VZCZCXYZ0017
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #3187/01 2570907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140907Z SEP 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2129
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5655
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6867

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 003187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - DAVID FIRESTEIN 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CAMPAIGN TO OUST PRESIDENT CHEN SHUI-BIAN, 
GWOT 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  As former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-teh's sit-in to oust 
President Chen Shui-bian continued to stay in the Taiwan media's 
spotlight September 14, news coverage also focused on a mass 
"Formosa Sunrise" rally planned by the Taiwan Society on September 
16 on Ketagalan Boulevard; President Chen's urge to push Taiwan's 
bid to join the United Nations under the name of "Taiwan;" and the 
first cross-Strait medical charter flight, which will take off 
today.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest 
daily, ran a front-page banner headline that read "To Fight Red Tide 
on Saturday, Green Camp Gives Mobilization Order."  The 
pro-unification "United Daily News," on the other hand, ran a 
front-page banner headline that said "Shih Calls for Peace in the 
Siege on September 15." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times" 
editorial criticized Shih's movement, saying it has turned violent 
and the Taiwan people must spurn the so-called "sacred war" 
manipulated by certain media outlets and politicians.  An editorial 
in the pro-status quo "China Times," on the other hand, urged the 
Blue camp to reflect on the role it should play as an opposition 
party in the movement to oust President Chen.  With regard to the 
war on terrorism, an editorial in the limited-circulation, 
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" criticized the war 
on terrorism launched by the United States, saying it is doomed to 
failure "as the inevitable result of killing or injury to innocent 
people only advances the cause of the terrorists."  End summary. 
 
¶3. Campaign to Oust President Chen Shui-bian 
 
A) "Why Intensify 'People's Inner Struggles' to 'Struggles between 
Friend and Foe?'" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 600,000] 
editorialized (9/14): 
 
"The 'One-Million-Person Anti-Graft Movement' initiated by Shih 
Ming-teh has launched protests outside the Presidential Office on 
Ketagalan Boulevard over the past few days.  Some people stuck to 
their course and did not retreat even under the pouring rain; these 
people's willpower deserves our respect.  But given the open 
interference and incitement by certain media outlets and 
politicians, this protest, which upholds love and peace and asserts 
that its goal is to rebuild core values in a civil society, seems to 
have deviated from its original track and is gradually moving 
towards the verge of violence.  People started to worry whether 
conflicts will break out any moment. ... 
 
"If one looks at history, he can find many instances in which human 
beings suffered from extreme privation because of the religious wars 
they launched.  Sacred wars are irrational and destructive and are 
fights to the bitter end.  Taiwan, on the other hand, is a 
democratic country, in which even the most severe infighting does 
not need to be intensified into struggles between friend and foe by 
raising a sacred war.  The Taiwan people, in particular, have to 
spurn holy wars manipulated by politicians and media, or they 
themselves will become the sacrifices of those politicians who want 
to usurp power." 
 
B) "Blue Camp Must Never Overlook Problems That It Confronts" 
 
The pro-status quo "China Times" [circulation: 400,000] 
editorialized (9/14): 
 
"While the deafening voices calling to oust Bian are raging on 
Ketagalan Boulevard, the question regarding the role that the KMT 
should play seems to have been pushed aside.  In other words, when a 
major problem is on the boil, people tend to overlook those problems 
of secondary importance; this is the situation the Blue camp is 
facing now.  When the governance of Chen Shui-bian and the ruling 
DPP has incurred widespread indignation and discontent, the Blue 
camp, which seems to be sure of its victory in the 2008 presidential 
election, has obviously failed to see its own problem. ... 
 
"When it comes to its options of strategies, the Blue camp distances 
itself from public opinion now as it did before the transfer of 
power took place [in 2000].  As of now, the two biggest mistakes 
that the Blue camp has ever made are its moves to block the [U.S.] 
arms procurement bill and the appointments of the Control Yuan 
members.  No matter how many professional reasons are offered, [the 
Blue camp's moves] are viewed as boycotts with evil intentions.  For 
Taiwan, national defense is an issue of essential importance.  While 
China keeps on deploying more missiles aimed at the island, Taiwan's 
budget for arms procurement has been blocked in the Legislative Yuan 
more than 50 times.  The legislators can sit down to review and 
revise the way such a budget was allocated or the price tags 
earmarked for the weaponry; why do they refuse even to allow the 
bill to be sent to the Procedural Committee? 
 
"Frankly speaking, the side effects caused by the long-term blockage 
of the arms procurement bill are emerging now.  First, relations 
between Taiwan and the United States are negatively affected. 
Taiwan wants to purchase F-16 C/D fights jets now, but the U.S. 
response was: no budget, no talk.  Second, Taiwan's progress in its 
national defense buildup is stalled, which also results in the 
deteriorating balance of military power on the Taiwan Strait. 
Grass-roots people in Taiwan have a very bad perception of the Blue 
camp's long-term attempt to block the arms procurement bill; they 
have no interest in even listening to the Blue camp's explanations. 
How can a political party which wants to win elections be so 
ignorant of public opinion? ... 
 
"When viewed as a whole, neither the KMT, the People First Party, 
nor the New Party has made progress over the past few years. ...  It 
is easy to criticize the DPP now, but the performance of the Blue 
camp over the past few years has also been unsatisfactory.  The fact 
that Shih Ming-teh's campaign to oust Bian can summon so many people 
has somehow manifested the Taiwan people's disappointment toward the 
Blue camp.  If the Blue camp fails to review and reflect on itself 
and thoroughly adjust its thinking, it will be overly optimistic for 
it to expect victory in 2008." 
 
¶4. GWOT 
 
"The World after 'September 11'" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] commented in an editorial (9/14): 
 
"... The international community absolutely condemns the killings by 
terrorist organizations of unarmed and innocent people, labeling 
these actions as crimes against humanity.  However, ostensibly to 
defend against terrorist attacks, the United States and the United 
Kingdom governments in particular have resorted to actions such as 
the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, during which far more Afghan 
and Iraqi citizens, as well as U.S. and British soldiers, were 
sacrificed than the number of who died in the September 11 terrorist 
attacks.  Moreover, the U.S. government of Republican President 
George W. Bush has also resorted to violations of the Geneva 
Conventions and the establishment of offshore political prisons, 
unconstitutionally monitoring and intercepting overseas and domestic 
communications, financial information and other measures which 
combined to form another type of state terrorism.  Therefore, we 
urge the international community to oppose any and all kinds of 
terrorism, whether perpetrated by individuals, extremist 
organizations or states.  ... 
 
"Totalitarian regimes also use politically-motivated violence to 
create fear among ordinary people, namely the citizens of their own 
country and thus infringe on their human rights.  In addition, other 
states have used aggressive acts of war to create a universal fear 
of loss of life or property among people of other countries in an 
even more severe and direct oppression of human rights.  For 
example, the 'war on terror' launched by the United States 
government in the wake of September 11, which cost 2,973 lives, has 
cost the lives of at least 62,006 people, created 4.5 million 
refugees and more money than would have been needed to pay off the 
debts of every poor nation on earth, according to a study conducted 
by London's 'Independent' newspaper.  It is evident that the use of 
violence by terrorist groups cannot realize their political, 
religious or ideological goals or solve the problems which spawn 
their formation.  Similarly, the use of state violence or state 
terror by democratic states to conduct a 'war on terror' is equally 
doomed to failure as the inevitable result of killing or injury to 
innocent people only advances the cause of the terrorists and 
simultaneously reduces the human rights of citizens in the 
democratic countries themselves. ..." 
 
YOUNG