VZCZCXYZ0033
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1671/01 1360744
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160744Z MAY 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0196
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5212
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6418

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001671 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - ERIC BARBORIAK 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION:  U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their 
coverage May 16 on alleged involvement by President Chen Shui-bian's 
son-in-law in insider trading, a press conference called by the 
suspended chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission in an 
attempt to clear his name, and other local political issues.  Most 
papers reported on inside pages remarks President Chen made when 
receiving former U.S. National Security Council Senior Director for 
Asian Affairs Michael Green on Monday; Chen said the transit 
incident is over and that it will not affect future Taiwan-U.S. 
relations.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest 
daily, ran a banner-headline news story on page two that said the 
United States will restore diplomatic ties with Libya, followed by a 
Presidential Office announcement that Taiwan will develop 
comprehensive trade and economic relations with Libya. 
 
¶2. One Chinese-language paper and three English-language papers 
editorialized on President Chen's recent trip to Latin America and 
on Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick's remarks at a 
congressional hearing last Wednesday.  A "Liberty Times" editorial 
criticized Zoellick and said it is unwise for U.S. cross-Strait 
policy to dance to China's tune.  DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui opined 
in the limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language 
"Taipei Times" that Washington's transit ploy was aimed at Chen.  An 
editorial in the limited-circulation, pro-independence, 
English-language "Taiwan News" said Chen's trip will be remembered 
as the beginning of Taiwan's adoption of an autonomous, mature 
diplomacy which does not first look to Washington for guidance or to 
Beijing to see what Taiwan should oppose.  An editorial in the 
limited-circulation, conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post," on the other hand, said a "U.S.-China united front 
against Taiwan independence is in force already."  End summary. 
 
A) "It Is Unwise for U.S. Cross-Strait Policy to Dance to China's 
Tune" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000] 
editorialized (5/16): 
 
"... Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, during a recent 
congressional hearing, corrected a U.S. congressman for referring to 
Taiwan as a country.  Zoellick emphasized that Taiwan is an economy, 
and he added:  The precondition for [President Chen Shui-bian's] 
five no's pledge is that China has no intention to use force against 
Taiwan, and China indeed hasn't used force against the island. 
Judging from Zoellick's relevant remarks, it is not difficult to see 
that to maintain its sovereignty, Taiwan must bear in mind the 
phrase that 'God helps those who help themselves.' ... 
 
"... When China proactively applied its united-front tactics on the 
pan-Blue leadership, American officials often urged China publicly 
to engage in a dialogue with Taiwan's elected leaders.  Such a call 
does make sense, but the United States itself does not practice what 
it preaches.  Under China's brutal interference, Washington always 
ignores Taiwan's elected leader.  Don't these American officials 
know that the arrangements that overlooked President Chen's dignity 
would hurt Taiwan people's feelings?  ... 
 
"The primary spirit of the 'Taiwan Relations Act' is to underscore 
Taiwan's democratic and strategic values.  The 'one China policy' 
defined by the United States must be combined with the 'Taiwan 
Relations Act' in order to achieve a constructive balance.  If 
people follow what some American officials prescribe and bow to the 
'one China principle' as defined by China, it will not only 
jeopardize Taiwan's national interests but will also harm the United 
States' national interests, or even cause other allies' trust in the 
United States to waver.  ...  Under such circumstances, if 
Washington's cross-Strait policy dances to the Chinese tune and 
makes Taiwan people mistakenly believe that the United States fails 
to practice what it preaches, democratic values will lose their 
luster in Taiwan.  If Taiwan's democracy regresses and thereby 
offers more room for China's united-front tactics, it will be more 
difficult for the United States to fix the strategic imbalance that 
might take shape in the future." 
 
B) "US Transit Ploy Was Aimed at Chen" 
 
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui opined in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] (5/16): 
 
"... In addition, this [transit] incident has highlighted the 
difficult situation that independence fundamentalists are in.  Chen 
met their demands and, after the cessation of the National 
Unification Council and its guidelines, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun 
initiated a call for constitutional re-engineering and a change to 
the nation's title in an attempt to achieve de jure independence. 
Unexpectedly, however, the US' reaction means that we are now even 
further away from internationally recognized de jure independence. 
..." 
C) "Taiwan's Diplomacy Begins to Grow up" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (5/16): 
 
"The nine-day and 33,000-mile 'journey of peace and sustainability 
and of consolidating friendship' completed by President Chen 
Shui-bian and his entourage Friday will be remembered as the 
beginning of Taiwan's adoption of an autonomous and mature diplomacy 
and not as a 'flight to nowhere' as charged by critics in the 
conservative opposition camp and our myopic mainstream media. 
Besides upholding our national dignity, the greatest lasting legacy 
of President Chen's journey is the realization that a democratic 
Taiwan can and must conduct its own foreign policy without first 
looking to Washington for guidance or to Beijing to see what we 
should oppose. ... 
 
"Washington's exercise in 'real politics' thus turned out to be 
somewhat of a blessing in disguise.  It provided a stronger impetus 
for President Chen and the foreign ministry to finally take the 
plunge and enter diplomatic adulthood by showing the resolve to make 
our own decisions based on our own interests and values and to take 
responsibility for those decisions. ... Hence, any display of 
autonomy by Taiwan or open expression of differences with Washington 
does not signify the 'bankruptcy' of U.S.-Taiwan relations, nor is 
it necessary that Taiwan must at all times and on all occasions 
oppose everything done or advocated by the PRC. ..." 
 
D) "Chen Shaking Status Quo" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" 
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (5/16): 
 
"President Chen Shui-bian's recent theatric nine-day trip to seven 
nations, four more than originally planned, was an act of impulse, 
unbecoming of a prudent leader. ...  The United States, the main 
architect of Taiwan's past, present and, certainly, future, was both 
the cause and target of President Chen's unorthodox journey of 
'upholding Taiwan's dignity.'  Refuting both Washington and 
Beijing's one-China principle, Chen stressed that 'Taiwan is an 
independent state, not a part of China.' ... 
 
"Explaining the U.S. rejection of Chen's wish to visit prominent 
cities on America proper, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick 
told a congressional hearing last week that Chen testing the U.S. 
one China policy under which the U.S. switched diplomatic 
recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.  Chen was 'hitting into 
a wall,' Zoellick said. ... And for the first time, Stephen Young, 
director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said at a business 
association luncheon last week that 'the U.S. opposes Taiwan 
independence,' instead of the usual 'no support' for it.  These 
unprecedented straightforward U.S. policy statements are not enough 
to deter Chen's independence legacy to assure political relevance 
after he leaves office in 2008. 
 
"Chen's quixotic attempt to challenge U.S. policies only deepens 
U.S. distrust of him and his administration.  Fortunately, U.S. 
goodwill toward Taiwan remains intact as Washington has repeatedly 
assured afterwards.  The drama has stirred little public response 
from Beijing, except making ritual protests to Tripoli and Jakarta 
for allowing Chen's jet to land.  A U.S.-China united front against 
Taiwan independence is in force already." 
 
YOUNG