VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #3840 3180803
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140803Z NOV 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3011
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5930
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7149

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 003840 
 
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: U.S. MIDTERM ELECTIONS 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies gave 
significant coverage November 14 to two DPP legislators who decided 
to resign effective this week in protest of the party's handling of 
the corruption scandal implicating President Chen Shui-bian and his 
wife.  News coverage also focused on follow-on investigations into 
the Presidential allowance for state affairs case; and on Taipei 
Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who is to be questioned Tuesday over alleged 
misuse of his special mayoral expense fund.  The pro-independence 
"Liberty Times," Taiwan's largest-circulation daily, ran a banner 
headline on page two that said "The President:  Stepping down Would 
Be a Relief, But One Must Not Easily Discard One's 
Responsibilities." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the 
pro-unification "United Daily News" criticized the DPP for 
supporting President Chen, "a big corrupt criminal and a big liar." 
The article said both U.S. President George W. Bush and his party 
have been punished by their voters and asked if Taiwan's voters will 
use their ballots to punish President Chen and the DPP and teach 
them a lesson.  An editorial in the limited-circulation, 
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" urged Taiwan's 
policy-makers to prepare for a "change in skies" in the United 
States in the wake of the stunning defeat suffered by the Republican 
Party in last week's midterm elections.  End summary. 
 
A) "[Do We] Need to Give 'Chen Shui-bian and DPP] Another Chance?" 
 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] 
editorialized (11/14): 
 
"... Last week's U.S. midterm elections provided an opportunity from 
which [Taiwan] can learn a lesson.  American voters once fully 
supported [U.S. President George W.] Bush's war in Iraq and war on 
terrorism, but they have come to realize that the war in Iraq and 
the war on terrorism contained, to a great extent, the operations of 
populism.  The midterm election results showed that the Republican 
Party suffered a severe defeat, and Bush immediately admitted that 
his Iraqi policy needs to be reviewed, and he quickly ordered 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down.  American voters are 
awake now, but what about Taiwan's voters?  Bush and his party have 
been punished by their voters and have learned their lesson; will 
President Chen Shui-bian and the DPP be punished by their voters and 
learn their lesson as well?  What's more, Bush's loss of public 
support is primarily a result of his policy errors, but Chen, on the 
other hand, is a big corrupt criminal and a big liar. ..." 
 
B) "U.S. Polls Mean Change in Skies" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (11/14): 
 
"Taiwan policy-makers should begin to prepare for a 'change in 
skies' in the United States after the stunning defeat handed to the 
right-wing Republican administration of U.S. President George W. 
Bush by the Democratic Party in mid-term congressional elections 
earlier this month. ...  The nature of the Senate and gubernatorial 
results in particular may serve as a bellwether for the November 
2008 presidential election since they revealed shifts in several key 
states. ...  The most important reason is that such a change 
promises the world hope that the world's most powerful nation may 
return to internationalism after two terms of Bush's fundamentalist 
'America First' unilateralism. ...  Although Bush's administration 
has generally been supportive of Taiwan in security and defense 
matters, Bush has also periodically put intense pressure on Taiwan 
to complement his unilateralist agenda and has subordinated Taiwan's 
democratic deepening to Washington's efforts to build a partnership 
with Beijing in areas such as the North Korean nuclear weapons 
crisis. ..." 
 
YOUNG