'Taiwan's status is unsettled' without instructions
from his government. With the Taipei government increasingly
inclined to define Taiwan as China's sovereign territory, it's no
wonder Japan is alarmed. Taiwanese themselves should be alarmed.
Taiwan's post-World War II 'undetermined' international status, an
explicit artifact of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, is after all
the metaphysical nucleus of Japan's relationship with Taiwan. It is
the core precept in the US' relationship with Taiwan as well. ...
"Americans make similar 'misstatements,' but not so elegantly or so
well thought-out. In August 2007, Dennis Wilder, then US president
George W. Bush's senior Asia adviser, allowed his tongue to slip in
a direction just the opposite of Saito's -- but botched it
completely: 'Taiwan, or the Republic of China,' he stammered, 'is
not at this point a state in the international community.' He then
confused the issue by adding: 'The position of the United States
government is that the ROC -- Republic of China -- is an issue
undecided, and it has been left undecided, as you know, for many,
many years.' Wrong, wrong, and (oh my!) wrong again. The 'Republic
of China' does not exist in US eyes. The PRC succeeded the ROC as
'China.' As far as the US government is concerned, there is only one
China and the PRC is China's sole legal government. Period. There is
nothing 'undecided' about the US position on the 'ROC' at all, I'm
afraid. ...
"Ironically, shortly before Wilder's infelicitous utterance,
Taiwan's 'undetermined' status was restated strongly and
authoritatively by US diplomats to UN Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, who presumably needed no reminding
since he had once served as director of the American Institute in
Taiwan. ... Taiwanese should be comforted. The US government is
(still) willing to stick its neck out and remind the UN of Taiwan's
'undetermined' status; and Japan's ambassador Saito is willing to
draw fire to remind the Taiwanese people of their 'undetermined'
status. They do not engage in this behavior merely for the fun of
belaboring the minutiae of international law left over from the San
Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. They do it to remind the Taiwanese
people that the Chinese civil war is over, and that the communists
won. There is no rational excuse for Taiwan's government to continue
the fiction that it is the government of all China, or to pronounce
that Taiwan's interpretation of 'one China' is -- as President Ma
Ying-jeou has postulated -- the ROC. ...
"In the end, a doctrine of Taiwan's 'undetermined' status is the
only formulation under international law that might permit Taiwan to
exist separately from the PRC. It is the only formula that permits
the major democracies of the world -- the US, Japan, the UK, Canada
and Australia, to name a few -- to maintain their support of
Taiwan's democracy in the face of Chinese accusations of 'gross
interference in China's domestic affairs.' Saito's gentle reminder
that Japan -- at least -- still does not recognize China's sovereign
claims to Taiwan was indeed his 'personal opinion' -- but it is also
that of the Japanese government -- and the US government as well.
Taiwan's government and ruling party must not make it more difficult
for the world's democracies to support Taiwan than it already is."
YOUNG
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. AND TAIWAN'S STATUS
Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused May 13
news coverage on the Taiwan government's decision to open up 99
sectors in manufacturing, services and public works to Chinese
investment; on whether Taiwan's representative to the U.S. Jason
Yuan received U.S. permanent residency; and on the first anniversary
of the Ma Ying-jeou Administration. In terms of editorials and
commentaries, an op-ed piece in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times," written by John Tkacik, a retired
U.S. Foreign Service Officer, discussed the recent remarks by a
Japanese representative to Taiwan on the island's "undetermined"
status and the U.S. government's position on this issue. The
article concluded by saying that "[I]n the end, a doctrine of
Taiwan's 'undetermined' status is the only formulation under
international law that might permit Taiwan to exist separately from
the PRC. It is the only formula that permits the major democracies
of the world -- the US, Japan, the UK, Canada and Australia, to name
a few -- to maintain their support of Taiwan's democracy in the face
of Chinese accusations of 'gross interference in China's domestic
affairs.'" End summary.
"Taiwan's 'Undetermined' Status"
John Tkacik, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer and former chief
of China intelligence at the State Department's Bureau of
Intelligence and Research in the first Clinton Administration,
opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times"
[circulation: 30,000] (5/13):
"It is hard to believe that retired ambassador Saito Masaki, head of
the Japan Interchange Association (JIA),Tokyo's de facto embassy in
Taipei, would deliver himself of so profound a 'personal'
observation as 'Taiwan's status is unsettled' without instructions
from his government. With the Taipei government increasingly
inclined to define Taiwan as China's sovereign territory, it's no
wonder Japan is alarmed. Taiwanese themselves should be alarmed.
Taiwan's post-World War II 'undetermined' international status, an
explicit artifact of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, is after all
the metaphysical nucleus of Japan's relationship with Taiwan. It is
the core precept in the US' relationship with Taiwan as well. ...
"Americans make similar 'misstatements,' but not so elegantly or so
well thought-out. In August 2007, Dennis Wilder, then US president
George W. Bush's senior Asia adviser, allowed his tongue to slip in
a direction just the opposite of Saito's -- but botched it
completely: 'Taiwan, or the Republic of China,' he stammered, 'is
not at this point a state in the international community.' He then
confused the issue by adding: 'The position of the United States
government is that the ROC -- Republic of China -- is an issue
undecided, and it has been left undecided, as you know, for many,
many years.' Wrong, wrong, and (oh my!) wrong again. The 'Republic
of China' does not exist in US eyes. The PRC succeeded the ROC as
'China.' As far as the US government is concerned, there is only one
China and the PRC is China's sole legal government. Period. There is
nothing 'undecided' about the US position on the 'ROC' at all, I'm
afraid. ...
"Ironically, shortly before Wilder's infelicitous utterance,
Taiwan's 'undetermined' status was restated strongly and
authoritatively by US diplomats to UN Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, who presumably needed no reminding
since he had once served as director of the American Institute in
Taiwan. ... Taiwanese should be comforted. The US government is
(still) willing to stick its neck out and remind the UN of Taiwan's
'undetermined' status; and Japan's ambassador Saito is willing to
draw fire to remind the Taiwanese people of their 'undetermined'
status. They do not engage in this behavior merely for the fun of
belaboring the minutiae of international law left over from the San
Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. They do it to remind the Taiwanese
people that the Chinese civil war is over, and that the communists
won. There is no rational excuse for Taiwan's government to continue
the fiction that it is the government of all China, or to pronounce
that Taiwan's interpretation of 'one China' is -- as President Ma
Ying-jeou has postulated -- the ROC. ...
"In the end, a doctrine of Taiwan's 'undetermined' status is the
only formulation under international law that might permit Taiwan to
exist separately from the PRC. It is the only formula that permits
the major democracies of the world -- the US, Japan, the UK, Canada
and Australia, to name a few -- to maintain their support of
Taiwan's democracy in the face of Chinese accusations of 'gross
interference in China's domestic affairs.' Saito's gentle reminder
that Japan -- at least -- still does not recognize China's sovereign
claims to Taiwan was indeed his 'personal opinion' -- but it is also
that of the Japanese government -- and the US government as well.
Taiwan's government and ruling party must not make it more difficult
for the world's democracies to support Taiwan than it already is."
YOUNG