VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1932/01 2350819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230819Z AUG 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6503
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7154
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8409

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001932 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news 
coverage August 23 on President Chen Shui-bian's trip to Central 
America; on his recent interview with the BBC on Taiwan's current 
status; on the 2008 presidential poll; and on a corruption case 
concerning a renovation project of the National Palace Museum.  The 
pro-independence "Liberty Times" ran a banner headline on page five 
that said "Interview with BBC, Bian [Says]: Taiwan Is Already 
Independent and Thus Does Not Need to Declare [Independence]." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times" op-ed, 
citing recent remarks of former U.S. ambassador to the UN, John 
Bolton, urged the United States to acknowledge Taiwan's current 
status as a nation.  An editorial in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taiwan News" discussed President Chen Shui-bian's 
"low-profile" protest to the United States in Anchorage, Alaska 
Tuesday and urged Washington to engage in direct dialogue with 
Taipei.  End summary. 
 
A) "The United States Should Acknowledge Taiwan's National Status" 
 
Shen Chieh, a freelance writer, opined in the pro-independence 
"Liberty Times" [circulation: 720,000] (8/23): 
 
"Former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton urged the United 
States to resume diplomatic relations with Taiwan in an attempt to 
prevent China's intervention and to maintain the United States' 
interests.  Such an assertion meets the basic expectation of the 
majority of the Taiwan people:  Namely, the international community 
accepts the status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are 'one 
country on either side' [of the Strait]. 
 
"The strategy previously adopted by Washington to address issues 
across the Taiwan Strait focused on suppressing Taiwan and not 
reviewing the mistakes in U.S. policy.  In fact, the approach that 
can best tally with cross-Strait security, the U.S. interests, 
democracy and the principle of justice is for the United States to 
acknowledge Taiwan's current status as a nation and to [help] 
integrate Taiwan into international organizations. ..." 
 
B) "U.S. Should Hear Chen's Silent Protest" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (8/23): 
 
"President Chen Shui-bian gave the United States government a mild 
taste of Taiwan-style democratic activism Tuesday morning on a brief 
refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska en route to a summit with 
Central American and Caribbean allies in Honduras.  It is obvious 
that the George W. Bush administration imposed 'uncomfortable, 
inconvenient and undignified' conditions on Chen's transit through 
the U.S. in response to recent decisions by Taiwan's president to 
submit an application for Taiwan to join the United Nations and not 
to stand in the way of a Democratic Progressive Party-initiated 
referendum on the question of whether to use the name of 'Taiwan' to 
join the U.N.. ... 
 
"We strongly urge the Bush administration to hear the constructive 
message in Chen's silent protest.  The Washington establishment, 
including all parties, should imagine themselves in Taiwan's shoes 
and realize how serious the current threats posed by the People's 
Republic of China are to a democratic Taiwan and try to appreciate 
the fact that the desire to enter the U.N. is shared by the vast 
majority of Taiwan citizens regardless of partisan affiliation. ... 
The gaps between Taipei and Washington in the past few years under 
the Chen and Bush II administrations have undoubtedly been worsened 
by the lack of direct channels of dialogue between senior leaders in 
both governments, not to mention the exclusion by Washington's 
adherence to a 'one-China policy' of any possibility of direct 
discussion between the two presidents. 
 
"This state of affairs is aptly demonstrated in the current 
controversy regarding Taiwan's application to join the U.N. and the 
DPP-initiated referendum on whether to use the name of 'Taiwan' to 
enter the U.N.  The Bush administration may see 'democratic Taiwan' 
and its drive to maintain a proper position in international society 
as an annoyance in Washington's efforts to 'integrate' the PRC into 
the international system and to secure Beijing's assistance in 
resolving problems such the North Korean nuclear program.  It may 
also reflect the festering consequences of the U.S.-initiated war in 
Iraq.  However, Washington appears blind to the very real threat to 
the security of Taiwan's democracy and survival posed by Beijing's 
deployment of nearly 1,000 ballistic missiles targeted against 
Taiwan and its "legal warfare" campaign to establish a "consensus" 
in international society that "Taiwan is an integral part of the 
PRC," as claimed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ... 
 
"The most direct and peaceful ways to engage in such a refutation 
were precisely to issue an application to join the United Nations as 
'Taiwan' and to provide an opportunity for our 23 million people to 
 
express their own views on the subject by supporting the 
DPP-initiated referendum.  Regardless of whether the Bush 
administration supports or opposes this initiative, we believe it 
was unprincipled and unwise for the Bush administration to 'punish' 
President Chen for representing the interests of his country and 
electorate.  Moreover, we believe Chen is correct in his assertion 
that the substandard treatment meted out to a directly elected 
president of a democratic ally was also a sanction against all of 
Taiwan's people and an insult to our hard-won democracy. 
 
"On a deeper level, Washington's actions are also a negation of the 
claims by the U.S. itself to be an independent and democratic nation 
since the Bush administration has effectively drawn a red line to 
constrain Taiwan democracy at the behest, directly or indirectly, of 
the authoritarian PRC regime.  Regardless of Washington's position 
on Taiwan's U.N. entry, we urge Bush to accept President Chen's 
proposal that Washington dispatch senior 'special representatives' 
to engage in direct dialogue with Taiwan counterparts to gain 
clearer understanding of each other's positions and concerns and to 
hopefully reduce the gaps between these two democratic allies." 
 
YOUNG