MEDIA REACTION: OBAMA'S INAUGURATION, HILLARY CLINTON'S

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000074

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: OBAMA'S INAUGURATION, HILLARY CLINTON'S
NOMINATION


1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their
January 17-20 news coverage on the Taiwan government's distribution
of consumption vouchers Sunday, a move aimed at stimulating Taiwan's
economy; on the first of three pre-trial hearings on former
President Chen Shui-bian's legal cases; and on U.S. President Barack
Obama's inauguration Tuesday.


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the
pro-independence "Liberty Times" praised U.S. President Obama's
recent speeches, in which he mentioned American values of
independence and democracy, and lamented Taiwan President Ma
Ying-jeou and his foreign policy. An op-ed piece in the
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" spelled out the challenges facing the
Obama Administration and said both Obama's and Secretary of
State-designee Hillary Clinton's attitude toward Beijing is friendly
but overly naive. An editorial in the pro-unification "United Daily
News" commented on the implication of Obama's inauguration, saying
it fulfills former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's "dream of
equality" in U.S. society. The editorial expressed strong optimism
on Obama's coming into office in the midst of challenges
domestically and internationally. A column in the centrist,
KMT-leaning "China Times," on the other hand, discussed Obama's team
and said he is daring enough to hire outstanding rivals as his team
members. An editorial in the conservative, pro-unification,
English-language "China Post" also expressed optimism and high
expectations for Obama assuming office, calling him a hope not only
for the United States but also for all of Asia. An editorial in the
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" urged Obama "to
reject both Bush's unilateralism and Hu's arrogance and back the
need for a 'democratic solution' in the Taiwan Strait. ..." A
separate "Taiwan News" editorial said that, while Obama will refocus
U.S. policy on "responsibility" and multilateralism, which is
different from that of his predecessor George W. Bush, the Ma
Ying-jeou Administration must reassess its strategic positioning and
future policy direction in U.S.-China-Taiwan relations. A separate
"China Post" editorial discussed the nomination of Hillary Clinton
as Secretary of State and praised her for being "the right person at
the right time." End summary.


3. Obama's Inauguration

A) "Look at Barack Obama's High-spirited Enthusiasm! Wonder Where
Taiwan's Leader Is?"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 700,000]
editorialized (1/20):

"... Shouldering high expectations of the American people for
novelty and for change, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is about
to assume office as the United States' 44th president today. As the
first African-American head of state born on this new continent in
the course of the past 220 years, [Obama] has announced constantly
over the past few days that he will follow the spirit of the
nation's founding fathers and lead the American people to walk into
a new era. The values upheld by Obama were nothing but independence
and democracy, the two most important pillars that support the Obama
era. The same two pillars, which also provide core inspiration for
Taiwan to promote new relations with the United States, are indeed
ringing words which warn people against lurking danger. ...

"Taiwan and the United States have long shared a common language of
democracy, and they also share common interests in the Asia-Pacific
region. With the Bush regime coming to an end, whatever ambiance
that existed between Taiwan and the United States over the past
eight years has already become transient like clouds and mist
passing before the eyes. When he assumed office, Ma Ying-jeou
announced to all the Taiwan people that he would strengthen
cooperative ties with the United States, a security ally and trade
partner. He really should no longer shirk responsibility using [the
excuse of] 'Taiwan suffering unprecedented damage in its
international support'. With Obama rising to power, personnel
reshuffling will be in process in the new U.S. administration. Even
though it is generally expected that Washington's Asia policy
direction will not change much under the fixed framework, there have
been reports saying that many people who are friendly with Taiwan
will be invited to hold major positions in the new administration.
The trend has also created ample room for imagination for Taiwan to
advance and strengthen its relations with the United States. ..."

B) "The First One Hundred Days of Barack Obama"

Former National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Parris
Chang opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation:
520,000] (1/20):

"... The attitude of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton toward Beijing
is basically friendly but overly naive. Clinton believes that
U.S.-China relations will be the most important bilateral
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relationship in the world for this century, and she emphasizes
intimate cooperation between the two countries. ... Over the past
few years, many U.S. defense secretaries have constantly questioned
the real motive behind China's strong efforts to push for military
expansion and modernization. They also expressed doubt about
China's constant increase in its defense budget and lack of
transparency in its military policy. Due to such factors, the
United States has had to adopt a strategy of 'making a double bet,'
sending six carrier battle groups and three seconds of its nuclear
submarines to deploy in the Pacific area (with Guam as a base) to
prevent and deter China from using force against Taiwan and other
countries. It remains to be seen whether the new national security
team under Obama will be able to tell friend from foe, seize its
opportunity and welcome new challenges."

C) "Obama's Inauguration: Today Is Lincoln's Big Day!"

