VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1649/01 2040902
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230902Z JUL 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6103
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7045
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8291

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001649 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - BROOKE SPELLMAN 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: DPP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FRANK HSIEH'S 
U.S. TRIP, HSIEH'S VIEW ON TAIWAN CONSTITUTION 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news 
coverage July 21-23 on the 2008 presidential poll, on DPP 
presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's trip to the United States, on 
the Legislative Yuan's passage of the National Annuity Law last 
Friday, and on the final debut of "Harry Potter and the Deathly 
Hallows."  The pro-unification "United Daily News" front-paged an 
exclusive news story July 23 with a banner headline that read "Given 
the U.S. Pressure, [Taiwan] University Students Will Have to Take an 
IPR Test."  The paper also devoted more than half of its page two 
criticizing a Ministry of Education action plan, which requires all 
universities and colleges to give freshmen IPR tests before 
enrollment in the first year in schools. 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an analysis in the 
centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" discussed Frank Hsieh's U.S. 
trip.  The article said Hsieh will start by rebuilding trust between 
Taipei and Washington and will convince the United States the value 
and significance of the DPP's rule for the second round.  An 
editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" 
also said Hsieh "has an opportunity to build a position as a 
defender of regional peace and stability and can lay the base for 
firmer U.S.-Taiwan relations based on 'love and trust.'"  An 
editorial in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" discussed the "One 
China under the Constitution" position proposed by Hsieh.  The 
article said Hsieh's proposal is no different from the "ultimate 
unification" advocated by KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou, 
because both approaches have violated Taiwan's mainstream public 
opinion.  End summary. 
 
¶3. DPP Presidential Candidate Frank Hsieh's U.S. Trip 
 
A) "For His First Interview, Hsieh Will Start by Mending Trust 
between Taiwan and the United States" 
 
Journalist Tsai Hui-chen noted in the centrist, KMT leaning "China 
Times" [circulation: 400,000] (7/23): 
 
"... Since Chen Shui-bian remains as the current president, Frank 
Hsieh will have to accept whatever has been done and left by the 
ruling DPP party.  Hsieh thus chose to define Taiwan-U.S. relations 
under the Bian reign as a 'process that the DPP, as a first-time 
ruling party, had to go through.'  The various attempts by Chen to 
seek a way out for Taiwan in his own way have constantly challenged 
the United States' bottom line, and the results of such attempts 
have indeed altered the red line of Taiwan-U.S. relations.  But in 
the meantime, they have also put Taiwan-U.S. relations in an 
unprecedented deteriorating and uncertain situation.  Hsieh's trip 
this time was thus aimed at convincing the United States of the 
significance and value of the DPP to rule for the second time. ... 
 
"As a result, Hsieh's attitude toward his U.S. trip this time is 
very clear.  He will not propose the 'Four Nos and One Without' 
pledge or any other commitments as Chen did [eight years ago] just 
to put Washington at ease.  Instead, he will clearly state his ideas 
of reconciliation and co-existence and, based on such a framework, 
he will talk about Taiwan-centered values, Taiwan's opening and 
Taiwan's national security.  He will also communicate with 
Washington about the latter's fundamental reasons in opposing 
Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan. 
... Hsieh will stand on the foundation of Chen's eight-year rule and 
convey to the United States a stable attitude and quality that are 
'different from Bian's or Ma's,' a unique style of Hsieh's. ..." 
 
B) "Hsieh's Challenge on U.S. Journey" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (7/23): 
 
"Democratic Progressive party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh is 
now at a crucial point in his campaign to be the next occupant of 
Taiwan's presidential palace in the form of his 'love and trust' 
visit to the United States. ...  Hsieh's journey to Washington D.C. 
involves both opportunities and challenges to future Taiwan-U.S. 
relations. ...  Undoubtedly, the first political hurdle concerns 
President Chen's decision last Thursday to directly submit an 
application to the United Nations for membership under the name of 
'Taiwan.' ...  Frankly, we neither expect nor see any reason why 
Hsieh should refrain from endorsing the president's move.  After 
all, during the DPP's presidential primary, Hsieh personally 
recalled that the had called for Taiwan to enter the U.N. nearly two 
decades ago and said campaigning for Taiwan's entry into the U.N. 
would be 'the next step to rectify our name based on reality.' 
Therefore, we urge Hsieh to stick to his principles and exercise his 
ability to communicate directly with U.S. officials, politicians of 
all parties and leading thinktanks and academics to explain clearly 
why President Chen and the DPP government have taken this action and 
why it is necessary for Taiwan's international survival. 
 
