MEDIA REACTION: U.S. BEEF, U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000785

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: U.S. BEEF, U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS


1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their
June 27-29 news coverage on the sudden death of Michael Jackson last
Thursday; on the arrest of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the
Honduran military Sunday and its impact on President Ma Ying-jeou's
upcoming trip to Central America; and on AIT Director Stephen
Young's press conference Friday, in which he talked about Taiwan's
plan to open its market to U.S. beef. The pro-independence "Liberty
Times" front-paged a banner headline June 27, reading "U.S. Beef
Will Be Fully Imported [to Taiwan] at the End of June at the
Latest."


2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" discussed the import of U.S. beef and
urged the Taiwan authority not to ease its import criteria in
exchange for President Ma's transit stops in the States. An
editorial in the pro-unification "United Evening News" also said
that U.S. beef is not merely an issue concerning the Taiwan people's
livelihood; rather, the article said, it is related to the public's
mentality of "the government safeguarding its citizens' interests."
The article concluded by saying the public will not support it if
the Taiwan government bows to U.S. trade pressure and fully open its
market to U.S. beef. An editorial in the pro-independence,
English-language "Taipei Times," however, argued that "there is no
valid reason for the Taiwanese government to extend its ban on U.S.
beef" and that "senseless bans on U.S. products do nothing to help
Taiwan-U.S. ties." With regard to U.S.-Taiwan relations, an "Apple
Daily" op-ed discussed Taiwan's foreign relations with other
countries under the Ma administration. The article cited AIT
Director Young's description of U.S.-Taiwan relations using Bob
Dylan's song "Blowing in the Wind" as saying that Taiwan's is facing
a crisis of diplomatic collapse. An editorial in the
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" said that "simply
because the Ma administration is avoiding causing short-term
difficulties for Washington does not mean that the Ma
administration's China-centric tilt will not bring unwelcome
'surprises' for long-term and fundamental American political and
security interests. ..." End summary.


3. U.S. Beef

A) "Beef That [We] Don't Want to Eat"

The "Spicy Apple" column in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily"
[circulation: 520,000] wrote (6/27):

"[AIT Director] Stephen Young, who is about step down from his
position, said in his last press conference before departing Taiwan
for the United States that Taiwan's full opening of its market to
U.S. beef 'is very close to success.' Despite the Department of
Health's denial afterwards that [the issue] has been settled, it is
worrisome to see whether Taiwan officials will be able to resist the
United States' open imposition of pressure [on Taiwan]. The United
States often takes advantage of its superiority as a world
superpower to promote its various products with great strength.
Taiwan relies deeply on the United States, no matter whether it is
in the field of national defense, foreign relations or economics.
The Big Boss United States' constant pressure must have been a
headache for the [previous Chen Shui-] Bian administration and must
be so for the Ma administration.

"But given the fear of mad cow disease, the government should stand
firm by its criteria and not randomly ease its import standards no
matter how tasty U.S. beef is. This is the minimum request of the
public for food safety. ... Ma Ying-jeou is about to transit the
United States again, but he should not let go [of Taiwan's food
control] easily just to 'return the favors' [of the United States].
One cannot afford to make such a 'joke!'"

B) "U.S. Beef Must Be Safe and Worry-free for the People to Eat"

The pro-unification "United Evening News" [circulation: 50,000]
editorialized (6/27):

"... Pro-U.S. [South Korean] President Lee Myung-bak carelessly
agreed to import U.S. bone-in beef for the sake of a
Washington-Seoul Free Trade Agreement and thus triggered huge chaos
merely three months after he took office. Similarly, Taiwan's
public opinion will not easily let [the U.S. beef issue] pass,
because it will indicate the collapse of two lines of defense:
Namely, the failure to safeguard the health safety of [Taiwan's]
citizens if [Taiwan] imports bone-in beef from areas infected with
mad cow disease, its people will be exposed to the risk of
contracting this disease. What's more serious is the yielding of
[Taiwan's] sovereignty, which will indicate that the [Taiwan]
government is incapable of resisting U.S. pressure and is making
concessions.

"In other words, U.S. beef is not simply an issue concerning
people's livelihood; it is related to the public's mentality of 'the

government safeguarding its citizens' interests.' The Ma
administration [always] boasts that current Taiwan-U.S. relations
are greatly improved over what they were previously. But if it bows
to U.S. trade pressure, then such 'diplomatic friendliness' at the
expense of the citizens' interests will not be supported by the
public. U.S. beef may be tasty, but the government must act in
accordance with scientific data and ensure that the public can eat
[U.S. beef] safely and worry-free."

C) "Unlikely Victims of a Beef Beat-up"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation:
30,000] editorialized (6/27):

"If there is one thing that can drag the director of the American
Institute in Taiwan (AIT) out of his Xinyi Road office and into the
media spotlight, it is this: stumping for the US beef industry.
In recent years this has become a more pressing task, because for
some years the Taiwanese government has had a ban in place on
certain categories of US beef after isolated reports of mad cow
disease emerged in the US. The beef industry in the US is big
business, so big in fact that Congress is willing to fork out
indecently large amounts of taxpayer dollars to subsidize an
industry with more political clout than economic merit. Those who
aren't US beef farmers or politicians indebted to the beef lobby
have little sympathy for an industry that has come to represent a
lot of what is wrong with selective government assistance in the
face of environmental degradation.

"That said, there is no valid reason for the Taiwanese government to
extend its ban on US beef. AIT Director Stephen Young was absolutely
correct yesterday when he urged the government -- and by extension,
the Taiwanese consumer -- to 'focus on the science and not the
politics.' The hesitancy of the government to lift the ban poses an
intriguing problem: What does it have to fear when its own health
authorities admit that the risk of contracting mad cow disease is
extremely remote? ...

