VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0201 0260709
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260709Z JAN 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3871
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6280
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7510

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000201 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - LLOYD NEIGHBORS 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
 
Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies gave extensive 
reporting and editorial coverage January 26 to President Chen 
Shui-bian's official petition to the Council of Grand Justices 
Thursday, requesting a ruling on the constitutional questions of 
presidential immunity and the "state secret privilege" in connection 
with the trial in the Presidential Office Allowance for State 
affairs case.  All papers, on the other hand, fronted-paged news of 
two Taiwan women who reached the finals of the Australian Open, the 
first Taiwan tennis players to do so.  The pro-unification "United 
Daily News" front-paged the results of its latest survey, which 
showed that former Premier Frank Hiseh's approval rating has risen 
rapidly to 19 percent, while the Taiwan public's favorable opinion 
toward KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou hit a new low of 44 percent.  In 
terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the 
pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's largest-circulation 
daily, commented on China's rise.  The article said as China's 
economy thrives, it does not use the money to improve its people's 
lives; instead, it has spent more money on a military buildup and 
has become even more tyrannical.  End summary. 
 
"[People] Must Have Thorough Understanding of Nature and Truth about 
'China's Rise'" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 550,000] 
editorialized (1/16): 
 
"... In other words, China's rise has become the prevailing trend, 
and Taiwan businesses have played a key role during the process. 
That is, in the trade and economic interaction between the two sides 
of the Taiwan Strait, China has gained far more from Taiwan than 
Taiwan has gained from China.  Taiwan's capital, technology, and 
talent flew westbound in bulk, constituting a major driving force 
for China's economic development, while Taiwan itself became the 
victim of the westbound Taiwan investors.  But while interpreting 
the rise of China, most people in the world, including those 
pro-unification people in Taiwan, all mistook the effect as the 
cause, or even turned a blind eye to the extreme number of Taiwan 
businessmen going west.  Moreover, they disparaged Taiwan, as if it 
has to rely on China so as to be able to survive.  Based on this 
premise, they lashed out at the regulatory measures the Taiwan 
government imposed on Taiwan business investments in China, and 
threatened the Taiwan government to get it to lift its ban and ease 
its regulations, saying recklessly that it is the only way for 
Taiwan to survive. ... 
 
"... In its rise, China used 'human-sea tactics' to foster its 
economic development; it is not a mature economy in which the core 
values lie in brainpower and quality, let alone the fact that China 
is a barbarous country when it comes to human rights, freedom, and 
democracy.  It really does not deserve to be called a big country. 
The better China's economic development gets, the less its 
government spent on improving its people's lives.  On the contrary, 
it directed its [economic] power in the wrong direction, spending 
its money on military buildup as a warmonger, and it has grown more 
tyrannical in political terms, as if [its rapid economic 
development] were used as its capital for its intent to dominate the 
earth. ..." 
 
YOUNG