MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH IN CAIRO, NORTH

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000709

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH IN CAIRO, NORTH
KOREA


1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news
coverage June 13-15 on the potential hike in commodities prices; on
the legislature's passage of the Act Governing the Development of
Renewable Energy; and on President Ma Ying-jeou's running in the
election for the KMT chairmanship.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, Taiwan's former
Ambassador to South Africa Loh I-cheng commented on United States
President Barack Obama's speech at Cairo University in his column in
the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times." Loh said the importance of
this speech in which he proffers an olive branch outweighs President
Obama's election victory speech or inaugural speech. However, the
impact of this speech on the Islamic world remains to be seen.
Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, a column in the "China
Times" commented on the United Nations' latest resolution posing
sanctions against North Korea. The column said the United Nations'
resolution is not going to do much to help denuclearization on the
Korean Peninsula. An op-ed in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times" said that China is losing control of
North Korea, because North Korea is beginning to distrust China.
The United States should not look to China for a resolution to North
Korea's provocative moves. For now, resuming the Six-Party Talks is
the only solution. End summary.


3. President Obama's Speech in Cairo

"Obama Delivered an Olive Branch"

Taiwan's former Ambassador to South Africa Loh I-cheng wrote in his
column at the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation:
130,000] (6/15):

"While both Taiwan and Hong Kong were commemorating the twentieth
anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protest, United States President
Barack Obama visited the capital of Egypt and delivered a speech at
Cairo that shook the Islamic World. In the Greco-Roman manner of
speaking, he [Obama] delivered an olive branch, which is a symbol
expressing goodwill and the pursuit of peace. As far as this point
is concerned, the long-term influence and the importance [of this
Cairo speech] outweighs his own election victory speech or inaugural
speech, which have won universal praise. ...

"When giving the speech Cairo, Obama admitted that 'no single speech
can change the world.' In the last two weeks, scholars,
politicians, and media in [various] countries continuously discuss
how much impact this speech will have on the Islamic world.
Different people have different views, and it is difficult to reach
one conclusion. Only the history can be the judge. ..."


4. North Korea

A) "The Resolution for Sanctions is Strong in Appearance but Weak in
Reality"

The "International Outlook" column in the centrist, KMT-leaning
"China Times" [circulation: 130,000] wrote (6/13):

"... After the resolution was passed [in the United Nations June
12], how will North Korea respond? The International community is
holding its breath and waiting to see. In fact, if North Korea has
made up its mind to possess nuclear [weapons], it basically does not
need to respond anymore. [North Korea] can just follow the examples
of India, Pakistan, and Israel and immerse itself in hard work
quietly. If North Korea really is extorting [something from the
international community], as Western observers have been saying,
then [North Korea should] just obediently return to the "Six-Party
Talks on North Korea's nuclear program," and there is no need to
respond any more. ...

"North Korea closes its eyes to the United States, Japan and South
Korea. The United States, Japan and South Korea used the [United
Nations'] sanctions to punish North Korea in retaliation. The
purpose of [the retaliation] should have been met. However, if
[various] countries thought that the sanctions would contribute to
denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, unfortunately [the
sanctions] just work the opposite [manner] from what [these]
countries had hoped."

B) "North Korea is China's Nightmare"

Sushil Seth, a writer based in Australia, opined in the
pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation:
30,000] (6/14):

"... North Korea's brinkmanship is all the more dangerous now that
China seems to be losing control over its communist neighbor. If
anything, North Korea is beginning to distrust China. ...
KOREA

"Pyongyang came to lean on China for a favorable resolution of
negotiations. Instead, it now watches Beijing joining the US and
other states in castigating it for its nuclear and missile testing.
...

"But North Korea's reckless and dangerous nuclear politics is making
China look increasingly impotent, with the added effect of pushing
South Korea further into the US' fold. No wonder China is hopping
mad over Pyongyang's nuclear tantrums: It is finding itself
increasingly unable to lobby North Korea for fear of creating an
even bigger disaster. ...

"There is method in North Korea's madness, but it is a dangerous
method indeed: Knowing that Beijing might huff and puff but won't
blow North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's house in. Therefore, if the
US is looking to China for an effective resolution to North Korea's
provocations, it will be disappointed. The most China can do is
reconvene another session of the Six-Nation Talks. But in the
present mode of North Korean belligerence, even that seems
improbable."

YOUNG