VZCZCXYZ0014
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0323 0400505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090505Z FEB 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4064
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6354
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7589

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000323 
 
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: TAIWAN'S NAME CHANGE CAMPAIGN, U.S. ARMS 
PROCUREMENT 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their 
coverage February 9 on KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, who told the press 
Thursday that he will resign if indicted for the mayoral allowance 
case during his tenure as Taipei mayor; on the DPP government's name 
change campaign, and on other political issues.  The pro-status quo 
"China Times" ran an exclusive front-page headline that read 
"Chinese to Announce before Lunar New Year: Ban on Chinese People 
Visiting Taiwan to be Lifted April 1."  In terms of editorials and 
commentaries, an editorial in the pro-independence "Liberty Times," 
Taiwan's largest-circulation daily, discussed the DPP government's 
name-change campaign and said that only by doing so can Taiwan be 
transformed into a normal country.  An op-ed piece in the 
limited-circulation, pro-independence, English-language "Taipei 
Times," on the other hand, discussed U.S. arms procurement.  The 
article said "(t)he recent failures to pass a defense budget in the 
legislature make it all the more difficult for even the most ardent 
friends and supporters of Taiwan's democracy and continued progress 
to respond in the affirmative."  End summary. 
 
¶2. Taiwan's Name Change Campaign 
 
"Democratic County Must Not Worship Symbols Representing an 
Authoritarian Regime" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 550,000] 
editorialized (2/9): 
 
"... The DPP government has been proactively pushing the campaign to 
revise history textbooks for high school students, to change the 
names of the Chinese Petroleum Corporation and other relevant 
[state-run] enterprises, to remove statues of [Generalissimo] Chiang 
Kai-shek [from military premises around the island], and to 
eliminate military guards and MPs stationed at Chiang's mausoleum. 
This campaign in fact has the double significance of 'eliminating 
the authoritarian legacy' and 'eliminating the legacy of an alien 
regime.'  The DPP's big moves have naturally triggered a strong 
backlash from the Blue camp, but only by thoroughly 'getting rid of 
the authoritarian legacy' and 'getting rid of the legacy of an alien 
regime' can Taiwan become a truly democratic country. ... 
 
"Following the transfer of political power in 2000, the first 
nativist regime was established in Taiwan.  Even though [this 
development] confirmed the fact of Taiwan's independent sovereignty, 
Taiwan is not yet a normal country.  Thus, the rectification of 
Taiwan's name, writing a new constitution for Taiwan, and moves to 
'get rid of the authoritarian legacy' and 'get rid of the legacy of 
an alien regime' have become necessary steps to transform [Taiwan] 
into a normal country.  Among these steps, the goal to rectify 
Taiwan's name and write a new constitution are not easy to achieve 
without long-term efforts, due to limitations from the outside 
environment.  As for 'getting rid of the authoritarian legacy' and 
'getting rid of the legacy of an alien regime,' there has not been 
too much obstruction.  The DPP administration should have started to 
do so immediately after it came to power, and it is lamentable that 
it did not start proactively to push the campaign until President 
Chen was about to conclude his second term. ..." 
 
¶3. U.S. Arms Procurements 
 
"Neglecting Defense Budget a Folly" 
 
Kurt Campbell, CEO of the Center for a New American Security in 
Washington, opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei 
Times" [circulation: 30,000] (2/9): 
 
"... Washington now expects a certain self-sufficiency among its 
allies and friends in the region, and behind the diplomatic niceties 
there is a growing dissatisfaction and impatience in Washington 
about the lack of progress in the defense arena in Taiwan.  This 
alienation will likely grow as the defense effort continues to 
stall.  Finally, the US presidential sweepstakes is already in full 
swing, and a new generation of candidates and their advisors must 
again be apprised of the importance of maintaining peace and 
stability in the western Pacific. 
 
"However, given pressing realities elsewhere and the changing power 
dynamics in the region, this tutorial in both Democratic and 
Republican circles is taking on new difficulties and complexities. 
Asian advisors to aspiring politicos from both sides of the aisle 
now dread answering the inevitable question that crops up during 
preparatory sessions on the region, namely, 'why should the US be so 
concerned about providing security to a place that seems ambivalent 
at best about its own defense?'  The recent failures to pass a 
defense budget in the legislature make it all the more difficult for 
even the most ardent friends and supporters of Taiwan's democracy 
and continued progress to respond in the affirmative." 
 
YOUNG