"Political anxiety over US beef imports cannot be separated from the
extraordinary displays of anger in South Korea against US beef, and
the government possibly thinks it is easier to neutralize the
hobby-horse of a few unctuous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
politicians by closing down the debate rather than giving beef
importers their due. The problem for the DPP is that the beef
debate is only wounding the party as it strives for greater
credibility among voters. ... Whatever the merits of the US beef
industry, senseless bans on US products do nothing to help Taiwan-US
ties. But opportunist attacks from a political party struggling to
regain electoral credibility are more noteworthy: There is nothing
to gain for the DPP by nailing its colors to the mast on such a
ridiculous issue - and, once again, encouraging skeptics to argue
that the party is too parochial, mischievous and inept to be
entrusted with a popular mandate."


4. U.S.-Taiwan Relations

A) "Taiwan-U.S. Relations 'Gone with the Wind'"

Lai I-chung, assistant professor at the Mackay Medicine, Nursing &
Management College, opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily"
[circulation: 520,000] (6/29):

"The crisis over mutual trust between Taiwan and Japan caused by Ma
Ying-jeou's new interpretation of the [1952] 'Sino-Japanese Peace
Treaty' has yet to be resolved, and now there are reports saying
that the Honduras ambassador to Taiwan was complaining about Taipei
failing to fulfill its cooperation commitment [with Honduras]. Ma
will travel to Central America twice in a month, including Panama,
which is listed as one of China's allies on the website of China's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Plus AIT Taipei Director Stephen
Young, upon his departure, described Taiwan-U.S. relations with a
well-known song by folk song singer Bob Dylan -- 'Blowing in the
Wind.' We can discover that over the past one year, Ma's 'modus
vivendi' has totally exhausted Taiwan's remaining assets in the
international community, and Taiwan is facing a crisis of diplomatic
collapse. ...

"We have discovered that in less than a year since Ma took office,
he has ended up making our allies suspect Taiwan's sincerity in
maintaining diplomatic ties, and there was this crisis over mutual
trust between Taiwan and Japan, which has no diplomatic ties with
Taiwan. Now Taiwan's relations with the United States have been
described by Young as 'gone with the wind.' All these have nothing
to do with China's suppression; instead, they were brought about by
the Ma administration's own doing. Taiwan's diplomatic collapse is
something that [First Lady] Christine Chou's drumming cannot save!"
[Ed. The author of this piece has conflated Bob Dylan's "Blowing in
the Wind," cited in this op-ed in English, with "Gone with the
Wind." The Chinese term for the epic Civil War movie is used

elsewhere in the article.]

B) "Obama Should Cherish Taiwan Democracy"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (6/29):

"... For nearly six months, the new Obama administration has adopted
a conciliatory and multilateral diplomacy-oriented approach to
handle world affairs that has contrasted starkly with the
narrow-minded "America first" unilateralism of the former right-wing
Republican George W. Bush administration, as shown by his moving
appeal for dialogue with the Muslim world delivered in Cairo June 4.
In regard to the Taiwan Strait, the Obama administration has
initially focused on encouraging peace and stability and has
applauded the resumption of talks between the Chinese Communist
Party-ruled People's Republic of China and Taiwan, now under the
restored Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) administration of
President Ma Ying-jeou.
All responsible leaders, parties or political interests in Taiwan
welcome reduced tensions in the Taiwan Strait, but most official and
informal representatives of the Obama administration have
unfortunately failed to perceive the underlying turbulent currents
stirred up by what is essentially a rapprochement between an
authoritarian regime and an "one party dominant" government at the
expense of Taiwan's democracy, substantive independence and even the
economic and social welfare of the majority of its people. ...

"Despite the long-commitment of the Democratic Party to grassroots
democratic values and human rights in Asia including Taiwan, so far
the Obama administration has said nothing about these worrisome
trends. Nevertheless, American citizens concerned with Taiwan and
Asian democracy have acted with alarm. In the case of the overt
engineering of the Taiwan Foundation of Democracy reshuffle by Ma's
National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi, U.S. Congressman
Robert Andrews urged Obama to express Washington's concerns toward
Ma's sacrifice of Taiwan's democracy for closer relations with
China, while the president of the National Endowment for Democracy
wrote to Ma to convey the NED's anxiety that the changes would
downplay the TFD's mission to help promote democratic change and the
protection of human rights. Continued silence by the Obama
administration may encourage Ma and his one-party dominant KMT
administration to take advantage of Washington's pleasure with eased
tensions in the Taiwan Strait to carry out further undemocratic
policies or actions with impunity.

"Even though the U.S. needs the PRC's cooperation on numerous hot
issues, Washington also still must strike a balance between engaging
and hedging a rising authoritarian China from rolling back
democratic and free governance in the rest of Asia and the
maintenance of a vibrant democracy in Taiwan is essential for this
mission. Obama should keep in mind that simply because the Ma
administration avoids causing short-term difficulties for Washington
does not mean that its China-centric tilt will not bring unwelcome
"surprises" for long-term and fundamental American political and
security interests, not the least of which will be greater tension
and growing lack of trust between Taipei and Tokyo. We remain
confident that the majority of Taiwan people will do their best to
safeguard their own democratic rights, but we are less and less
convinced that the Ma government will truly respect Taiwan's
democratic 'game rules.' Therefore, we urge the Obama
administration to solemnly affirm that democracy and human rights in
Taiwan, as well as in China itself, are an important American and
global interest and thereby help ensure that calm in the Taiwan
Strait does not sacrifice the world's first Sinitic democracy."

YOUNG