VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #4005 3340903
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300903Z NOV 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3250
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6016
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7242

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 004005 
 
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: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
 
Summary:  Taiwan's major dailies November 30 focused on Minister of 
Justice Shih Mau-lin's opinion at an internal meeting of the 
Executive Yuan that special allowances for high-ranking officials 
are supplemental compensation, and officials therefore do not need 
to return the balance.  On the inside pages, the focus was on 
reactions to Minister Shih's opinion, with Hsu Jan-yau, Minister of 
the Directorate-General for Budget, Accounting and Statistics of the 
Executive Yuan, saying that the practice of part of the Presidential 
Office Allowance for State Affairs is the same as special allowances 
for other high-ranking officials.  Even though there are opinions 
favorable to President Chen Shui-bian, a news analysis in the "China 
Times" said that President Chen and the First Lady are not going to 
walk away from their alleged involvement in the scandal of the 
Presidential Office Allowance for State Affairs, since bogus 
receipts had been used to claim reimbursement, and the First Lady 
has obvious intentions to engage in corruption. 
 
In terms of editorials and commentaries, the pro-independence 
"Liberty Times", Taiwan's largest circulation daily, noted in its 
editorial that pan-Blue legislators have continued blocking bills 
vital to the island; nominations for Control Yuan members and 
prosecutor-general; and the U.S. arms deal, yet they have included 
bills on the Legislative Yuan's agenda regarding cross-Strait direct 
links that allegedly would jeopardize the island. End summary. 
 
A) "[Are Pan-Blue Legislators] Taiwan's Congressmen or China's 
Agents" 
 
The pro-independence, Taiwan's largest circulation daily "Liberty 
Times" [circulation: 600,000] editorialized (11/30): 
 
"... on Tuesday [November 28], KMT and PFP legislators again blocked 
nominations for Control Yuan members and the prosecutor-general, and 
for the 66th time blocked the passage of the U.S. arms procurement 
bill in the Procedural Committee; however, they included 
controversial bills concerning direct transportation from the Sung 
Shan Airport [in Taipei] to Hong Kong and Macao, and the clause of 
'direct transportation' under the Statute Governing Cross-Strait 
Relations in Friday's plenary session. ... 
 
"... [So] on the one hand, pan-Blue legislators have blocked the 
nominations for Control Yuan members and prosecutor-general, and on 
the other hand, they are bound and determined to include bills 
related to the 'three links' on the agenda.  This leads one to 
question strongly whether these legislators are Taiwan's congressmen 
or China's agents on the island. ..." 
 
YOUNG