The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000]
editorialized (1/20):

"... Indeed, the United States nowadays needs a president with a
better imagination. In the last few decades, with an attitude that
took for granted that 'the United States President is the leader of
the world,' the United States acted unilaterally with its hegemonic
intuition and ignored the feelings of other countries. Especially,
during the term of Bush Junior [George W. Bush], the spirit of
unilateralism and realism were brought into full play. Therefore,
after eight years, the United States faces hostility because of its
invasion [of other countries]; [and the United States] brought
financial disaster to the world because of its loose management [of
financial markets], both of which made Washington become a negative
example that the whole world looked askance at it. Such arrogant
and self-centered thinking indeed requires a leader like [United
States President-elect Barack] Obama, whose political experience is
not abundant, who espouses certain ideals and yet is not naive, [in
order] to have an opportunity to revamp thoroughly. ..."

D) "Barack Obama Daring Enough to Hire Outstanding Rivals [for His
Team]"

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kuo Chen-lung wrote in the "International
Column" of the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation:
150,000] (1/20):

"... The United States has just been awakened by surprise from the
nightmare of Iraq, so it seems unlikely that the Obama
Administration will jump into another unworthy war again. But many
people are now worried that the financial and economic team under
Obama will have problems figuring out how to steer correctly, and
that they might use erroneous means and fall into another financial
or economic trap. Among Obama's financial and economic team, its
chief, Lawrence Summers and Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy
Geithner are the ones who people are most worried about. ..."

E) "Obama Is Also Asia's Hope"

The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post"
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (1/20):

"... President Obama's rise to high office reads something like a
fairy tale and is the most powerful proof of the triumph of the
American Dream. ... President Obama represents a new, 21st century
America. He is white and black and even a bit Asian. He is a
Christian with a Buddhist stepsister who also had two Muslim
fathers. He has relatives in Africa and Asia as well as distant
European ancestors. And, while he chose to identify himself as a
black man in college, he was actually raised by his white maternal
grandparents. In short, Obama is a little bit of everything, just
like America herself. President Obama will spend his first full day
in the White House, a palace largely built by African slaves. The
symbolism of Obama's electoral victory has not been lost on the
world and many view him as the embodiment of hope.

"All across the planet, people are eagerly hoping that the positive
change in direction Obama has promised will bring the United States,
and by extension, the entire globe, back from the edge of peril.
It's a lot for one man to shoulder, even if he is Barack Obama. The
world has changed over the past 30 years. China is now the world's
third largest economy and from the looks of it, this century is
shaping up to be dominated by Asian power players. Having a U.S.
President who understands Asia and Asians on an intimate basis is a
positive development for the whole world. Many here in Asia welcome
the arrival of a man with such close links to the region and hope
that his presidency will help draw America closer to the planet's
most populated, vibrant and colorful continent. So, welcome to your
new job, President Obama. We here in Asia are rooting for you."

F) "Advice from Taiwan for President Obama"
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The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (1/19):

"Tomorrow, the Democratic Party's Barack Obama will be inaugurated
as the 44th president of the United States and the first
African-American citizen to hold that honor and burden. We
sincerely hope President Obama can fulfill his promises to forge
long-belated changes needed by the people of the U.S. and the world
and especially reincorporate the values of human rights and the
needs of the globe's disadvantaged into U.S. foreign policy. ... In
light of future U.S. policy toward Taiwan, we also urge President
Obama and his foreign policy team to appreciate the importance of
our democratic island nation and handle its policy toward our
relations with the authoritarian People's Republic of China with
more caution and 'smartness.' It is likely that the Obama
administration will 'say and do less' with regard to the Taiwan
Strait during its first months as Washington will be preoccupied
with other urgent 'hot potatoes' and will welcome the apparent
cross-strait rapprochement under the Chinese Nationalist Party
(Kuomintang) government of President Ma Ying-jeou and may try to
avoid 'taking sides.'

"Such a passive stance will do more harm than good to both the
prospects for lasting stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait and
for the very survival of Taiwan's democracy largely because it
overlooks potential uncertainties embedded with the nature of the
current so-called 'reconciliation' process which, unfortunately, is
taking place on a stage primarily constructed and controlled by the
PRC. ... We strongly suggest the Ma administration not to rush to
issue a unilateral reaction to Hu's six-point political trap but use
greater patience and engage in consultations with the new U.S.
administration as well as engage in serious dialogue with the DPP
and the rest of Taiwan society.

"For its part, the Obama administration should also appreciate the
deep mistrust in Taiwan society over the hasty and unilateral drive
for cross-strait 'reconciliation' launched by the Ma regime on
Beijing's terms and over the KMT-CCP platform which monopolizes
political talks but lies outside any democratic monitoring. ...

