This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/RSP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - 
ROBERT PALLADINO 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
 
A) "The Actual Situation Regarding the Timeline for 
[Taiwan's] New Constitution and an Evaluation of Its 
External Effects" 
 
The centrist, pro-status quo "China Times" observed in 
its editorial (12/1): 
 
". We don't know if President Chen's clarification 
[regarding his plan to hold a referendum on a new 
constitution in 2006] can really eliminate Washington's 
worry that Taiwan will have a new constitution in the 
next few years.  But from [State Department Spokesman] 
Richard Boucher's remarks [Monday] . and the previous 
statement by a U.S. official that the status quo of the 
Taiwan Strait should be defined by the United States, 
[it is evident that] the United States cannot be rid of 
its doubts about Taiwan's intention to unilaterally 
change the status quo just because Chen argues that it 
agrees with Taiwan's constitutional procedures to hold 
a referendum on the new constitution.  Or to borrow 
Chen's words, what the United States cares about is not 
the argument about whether it is constitutional to hold 
such a referendum but whether the unilateral move by 
Taiwan will cause substantive changes to the status quo 
in the Taiwan Strait, a development that would give 
Beijing an excuse to adopt radical actions to force the 
United States to get involved in the unpredictable 
disputes across the Taiwan Strait." 
 
"Objectively speaking, Washington's doubts are 
reasonable because its intention is try to prevent 
anything from happening between the two sides of the 
Taiwan Strait.  But since the United States is reacting 
like this, it is expected that Beijing will react more 
strongly in the regular press briefing by China's 
Taiwan Affairs Office today.  President Chen's remarks, 
judged from Beijing's perspective, have actually proved 
his consistent position from de jure Taiwan 
independence to substantive Taiwan independence. 
Especially in the face of such a timetable for ... the 
new constitution, Beijing may be forced, in response, 
to talk about the timeline for reunification or even 
upgrading its military readiness to use force to stop 
Taiwan from moving toward independence." 
 
B) "Chen Shui-bian Is Exhausting the U.S. Trust in Him" 
 
Journalist Chang Hui-ying wrote in the centrist, pro- 
status quo "China Times" (12/1): 
 
". No one will trust the positive comments you make if 
you have gone back on your word too many times.  Only 
the negative ones will be heard.  The consequences will 
be the using up of one's credibility and the 
disqualification of one's privilege to make good-will 
promises.  It is because any good-will gesture will not 
be trusted.  As a result, there will be no space for 
policy [flexibility], and one [Chen] has to live on 
extremist remarks. 
 
"The United States has obviously shortened 
significantly the `time span of its trust' toward 
Taiwan.  In the past, Chen Shui-bian would have to have 
overstepped the bounds several times before the United 
States noticed.  But now every step or move by him is 
closely watched all the time.  Whenever he says 
something, he is asked to explain.  There is no time 
lag to play with.  However, at least for the time 
being, Chen Shui-bian has not been intimidated by the 
United States.  After all, there is still the ... lag 
between U.S. pressure and Taiwan's elections." 
 
C) "It Is Not in the United States' Interests to Strike 
Taiwan in Order to Pacify China" 
 
A commentary by Tsou Jiin-wen in the pro-independence 
"Liberty Times" said (12/1): 
 
"The U.S. Department of State is speaking again.  The 
tone being heard this time by the people of Taiwan is 
entirely different from the feeling they had before the 
U.S. general elections.  Before the elections, the 
Taiwan people were more understanding toward the 
offending but honest comments made by the superpower 
ally.  But after President Bush's re-election, many 
Taiwan people would like to say: please, my old friend, 
don't treat Taiwan's dignity as if it were nothing. 
 
"Taiwan is already a completely democratic nation.  Its 
people are absolutely entitled to decide what is a 
modern constitution that meets the demands of the time. 
They also have the wisdom to calculate and bear the 
consequences of their choices.  There is no need for a 
foreign spokesperson to openly call on Taiwan's head of 
state by name and ask him to provide `an explanation.' 
 
"There is no room for dictatorship in Taiwan anymore. 
Even if a president has promised something by himself, 
the promise does not mean anything unless the people of 
Taiwan approve it. 
 
". [If the United States treats Taiwan] using selective 
democratic standards and conditional justice, it is not 
impossible that the advocacy for a peaceful takeover by 
China will win the upper hand when Taiwan is pushed 
into a corner.  By that time where will the U.S. 
interest lie? ." 
 
D) "Chen Is Required by U.S. to Clarify Referendum 
Talk" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post" editorialized (12/1): 
 
"President Chen Shui-bian's credibility was questioned 
once again yesterday by Washington when a State 
Department spokesman demanded that the Taipei leader 
clarified (sic) his recent remarks about his intention 
to hold a referendum on a new Constitution for Taiwan 
in 2006. . 
 
"Here in Taipei, Chen was quick to deny that his latest 
take about holding a referendum to decide a new 
Constitution in 2006 has violated his past promises. 
But the fact is that Chen indeed contradicted the 
remarks he had made in May this year when he assumed 
office to begin his second term. 
 
"In that inaugural speech, Chen explicitly pledged that 
his constitutional 're-engineering' project would be 
achieved in accordance with the 'existing 
constitutional procedures.'  That is, the reform 
project would be first passed by the Legislature and 
then ratified by an ad hoc National Assembly.  Beyond 
that, he didn't say anything about conducting a popular 
vote in 2006 to adopt a new Constitution. . 
 
"Chen must have anticipated that his remarks could 
provoke Washington and Beijing, earning him charges of 
breaking his important political promises.  But 
obviously he must also have calculated that at this 
point in time nothing counts more than the need for him 
to win a stable majority in the Legislature in next 
week's elections. 
 
"It's really unfortunate that we should have a leader 
who would not hesitate to do anything for the good of 
his and his party's political interests even if this 
would mean jeopardizing the security of Taiwan and its 
people." 
 
PAAL