VZCZCXYZ0020
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1776 1440855
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240855Z MAY 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0320
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5237
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6450

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001776 
 
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. AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
 
¶1. Summary: Taiwan dailies all gave significant reporting and 
editorial coverage May 24 to alleged involvement by President Chen 
Shui-bian's in-laws in the snowballing insider trading and lobbying 
scandals.  Coverage also focused on other local corruption scandals 
and the DPP's disputed nomination process for the year-end Taipei 
and Kaohsiung mayoral races.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times," 
Taiwan's biggest daily, ran a banner headline on page four that read 
"U.S. Defense Department Report on Military Power:  China's 
Increasing Military Buildup Threatens Regional Balance."  The 
pro-status quo "China Times," ran an exclusive news story on page 
thirteen with the headline "Most Senior U.S. Official to Visit 
Taiwan in Six Years; Deputy Trade Representative Will Talk about 
Free Trade Agreement." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an opinion piece in the 
pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" urged Washington to sign a Free 
Trade Agreement (FTA) with Taiwan as early as possible.  The article 
asked Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia to define the 
so-called "status quo" across the Taiwan Strait, adding that Taiwan 
will be marginalized and the "cross-Strait common market" will 
become the status quo after 2008 if Washington fails to sign an FTA 
with Taiwan immediately.  An editorial in the limited-circulation, 
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," on the other hand, 
said Taiwan can learn from the recent successful case of Montenegro 
independence.  End summary. 
 
A) "Mr. Bhatia, How Do [We] Maintain the Status Quo Across the 
Taiwan Strait?" 
 
Tsai Pei-chuan, a university lecturer in Tamshui, opined in the 
 
SIPDIS 
pro-independence "Taiwan Daily" [circulation: 100,000] (5/24): 
 
"Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia is scheduled to visit 
Taiwan May 24.  The U.S. government constantly orders Taiwan to 
'maintain the status quo,' but itself has overlooked the fact that 
China has seriously sabotaged the status quo.  I want to ask Mr. 
Bhatia:  Since the 'status quo' is changing like running water, 
which year's 'status quo' does the United States refer to?  Is it 
the 'political status quo,' 'economic status quo,' or 'military 
status quo'?  If the United States does not want to take precautions 
and approve a 'Taiwan-U.S. Free Trade Agreement' as early as 
possible, the 'status quo' Washington will find after 2008 will be 
like this:  Given the fact that Taiwan will be marginalized and has 
nowhere to go, the island will be forced to accept a 'common market' 
[mechanism] across the Taiwan Strait, which is akin to accepting 
'one country, two systems.'  Only when the United States looks to 
the future and attaches great importance to the current situation 
can it succeed in maintaining the real status quo. ... 
 
"The 'status quo' is as unfathomable as running water and drifting 
clouds.  The United States should pay attention to 'reality,' put 
the fact of Taiwan's seriously tilted economics into consideration, 
and take the right remedial steps based on its strategic 
considerations.  It should sign a 'Taiwan-U.S. Free Trade Agreement' 
within one year and establish a 'Taiwan-U.S. Free Trade Zone' so as 
to save Taiwan's declining economic situation in time and meet the 
common interests of the United States and Taiwan.  If the U.S. 
remains myopic and irresolute and misses the best opportunity, the 
'status quo' after 2008 will be a 'cross-Strait common market' and 
'one country, two systems.'  Taiwan will survive, except in another 
form, but the United States will be forced to gradually withdraw 
from the Western Pacific.  This is something Mr. Bhatia should 
ponder. ..." 
 
B) "Montenegro Offers Lessons for Taiwan" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (5/24): 
 
"The narrow approval by the majority of the people of Montenegro of 
a referendum to formalize separation of the small republic of 
650,000 from the 7.5 million-strong Republic of Serbia illustrates 
the role of a high threshold on national referendums that could 
alter Taiwan's status quo or strive for international recognition 
for our independence. ...  Given the complexity of Taiwan's domestic 
politics and the sensitivity of our external situation, we believe 
that the threshold for national citizen referendums on similar 
questions in Taiwan must meet a similar standard if the results are 
to convey a legitimacy with a majority of our citizens and have any 
hope of receiving international recognition in the face of intense 
Chinese opposition. ...  Finally, we also believe that the most 
important goal for advocates of lasting democracy and Taiwan's 
independence is not a direct movement for 'rectification' of our 
constitutional name but the defense of the democratic right of 
choice, that is of self-determination of Taiwan's people and the 
realization of this principle in legitimate and credible 
constitutional mechanisms." 
 
YOUNG