VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #2264/01 1810822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300822Z JUN 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0960
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5364
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6573

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 002264 
 
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, AFTERMATH OF THE 
PRESIDENTIAL RECALL ATTEMPT 
 
 
¶1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their 
coverage June 30 on the Cabinet's unexpected announcement Thursday 
night that incumbent Finance Minister Joseph Lyu had been replaced 
by National Taiwan University professor Ho Chih-chin; the predicted 
indictment of President Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law; the 
investigation into the alleged role of the First Family's personal 
physician in First Lady Wu Shu-chen's involvement in the Sogo 
Department Store gift certificates scandal; and the rumored discord 
between President Chen and former President Lee Teng-hui.  Most 
papers also reported on inside pages legislation in the U.S. House 
of Representatives which would lift restrictions limiting contacts 
between American and Taiwan government officials.  The 
pro-unification "United Daily News" ran a news story on page four 
with the headline "Bian Talks about Future Directions, Emphasizing 
Constitutional Reform." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an opinion piece in the 
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" urged Taiwan to communicate with the 
United States over its plan to develop offensive weapons.  Also, in 
the wake of the failed presidential recall attempt, an editorial in 
the pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest daily, 
pointed out two major directions for Taiwan in which to pursue 
incorruptibility - namely, to legislate a sunshine bill and to dun 
the KMT for its ill-gotten party assets.  An editorial in the 
limited-circulation, conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post" said President Chen and the DPP will face greater 
challenges even though the presidential recall motion failed to pass 
in the Legislative Yuan.  End summary. 
 
¶3. U.S.-Taiwan Relations 
 
A) "Need to Communicate with U.S. over Development of Offensive 
Weapons" 
 
Mei Fu-hsing, director and editor-in-chief of the "Taiwan Defense 
Review," opined in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 
500,000] (6/30): 
 
"... Over the past few years, Taiwan's leadership has more than once 
talked in public about its development of offensive weapons; some 
politicians even threatened to aim missiles at Shanghai or the Three 
Gorges Dam.  These moves added up to erode the island's mutual trust 
with the United States.  Also, the political upheavals in Taiwan 
gave Washington no alternative but to doubt whether Taiwan, in the 
face of the outbreak of a crisis, is able to seriously and 
responsibly control the risks of possible escalating conflicts.  To 
put it bluntly, the major problem [between the U.S. and Taiwan] lies 
in transparency.  The U.S. has merely a limited understanding of 
Taiwan's planning and development of its offensive combat 
preparedness in six areas (fighter air attacks, missile ground 
attacks, submarines, special forces troops, information warfare, 
etc).  It is naturally essential for Taiwan to keep some 'treasured' 
secret bargaining chips so that it can increase Beijing's 
 
SIPDIS 
uncertainties about using force against Taiwan, and also ensure that 
the United States will not sacrifice Taiwan altogether in order to 
handle a cross-StraQ crisis.  ... 
 
"Taiwan should seize the opportunity of the annual Taiwan-U.S. 
strategic dialogue to explain to the U.S., in particular, the 
political objectives, and combat plans of its offensive combat 
preparedness. ...  Such a move will help remove Washington's doubts, 
reduce unnecessary barriers to the island's independent development 
of offensive capabilities, and mend the overall mutual trust between 
the two sides." 
 
¶4. Aftermath of the Presidential Recall Attempt 
 
A) "Pass Sunshine Bill As Early As Possible to Dun [the KMT] for 
Ill-gotten Party Assets" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000] 
editorialized (6/30): 
 
"...  It is progress that incorruptibility has become a common 
catch-word between the Blue and Green camps.  But incorruptibility 
is not an abstract moral appeal; ... instead, we need to construct a 
comprehensive set of laws and regulations, which will serve as a 
cornerstone to thoroughly carry out the pursuit of incorruptibility. 
 We believe there are two major directions in which we should strive 
if we want to build a clean government in Taiwan:  The first is to 
pass a comprehensive sunshine bill and to set up a task force to 
eliminate corruption, in an attempt to thoroughly prevent corrupt 
practices from the very beginning.  ...  Second, we need to dun the 
KMT for its ill-gotten party assets, in an attempt to eliminate the 
corrupt remnants passed down from the totalitarian age.  ..." 
 
B) "Chen and DPP to Face Greater Challenges Ahead" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" 
[circulation: 30,000] wrote in an editorial (6/30): 
 
"The recent attempt made by the 'pan-blue alliance' to remove 
President Chen Shui-bian through a referendum ended in failure 
because the proposal did not receive sufficient support in the 
Legislative Yuan.  Even so, it wasn't really a failure for the 
opposition, and certainly not a victory for Chen and his Democratic 
Progressive Party (DPP). ...  Now, even some DPP-affiliated 
officials feel Chen could be a liability in their future election or 
re-election campaigns.  DPP politicians with this feeling are bound 
to grow in number in the future.  If the party wants to regain the 
support it once enjoyed, it should stop trying to protect Chen." 
 
KEEGAN