"Some U.S. foreign policy experts advise the Obama administration to
adopt a stance of 'strategic ambiguity' and 'say and do less' on
Taiwan on the grounds that Washington needs the PRC's cooperation on
international security and economic affairs and to avoid following
in the footsteps of the Bush administration which allegedly sent
'wrong signals' that indirectly encouraged former president Chen
Shui-bian to 'push the envelope' for formal Taiwan independence.
Such misguided positions are a flawed solution to 'yesterday's
problem' and neglect the costs today of the Bush administration's
support for a 'regime change' in Taiwan that brought back to power a
pro-China and quasi-authoritarian party whose unilateral willingness
to accept Beijing's terms threatens the survival of one of Asia's
democratic success stories and may sow the seeds of greater tragedy
and conflict. Instead, we urge President Obama to reject both
Bush's unilateralism and Hu's arrogance and back a the need for a
'democratic solution' in the Taiwan Strait that can both secure
lasting peace and prevent a rollback of democracy and human rights
in Taiwan and the East Asian region."

G) "Time for Ma to Clarify Taiwan's Direction"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (1/20):

"Today's inauguration of United States President Barack Obama of the
Democratic Party will attract intense attention from around the
world since there are high expectations that his inaugural speech
will indicate the direction of a chance in U.S. policy from eight
years of American unilateralism and free market fundamentalism under
the outgoing right-wing Republican administration of George W. Bush.
In terms of external relations, Obama should enunciate his
intention to refocus U.S. policy on 'responsibility' and to move
forward to coping worldwide crises in finance and climate change,
dealing with the disastrous legacy of Bush's war in Iraq, and repair
America's tattered image as a protector of democracy and human
rights.

"Besides reviving domestic public confidence, Obama is also likely
to renew the U.S. commitment to multilateral cooperation with
democratic allies and continue to 'constructively but not
uncritically engage' the People Republic of China to bring Beijing
more firmly into multilateral rules-based institutions that
guarantee global stability. ... U.S. policy makers under Bush were
by no means fully supportive of Taiwan's democratic deepening since
they wrongly perceived these efforts under the former Democratic
Progressive Party government of ex-president Chen Shui-bian mostly
as a drive for 'formal independence' that could 'provoke' Beijing,
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which Bush administration relied upon for cooperation in its 'war
against terror.' Hence, senior U.S. officials issued scarcely
veiled hints of favoring the DPP's replacement by the right-wing
Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government under President Ma
Ying-jeou, whose assumption of power in May has been followed by a
rapid liberalization of cross-strait exchanges.

"However, Ma's unilateral concessions on Taiwan's status and his
government's overt tilt toward Beijing are now beginning to worry
some U.S. security and intelligence strategists, while the
snowballing signs of rollbacks in Taiwan's civic, judicial and other
human rights under the one-party dominant KMT regime have sparked
intense concern from U.S. based human rights organization. Obama's
new Democratic administration will inevitably introduce a markedly
different atmosphere from the neo-conservative Bush era and merits a
reassessment by Ma of his KMT government strategic positioning and
future policy directions. ... Ma needs to show in actions and not
simply words whether his government will preserve Taiwan's existing
democratic independence or regress toward authoritarianism under a
Chinese umbrella. If the KMT regime refuses to protect our
democracy, the Taiwan people will save it themselves."


4. Hillary Clinton's Nomination

"Secretary of State Clinton Is 'Right Person at Right Time'"

The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post"
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (1/17):

"It may sound like an effusive praise, but Senator Chuck Schumer's
description of fellow colleague Hillary Rodham Clinton,
president-elect Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. Secretary of State,
as the 'right person at the right time' was not over the top. ...
Mrs. Clinton, who will be 62 in October, proved that she deserved
every word of the accolade. In her statement before the panel, she
delivered a comprehensive and impressive account of the challenges
facing the world and her ways to deal with them. She promised a
return to a foreign policy 'based on principles and pragmatism, not
rigid ideology; on facts and evidence, not emotion and prejudice.'

"After eight years of George Bush's unilateralism that has alienated
America's allies and emboldened its enemies, Mrs. Clinton's words
were refreshing and encouraging. Mrs. Clinton, a Yale-educated
lawyer and tenacious political fighter, showed her mastery of most
foreign issues, from Gaza to climate change, from nonproliferation
to China's rise. Also, she forswore 'petty turf wars,' a reference
to the power struggle inside Foggy Bottom. Yes, the job is cut out
for her. This famous 'work horse' will put her energy and talents to
good use, trying to bring peace to the killing fields in the Middle
East, defuse the nuclear crisis in Iran and North Korea, and
eradicate poverty and diseases. She is a born diplomat and Obama
demonstrated tremendous foresight in giving her the all-important
position despite their long, bloody fight during the campaign."

YOUNG