VZCZCXRO9199
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #3444/01 2770943
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040943Z OCT 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2480
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5741
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 8092
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0420
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1431
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5399
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9599
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6956

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003444 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: Anti-Chen Protest Motorcade in Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and 
Taitung - Smoother Sailing 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: On the evening of October 3, the anti-President 
Chen motorcade led by Shih Ming-teh passed through Kaohsiung City 
without stopping and held a rally in Pingtung City.  Two thousand 
local people joined the event, which ended peacefully without 
encountering any protest from pro-Chen supporters.  Police in 
Taitung anticipate no problems with the anti-Chen rally there.  End 
Summary. 
 
Kaohsiung City and County 
------------------------- 
¶2.  (SBU) Lacking a permit to rally in Kaohsiung City, the anti-Chen 
motorcade passed through Kaohsiung City peacefully without stopping. 
 Hundreds of local anti-Chen supporters, mobilized by City Council 
candidate Wang Ling-chiao (PFP), welcomed the anti-Chen motorcade in 
front of the Kaohsiung City Government building.  Across the road, 
stood hundreds of pro-Chen supporters, some of whom were mobilized 
by an independent City council candidate Huang Wan-hung.  The two 
groups of people were separated by police.  The anti-Chen motorcade, 
escorted by Kaohsiung police cars, passed safely and without 
incident through the city, though there were several altercations 
and arrests involving pro-Chen counter-protesters. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the remainder of its travel through Kaohsiung County, 
the anti-Chen motorcade was welcomed by few people as it headed to 
Pingtung without stopping.  A rumor that Shih Ming-teh might stop at 
a certain point in the route near the scenic Chengqing Lake 
attracted a gathering of people.  A minor confrontation and pushing 
match broke out between small groups of anti-Chen and pro-Chen 
supporters, but was broken up quickly by police who arrived after 
the confrontation began. 
 
Pingtung County 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  With permission from Pingtung County Magistrate Chao 
Chi-hung (DPP), an anti-Chen rally was held October 3 in Pingtung 
Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,000.  The application for the 
permit came from KMT Legislator Liao Wan-ju.  AIT/K staff estimated 
some 2,000 local people participated in the rally and at least 1,000 
police were deployed around the site.  United Daily News (October 4 
Kaohsiung edition) put the number of participants at 1,500. There 
were no obvious pro-DPP supporters at the site, although a few 
senior citizens were standing on the other side of the police lines. 
 In his speech at the Pingtung rally, former DPP chairman Shih 
Ming-teh called the Anti-Chen Action the "most glorious moment" of 
his life and criticized acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan for her 
close ties to what Shih characterized as a corrupt DPP government. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Two police officers in Pingtung told AIT/K staff that 
permission for the anti-Chen rally had been properly granted 
according to the law and that having a legal rally made it easier 
for them to do their jobs.  When asked whether the police around 
Taiwan tend to support the pan-Blue camp, one officer indicated that 
historically pan-Blue supporters are less violent during 
demonstrations compared with the pan-Green camp, making them easier 
to deal with.  One police officer observed that the anti-Chen 
protestors are very easy to handle as long as pro-Chen supporters do 
not come out to confront rally participants.  After the rally, the 
anti-Chen protestors stayed overnight in Kenting, a beach resort 
town in the southern portion of Pingtung County, with local police 
providing them with protection. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Independent Pingtung Legislator Tsai Hao also joined the 
Pingtung rally.  Local people at the rally said that Tsai had 
offered to host a dinner for the anti-Chen group, but was refused 
because Shih Ming-teh did not want to be associated with any 
political faction.  At the rally, a much relieved participant in the 
Shih motorcade told AIT/K staff that he believed the tensest moments 
of the tour were over.  The staff member said the group had rightly 
sensed danger earlier upon their arrival in Chiayi City and County, 
where they had been attacked with bricks and rocks. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) While the southern tour itself is nearing an end, there 
will be some political aftereffects.  As reported by United Daily 
News on October 4, the anti-Chen action headquarters has pressed 
charges of negligence and interference with freedom of expression 
against Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-Chih and Tainan County 
 
TAIPEI 00003444  002 OF 002 
 
 
Police Bureau Commissioner Huang Fu-sheng for blocking the county's 
main road to stop the anti-Chen motorcade from entering Tainan 
County. 
 
Taitung County 
-------------- 
¶8.  (SBU)  In conversations with AIT/K, Taitung police reported that 
they are not worried about the possibility of conflict when Shih's 
motorcade arrives.  Taitung police took a proactive stance by making 
advance personal visits or phone calls earlier this week to known 
troublemakers, encouraging them to stay home and take no action 
against the anti-Chen motorcade or rally participants.  The local 
DPP office also took a proactive role in preventing any conflict by 
issuing a press release telling DPP members to avoid the rally site 
and prohibiting party members from mobilizing DPP supporters to 
visit the rally.  So far, Taitung officials estimate that no more 
than 2,000 persons will attend the rally, for which a permit was 
issued readily by the ruling KMT Magistrate Kuang Li-zhen. 
 
Comment 
--------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Thanks to active involvement and sharing of resources by 
police throughout southern Taiwan, possible confrontations were 
anticipated and dealt with quickly.  Incidents in Chiayi showed that 
DPP support there still has some passion.  The general lack of 
interest in the anti-Chen motorcade following the Chiayi and Tainan 
legs suggests that the DPP administration's scandals over the past 
year may have reduced the willingness of formerly active DPP 
supporters to come out to support the DPP cause.  DPP supporters who 
did come out in southern Taiwan by-and-large appeared to be senior 
citizens mobilized to make an appearance on behalf of local DPP 
party offices. By contrast, most of the local anti-Chen supporters 
who came to greet the motorcade or join rallies were younger or 
middle-aged persons, suggesting that the DPP may be losing support 
from the southern swing vote due to corruption allegations. 
 
THIELE 
 
WANG