"Second, Hsieh will also be asked to explain why and how he will be 
able to do a better job as Taiwan's head-of-state than Chen and to 
show what makes him a better choice than Ma, especially in terms of 
the values and directions of a future DPP administration under the 
former premier and Kaohsiung City mayor. ...  Given the Bush 
administration's belief that Washington needs the cooperation of the 
People's Republic of China on issues related to the U.S. war in Iraq 
and the North Korean nuclear proliferation crisis, U.S. officials 
and many foreign policy analysts maintain that Chen should have 
'exercised leadership' by not 'making trouble' for the Bush 
administration.  We believe that such views are misleading.  In our 
view, the Bush administration shares responsibility for the 'gap' by 
refusing to engage in high level direct dialogue with Taiwan's 
directly elected government, for its 'my way or the highway' 
attitude toward allies with different views on matters such as Iraq 
or the PRC and for its failure to fully appreciate the value of 
Taiwan's democracy and the necessity for its consolidation.... 
 
"On the question of relations with the PRC, Hsieh's toughest task 
will be to convince the Bush administration and other Washington 
leaders that he will be able to simultaneously use his political 
philosophy of seeking 'reconciliation and co-existence' and 
safeguard Taiwan's independence and national security. ...  We also 
believe that Hsieh should take care to explain clearly his position 
that the current Republic of China Constitution is a 'one-China' 
constitution.  Hsieh stressed during the DPP primary that this 
notion is not an 'advocation' but a description of an 'absurd' 
status quo and a call for collective effort for change, a position 
which is in keeping with DPP policy. ...  By contrasting the PRC's 
intensifying belligerence and the stereotyped image of Taiwan as a 
'troublemaker' with his own philosophy of 'coexistence,' Hsieh has 
an opportunity to build a position as a defender of regional peace 
and stability and can lay the base for firmer U.S.-Taiwan relations 
based on 'love and trust.'" 
 
¶4. Hsieh's View on Taiwan Constitution 
 
"[Hsieh's] 'One China under the Constitution' Is No Different from 
[Ma's] 'Ultimate Unification'" 
 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 500,000] 
editorialized (7/21): 
 
"'One China under the Constitution' is one of the assertions 
proposed by DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh.  Even though 
such a position has aroused deep doubts from the nativist voters, 
Hsieh reiterated the same idea during a recent interview with the 
Singapore-based 'Lianhe Zaobao' - a gesture indicating his apparent 
attempt to explain his position to China. ...  The question lies in 
the fact that the ROC Constitution is not related to Taiwan in any 
way.  All Taiwan needs to do is simply to write a new constitution; 
why does it need the idea of 'one China under the constitution' to 
tie up its hands and legs?  Hsieh's reiteration of the 
'constitutional one China' idea instead created doubts about whether 
he is genuinely supportive of the name-change campaign and the 
writing of a new constitution, and whether he is genuinely for of 
the referendum on 'the island's UN bid under the name Taiwan.'  Will 
the so-called 'one China under the Constitution' turn out to be 
another way of addressing the '1992 Consensus, with each side having 
its own interpretation of one China'? ... 
 
"The so-called 'reconciliation and co-existence' [proposed by Hsieh] 
naturally gives no cause for much criticism.  Nonetheless, Taiwan 
has long since acknowledged that China is an independent sovereign 
state, but Beijing continues to see Taiwan as a part of China and it 
even enacted the 'Anti-Secession Law.'  Given such circumstances, 
for Taiwan and China to reconcile with each other and to co-exist 
peacefully, China must first abolish its 'Anti-Secession Law' and 
acknowledge that Taiwan is also an independent sovereign state.  If 
this is impossible, the illusion of using the 'constitutionally one 
China' idea to ask for China's mercy on [cross-Strait] 
reconciliation and co-existence will be no different from the 
ultimate unification advocated by Ma Ying-jeou, because both 
approaches have violated Taiwan's mainstream public opinion that the 
island is an independent sovereign state." 
 
YOUNG