VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1733/01 1391055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191055Z MAY 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0276
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5229
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6438

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001733 
 
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: TAIWAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT, 
U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  As Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies continued to 
center their reporting May 19 on alleged involvement in insider 
trading by President Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law, who withdrew from 
the DPP Thursday, coverage also focused on Chen's approval of the 
island's first-ever National Security Report and local corruption 
scandals.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest 
daily, ran a banner-headline news story on page four with the 
headline:  "First-Ever National Security Report Does Not Stipulate 
Timetable for [Cross-Strait] Direct Transportation."  The 
pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" also ran a front-page headline on 
the National Security Report, saying that a democratic Taiwan and 
the pursuit of peace will be the island's strategic pivot.  Several 
papers carried on inside pages remarks by Presidential Office 
Secretary-General Mark Chen in Washington D.C. that the United 
 
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States is concerned about the process of Taiwan's constitutional 
changes. 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times" 
editorial praised Chen for approving Taiwan's first National 
Security Report, and urged both the ruling and opposition parties to 
forge a consensus with regard to Taiwan's future strategic pivot. 
An opinion piece in the limited-circulation, pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" criticized Deputy Secretary of State 
Robert Zoellick's recent remarks in a congressional hearing.  The 
article said "Zoellick's remarks reflect the US' heavy bias toward 
China and how it is being threatened by Beijing," and that "the 
'Zoellick incident' also shows that the State Department does not 
have talent capable of presenting creative ideas."  An editorial in 
the limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan 
News" urged the Taiwan government to use independent diplomacy to 
protect Taiwan's democracy.  End summary. 
 
¶3. Taiwan's National Security Report 
 
"Both the Ruling and Opposition Parties Should Forge Consensus in 
Working Out Sketch of Taiwan's Future Strategic Pivot" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000] 
editorialized (5/19): 
 
"... [Thursday's] National Security Council meeting reviewed and 
passed Taiwan's first-ever national security report, announcing the 
direction Taiwan's sustainable development under the covetous eyes 
of its strong enemy.  This first-ever national security report of 
Taiwan will be presented to President Chen Shui-bian for his 
approval, and after it is published, it will become the guideline 
controlling the government's future administration. ... 
 
"In a nutshell, the National Security Council has been 
institutionalized; it is no longer an agency under an authoritarian 
system, but a crisis management agency in a democratic county.  In 
the wake of increasing Chinese threats, it is legitimate and 
justifiable for Chen to host such an NSC meeting.  In particular, 
... the government needs to have some guidelines to follow so that 
it can make 'national security' a consensus between the ruling and 
opposition parties, and come up with a strategic pivot for Taiwan's 
future development.  The hosting of such an NSC meeting was thus of 
great significance." 
 
¶4. U.S.-Taiwan Relations 
 
A) "US Playing into Beijing's Hands" 
 
Professor Chen Hurng-yu of National Taiwan University's Department 
of History opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei 
Times" [circulation: 300,000] (5/19): 
 
"... China has time and again said that it would attack if Taiwan 
declares independence.  Since US and Chinese thinking on this issue 
is beginning to converge, they share the same interest in the Taiwan 
issue.  Washington and Beijing are clearly seeking a quid pro quo, 
and this is by no means advantageous to the nation. ...  Zoellick 
made it clear that Chen is seen as a proponent of Taiwanese 
independence.  If the US is friendly toward Chen, then it might be 
translated into US support for Taiwanese independence, eventually 
drawing the US into a cross-strait war. ... 
 
"Looking at the current international situation, it is puzzling to 
see the US accept China's repeated threats to wage war against 
Taiwan.  Has the US stopped being critical of Beijing because it has 
established a strategic partnership with this warmonger?  The US 
should come up with a strategy to end or cool down Beijing's 
belligerence, but instead it is joining it.  Zoellick's attitude is 
a good example of this.  What is at issue is whether the US really 
believes China will use force if Taiwan formally declares 
independence, or whether it will pretend that it sees eye to eye 
with China in exchange for other strategic benefits. ... 
 
"China has vowed to take Taiwan by force if Taiwan moves toward de 
jure independence.  Surprisingly, the US has accepted China's 
threat.  Will the US really accept this unreasonable proposition? 
Hasn't the US State Department consulted experts in international 
law?  If the US' Taiwan policy continues along this trend, Taiwan 
will sooner or later shake off US interference, for in the eyes of 
Taiwanese intellectuals, the US is allying itself with China to 
strangle Taiwan.  Zoellick's remarks reflect the US' heavy bias 
toward China and how it is being threatened by Beijing.  The 
'Zoellick incident' also shows that the State Department does not 
have talent capable of presenting creative ideas.  Under China's 
shadow, the US is moving forward with hesitation and without firm 
moral stance." 
 
B) "Using Independent Diplomacy to Protect Democracy" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (5/19): 
 
"The People's Republic of China government has recently sent several 
delegations to Taiwan in a very low-profile manner to probe the 
impact of PRC State Chairman Hu Jintao's visit to the United States 
on Taiwan and to discover what President Chen Shui-bian's next step 
will be.  A major preoccupation of Beijing and its sycophants abroad 
is whether Chen's promotion of a 'bottom-up' second-phase 
constitutional re-engineering will lead Taiwan toward 'formal 
independence,' a bogeyman that has been conveniently resurrected as 
a possible ' provocation' by the incautious statements by U.S. 
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick during a House of 
Representatives committee hearing last week. ... 
 
"It was evident that Hu did not receive his anticipated benefits 
from visiting Bush and that Hu's disappointment appeared to be 
Taiwan's gain.  However, the subsequent flap between Washington and 
Taipei over the transit arrangements for President Chen's state 
visits to Paraguay and Costa Rica revealed that Washington was 
actually more concerned with avoiding ruffling Beijing's feathers 
and appealing for the PRC's cooperation in dealing with the Iran 
nuclear proliferation issue and other international affairs than 
with accommodating Taiwan's presidential diplomacy efforts. 
President Chen and his foreign policy team must handle the new, more 
complex situation in the triangular relations very carefully. ..." 
 
YOUNG