MEDIA REACTION: U.S. BEEF IMPORTS, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000040 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - THOMAS HAMM DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S. BEEF IMPORTS, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS ¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news coverage January 9-11 on the legislative by-elections on Saturday, in which the ruling KMT suffered a major setback; on the fallout following the Legislative Yuan's decision to amend the Act Governing Food Sanitation last week, which bans the import of six types of "risky" U.S. beef products; and on cross-Strait relations. ¶2. Several editorial and opinion pieces continued to discuss the U.S. beef controversy and its connection to U.S.-Taiwan relations. An editorial in the KMT-leaning "China Times" urged the Taiwan government not to make policy decisions with its door closed. A separate "China Times" op-ed, however, said that when compared with the demonstrations held in South Korea two year ago, Taiwan's way of handling the U.S. beef controversy is no worse than Seoul's. Two editorials in the conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" said that, given the Legislative Yuan's amendments to the law concerning U.S. beef imports, the damage to U.S. relations is done and it will certainly have a severe impact on Taiwan's relations with the United States. An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times," however, criticized the proposed referendum initiated by the Consumers' Foundation. In terms of U.S.-China Taiwan relations, a column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" said a clear cross-Strait policy and reliable rules of the game are an important foundation for building Taiwan-U.S. relations. End summary. ¶3. U.S. Beef Imports A) "[The Government] Can No Longer Make Policies with Its Door Closed" The KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 120,000] editorialized (1/11): "... All sort of evidence showed that it was the National Security Council (NSC) which has steered the talks over U.S. beef [imports]. Perhaps the assessment made by the NSC was to draw a figure of the triangular relationship between Washington, Beijing and Taipei; determine whether Taipei should make concessions and gauge the size of its concessions and their impact on this triangular relationship; and make predictions on Beijing's possible reaction, the progress of the [talks under the U.S.-Taiwan] Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the impact on the Economic Cooperation Framework �00A;Agreement [Taiwan is to sign with China], and the precedent of South Korea. Consequently, it deliberated on the importance and urgency [of all the afore-mentioned factors] and determined that Taiwan should sign [the beef deal with the United States]. Given this seemingly well-thought-out [plan], ... the NSC had never anticipated that there would be an intervention or disturbances from other rivals. "On the U.S. beef issue, there were truly many miscalculations on the part of the NSC staff. But if we get to the bottom of it, it was simply because [the NSC] has overlooked the possible reactions of other people in the political maneuverings, including the backlash from the legislators who felt they did not receive proper respect; pressure from the elected officials who are going to participate in future local elections; exploding doubts among the public; manipulations by the opposition forces; and hassles stirred up on the battlefield of the city and county magistrates' elections. If one regards politics as interactive gambling, it is not too difficult to foresee these possible reactions, and the NSC should have had its contingency plans ready about how to deal with them. But what really happened was not like that. ..." B) "Taiwan Is No Worse Than South Korea" Lee Hsiu-chin, an associate professor in Pingtung City, opined in the KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 120,000] (1/11): "... The Taiwan Legislative Yuan's amendments to the law to ban [the import of certain U.S. beef products] have reflected the opinion of a majority of the Taiwan people after all -- namely, they have doubts about the safety of U.S. ground beef and beef offal. Perhaps the Taiwan government had failed in communicating with its people beforehand, but the U.S. government also failed in its publicity. Despite the question whether [the public's] doubts are based on science, emotions or other factors, can an elected president not respect the common feelings of the majority of his people?... "Finally, the social costs behind the demonstrations launched by hundreds of thousands of South Korean people in protest against the import of U.S. beef were much higher than those of Taiwan. The Taiwan government, in the wake of following its public opinion, will seek to mend fences with the United States. It has not only dodged large-scale conflicts between the government and the public, but the substantive damage that the United States will suffer has also been managed under approximately two percent of its ground beef and beef RELATIONS offal -- which should be a better option since it will not affect the import of the 98 percent of bone-in beef. The American media's opposition to the amendments by Taiwan's legislature is understandable. But for Taiwan, the way we handle [the U.S. beef imports] for now is no worse than that of South Korea." C) "Damage to U.S. Relations Is Done" The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (1/10): "Last week, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Food Sanitation Act banning the import of ground beef, cow offal and internal organs from countries where there have been cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or 'mad cow disease' as it is more commonly known. The legislation was deliberately designed to block beef imports from the United States, and the move blatantly overturned a beef trade protocol already signed last October by Taipei and Washington. Now that the legislation has passed, the government has been forced to slam Taiwan's door shut to many types of U.S. beef imports. ... "The top U.S. official responsible for East Asia relations, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, told reporters in Washington that the beef controversy would not affect the overall bilateral relationship. Campbell, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in the Asian region, said Washington was communicating with 'friends' in Taiwan to try and work out a 'mutually acceptable solution.' Campbell's words were kind and probably reflect the fact that he really has many friends in Taiwan, having traveled here many times in his career. However, it is hard to believe that the relationship between Taipei and Washington really will not be affected by our unilateral ban. After the impact of the hostile move sets in, the United States will retaliate by halting various forms of cooperation urgently needed to improve our economy. "The retaliation has actually already started. Vice Economic Affairs Minister Francis Liang, who also heads the ministry's Office of Trade Negotiations, has confirmed that bilateral talks on the proposed Taiwan-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) were 'indefinitely' suspended by Washington. ... In the meantime, dialogue with the U.S. on a proposed bilateral investment agreement and agreement on technical barriers to trade has also been called off by Washington. ... Aside from putting these pacts on