PRESIDENT MA TAKES OVER KUOMINTANG CHAIR IN MOVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001236

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CH TW
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MA TAKES OVER KUOMINTANG CHAIR IN MOVE
THAT SHOULD STRENGTHEN HIS OPENING TO CHINA

REF: 08 TAIPEI 683

Classified By: POL Chief Dave Rank for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary. President Ma Ying-jeou's accession to
Chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) should give a boost
to his efforts at rapprochement with China. Analysts argued
Ma was now better positioned to pass legislation in support
of his China policy and to further strengthen ties between
his party and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Media
immediately began speculating on the likelihood of a summit
between Ma and Chinese President Hu Jintao in their capacity
as ruling party Chairmen, but analysts played down the
possibility. Meanwhile, Ma's vow to clean his party of
money-politics was met by skepticism, in part because
corruption still plagues the party despite similar promises
made by Ma during his earlier term as chairman. End summary.

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A LIKELY BOOST FOR CROSS-STRAIT TIES
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2. (SBU) President Ma became party Chairman at the 18th KMT
party congress October 17 after running unopposed for the
position in July. Ma had said he decided to run for party
leader to fulfill his campaign promises and to strengthen the
implementation of national policies (reftel),including
expanding ties with China. He told the congress he would
keep pushing for exchanges between the KMT and China "to
improve mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides."
The Chinese Communist Party, which strongly supports Ma's
cross-Strait rapprochement, immediately sent a congratulatory
message in which it promised to deepen mutual trust and
broaden exchanges.


3. (C) Analysts suggested a number of ways Ma's new position
could strengthen his hand on cross-Strait policy. For
example, he would have a stronger role in determining who
gets party nominations for the Legislative Yuan and in
allocating party resources among candidates, argued KMT
lawmaker Hwang Yih-Jiau. This should help Ma exercise
control over often wayward KMT lawmakers, who according to
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chao Chien-Min have
yet to approve legislation to expand ties with China in areas
such as higher education exchanges. It also could help Ma
gain Legislative Yuan ratification of a controversial
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China that is a
centerpiece of expanded cross-Strait economic ties.


4. (C) Chao also argued that ties with mainland China "may be
more coherent" with Ma atop both the ruling party and
government. He predicted stronger ties between the KMT and
the CCP, which are significant because of the absence of
formal relations between Taiwan and China. Ma signaled the
importance he attaches to party-to-party relations by giving
outgoing KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung the title of Honorary
Chairman and a key role in further expanding ties. He also
appointed another Honorary Chairman, Lien Chan, as Taiwan
representative to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
summit in Singapore in November. Both Wu and Lien have met
with Hu in their capacity as KMT leaders, and there was
immediate speculation in Hong Kong and Taiwan media that Ma
as party Chairman might eventually meet with the Chinese
leader as well. Chao said the Mainland Affairs Council had
not discussed such a meeting, but refused to rule out the
possibility, perhaps at an international forum.

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MA VOWS TO CLEAN UP THE KMT
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5. (C) In accepting the party chairmanship, Ma again vowed to
divest the party of controversial assets that opposition
polticians claimed gave it an unfair electoral advantage and
to fight corruption within the KMT. Skeptics noted that Ma
had made similar promises when he first was elected chairman
in 2005. (Note: Ma resigned in 2007 after being indicted on
charges of misuse of special funds as Taipei City mayor. He
was later cleared of wrongdoing. End note.) This time, Ma
said he would liquidate the party's remaining major asset,
the Central Investment Co. worth an estimated NT$20 billion
(US$620 million),and use the proceeds for retirement
pensions for party workers and to pay off debt, with the
remainder going to charity.


6. (C) The promise to eradicate KMT vote-buying in December 5
local elections also will be difficult for a party with a
long history of corruption. Three KMT candidates elected to
the Legislative Yuan last year already have been removed from

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office on charges of bribery, and allegations of vote-buying
in the KMT Central Standing Committee election October 11
further sullied the party's reputation. Still, party members
such as Hwang believe Ma is sincere about cleaning up the
party, which has fielded candidates with notably clean
backgrounds in at least some of the contests in next month's
city and county elections. The problem, they acknowledged,
was many of the untainted candidates were political novices,
creating something of a contradiction between the desire to
reform the party and the desire to win elections that Ma will
be hard-pressed to resolve.

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COMMENT: A FULL PLATE FOR MA
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7. (C) In adding KMT chairmanship to his portfolio, President
Ma should be in a stronger position to further his goals of
expanding ties with China and reforming the KMT. Still, each
path remains strewn with obstacles. How far rapprochement
with China can go may depend less on Ma than on China's
response to his overtures. In particular, people here are
sensitive to anything that smacks of China using closer
economic ties to advance its political agenda for eventual
reunification. For example, many on Taiwan were unnerved by
Beijing's restrictions on Chinese tourism to Kaohsiung in
response to the city's screening of a documentary on a Uighur
activist and the mayor's invitation to the Dalai Lama. As
for reforming the KMT, old habits may be hard to break,
particularly with the dominance of personality-based local
party factions. The unusually large number of KMT
politicians who launched independent campaigns after failing
to secure party nominations for upcoming local elections
suggests Ma will have a tough time imposing discipline on an
increasingly rambunctious party.
STANTON