VZCZCXYZ0020
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1206 2260802
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130802Z AUG 08
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9744
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8533
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 9740

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001206 
 
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: PRESIDENT MA YING-JEOU'S OVERSEAS TRIP 
 
Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused August 13 
news coverage on a Taiwan weightlifter, who grabbed the island's 
second bronze at the Beijing Olympics Tuesday; on President Ma 
Ying-jeou's first trip overseas and his transit stops in the United 
States; and on the chaos in South Ossetia.  An editorial in the 
conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" 
discussed President Ma's "low-key" visit overseas and his transits 
in the United States.  The article said "as long as President Ma 
remains low-key on his U.S. stopovers, Washington will probably not 
give Ma the cold shoulder when he makes future requests to transit 
U.S. territory."  End summary. 
 
"Ma's Trip Truly 'Low Key'?" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" 
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (8/13): 
 
"... All eyes will also be on President Ma so see how well, or 
poorly, he is treated during his stopovers in the United States. ... 
 In our opinion, as long as President Ma remains low-key on his U.S. 
stopovers, Washington will probably not give Ma the cold shoulder 
when he makes future requests to transit U.S. territory.  And as 
long as President Ma continues pursuing a pragmatic policy of 
seeking peaceful ties and negotiations with the mainland in addition 
to nurturing foreign allies, Washington is not likely to place any 
obstacles before Ma when traveling through the U.S. on his way to 
other places.  If things go well on this trip, it is conceivable 
that the United States will even welcome Ma to stay for a day or two 
in high-profile U.S. cities, such as New York, on his way in and out 
of America.  President Ma might even someday have the chance to stay 
a couple days in his old haunt of Boston, where he attended law 
school and worked as a legal intern at a major bank before returning 
to Taiwan in the early 1980s." 
 
YOUNG