the back burner, Washington will probably also enact countervailing measures against imports from Taiwan in direct retaliation for the beef ban, which it can do under the rules of the World Trade Organization. "While our government can file a complaint against the countervailing measures, it is most likely that our case would be lost. Taiwan's economy is highly dependent upon exports to the United States, and Taipei relies on its friendship with Washington to maintain Taiwan's security. Over the weekend, ruling Kuomintang legislator Lin Yu-fang informed a group of visiting U.S. congressional staffers that the ban only affected something like 2 percent of American beef imports. But the reality is that the barrage of negative publicity that has surrounded the beef controversy has severely harmed sales of all kinds of U.S. beef in Taiwan. It will probably be years before consumers here will be able to shed the negative image of U.S. beef, which various groups and politicians of all stripes have claimed to be dangerous and even 'poison.' Retail stores and supermarkets around the island have either cordoned off U.S. beef to small, specially marked sections or stopped selling U.S. beef products altogether. ... "There has been a great deal of America-bashing, with the usual self-anointed experts and opinion leaders taking turns going on television to slam Washington and rave on about how Taiwanese will all drop dead the moment they sink their teeth into an American steak. Now that the politicians have already soured the atmosphere of bilateral ties, we can only wait to see what moves the U.S. will undertake against us and hope they will not be too severe." D) "Losers Lose Big in the Bee 'War' with the U.S." The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (1/9): "... Let's recount the great losses Taiwan is suffering. We've already cited the disaster of the 'violation' of the beef import protocol triggered on October 22 last year. Taiwan has lost its credibility as a responsible trading partner as well as a good member of the world community and Washington has shut the door for negotiations on a trade and investment agreement (TIFA) with Taipei. A larger disaster is in the waiting. The Kuomintang administration has to undertake an almost impossible mission to mend fences with a rightfully irate Uncle Sam. "Philip Crowley, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public RELATIONS affairs, said right after the Legislative Yuan adopted an amendment to the Food Sanitation Act to ban American ground beef, offal and other beef parts such as the skull, eyes and intestines that Washington remains committed 'to further developing our broad-ranging and positive relationship with the people of Taiwan.' The United States, he announced, 'will continue to make available to Taiwan defense articles and services needed for Taiwan's self-defense.' That's diplomatic language, and the United States certainly will defer arms sales to Taiwan to make the People's Republic less unhappy. Washington will not support Taipei for participation in U.N. organizations where no statehood is required for membership as strongly as it has over the past years. Of course, the United States will continue to offer lip service. "But President Ma Ying-jeou is the biggest loser. This setback is bitter, right after his bungling of relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot and amidst a chorus of opposition to the conclusion of an economic cooperation framework agreement with China as well as to the nationwide vaccination campaign against swine flu. And he has only himself to blame. ... One consequence of Ma's colossal blunders is the certain loss of seven legislative by-elections, three of them taking place tomorrow. That is likely to lead to another more serious loss in the mayoral elections in the five special municipalities at the end of this year unless unemployment tumbles down. Should the Kuomintang lose three of the five special municipal posts, Ma would have little chance of bearing the party's standard again in the 2012 presidential election." E) "A Foundation for Pitiful Debate" The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] editorialized (1/9): "The facade of an aggressive, take-no-prisoners consumer advocacy group that the Consumers' Foundation has carefully built over the years is surely close to collapse after the latest developments this week on the US beef controversy. ... Let's sidestep the coherence of a referendum question that has no constitutional value, no evidence to support its attacks on US beef products and involves a subject that is rightly the responsibility of the executive and, if necessary, the legislature. Instead, it is worth noting the credibility of an organization that would proceed with such a poll given that the government has already backtracked, that the legislature has already legislated on the matter and that, inevitably, the government will restart negotiations with the US at some point. In short, it has none. ... "From any balanced assessment of food safety and consumer rights, the legislative lynching of US beef imports and the foundation's quixotic campaign to render US beef public enemy No. 1 through a plebiscite have nothing to do with protecting consumers from dangerous imports and everything to do with political strategy and furthering the career prospects of foundation officials. ... In the end, only the American Institute in Taiwan's press release spoke the truth on this matter with the force and exposure that it deserved, and that is this: Science lost. In other words, referendum or no referendum, the mischievous won." ¶4. U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations "Rules of Game between Taiwan and the United States" The "Black and White" column in the pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] wrote (1/9): "In the process of adjustment and transformation of cross-Strait relations, how to maintain Taiwan-U.S. relations has become a new topic. Given the ever-changing world situation, Beijing's policy toward Taiwan has been 'abandoning the use of force and focusing on economics,' and as a result, the United States will no longer use its military force to maintain Taiwan. What the United States can do in terms of cross-Strait relations is to support Taiwan's democracy and strongly urge Beijing to carry out its commitment to peace. For Taiwan, it is unlikely Washington will undertake the commitments it is unable to assume; for the United States, nor can Taiwan request that Washington assume the tasks it can no longer assume. "If [Taiwan] wants the United States to play a role that it is willing and able to assume in terms of cross-Strait relations, both the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan must first be able to accomplish the following two things: First, they should have a clearer and more stable cross-Strait policy. ... Second, they must have reliable rules of the game. The U.S. beef protocol was abrogated in the end by the amendments made by the Legislative Yuan. No matter whether it was a result of a rash administrative decision or the emotional and irrational move by the Legislative Yuan, it indicated that this government (executive and legislative branches alike) has lost its minimal governance credibility. How can the United States trust such a rival that turns the table the minute it RELATIONS says it will do so? ... A clear cross-Strait policy and reliable rules of the game are a major foundation to build new Taiwan-U.S. relations." STANTON