VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1550/01 3080925
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030925Z NOV 08
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0246
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8693
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0140

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001550 
 
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: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese- and English-language dailies 
gave significant straight news reporting and editorial coverage 
November 1-3 to the five-day Taiwan visit by China's Association for 
Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin; the 
talks to be held between ARATS and Taiwan's Straits Exchange 
Foundation (SEF); and the planned demonstrations initiated by DPP. 
News coverage also focused on President Ma Ying-jeou's interview 
with several major Taiwan dailies Sunday, in which he reiterated his 
insistence on upholding Taiwan's sovereignty when dealing with 
cross-Strait issues; and on the continuing probe into former first 
family's money laundering case.  The pro-unification "United Daily 
News" ran a banner headline on page two November 3 reading "Climax 
of Ma [Ying-jeou]-Chen [Yunlin] Meeting:  Planning to Request that 
the Other Side [of the Taiwan Strait] Withdraw Missiles." 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the 
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" hailed Chen's visit and said, judging 
from the international climate as well as Taiwan's current 
situation, Taiwan needs to "change its previous pro-U.S. and 
anti-Communist grand strategy to that of pro-U.S. and befriending 
China, or it will hardly find a way out."  An editorial in the 
pro-unification "United Daily News" said the SEF-ARATS meeting will 
be a trend for "peace and co-prosperity" across the Taiwan Strait. 
A separate "United Daily News" op-ed also held positive views on the 
upcoming cross-Strait talks, saying that such a breakthrough 
development will help both Taiwan and China to create a win-win 
situation across the Taiwan Strait.  An editorial in the centrist, 
KMT-leaning "China Times" called the SEF-ARATS meeting a "highly 
difficult chess game," in which "whoever can grasp the true intent 
of Taiwan's current mainstream public opinion will be the real 
winner."  An editorial in the conservative, pro-unification, 
English-language "China Post" also welcomed Chen's visit and the 
cross-Strait talks to be held in Taipei, saying they would benefit 
Taiwan economically.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times," on the 
other hand, panned the SEF-ARATS talks, calling them "a ceremony in 
which Taiwan welcomes envoys from a superior nation to sign a treaty 
of surrender."  An editorial in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" said "... courtesy of Ma's 
ineptitude, it seems inevitable that cross-strait dtente was going 
to arrive hand in hand with civil unrest."  A separate "Taipei 
Times" op-ed reminded Beijing that, while it is having dialogue with 
Taipei, it should change its mindset and sincerely respect Taiwan's 
sovereignty.  An editorial in the pro-independence, English-language 
"Taiwan News" criticized the KMT government for monopolizing 
cross-Strait issues and hiding cross-Strait talks in a black box 
without the oversight of the legislature.  End summary. 
 
A) "The Advantage of Chen Yunlin's Visit Outweighs Its 
Disadvantage" 
 
The mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] 
editorialized (11/3): 
 
"Why do we support and welcome [China's Association for Relations 
across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman] Chen Yunlin's visit to 
Taiwan?  Judging from the general direction of mankind's evolution, 
peaceful interaction is always better than confrontation and war. 
Judging from the bigger perspective of the international climate, 
the Cold War has ended; relations between the United States and 
China are getting closer; and China has become a strong power in the 
region.  Realism becomes the only valid point of view for Taiwan. 
[Taiwan] must face the reality of China's existence and its 
influence.  Judging from the smaller picture of Taiwan's 
environment, recovery is necessary after heavy economic losses.  [In 
consideration of Taiwan's] national security interests, the United 
States' demands, and the way out for Taiwan's democracy, [Taiwan] 
needs to change its previous pro-U.S. and anti-Communist grand 
strategy to that of pro-U.S. and befriending China, or it will 
hardly find a way out.  Taiwan independence is unlikely to be 
realized within a [short] period of time, which is a cruel reality 
that [the Taiwan independence activists] must face courageously. 
..." 
 
B) "Chiang-Chen Meeting in Taipei: Peace and Co-prosperity Are a 
Historical Trend" 
 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] 
editorialized (11/3): 
 
"... If one puts the 'Chiang-Chen meeting' in Taipei [this week] 
against the coordination chart of 'history and reality' of the past 
six decades, one can tell that the interactions across the Taiwan 
Strait have been moving along with a major axis -- namely, 'public 
opinion and peace' -- which has turned from invisible to visible and 
from insignificant to significant. ...  Public opinion yearns for 
peace, so both sides of the Taiwan Strait must respond to public 
calls.  As long as the authorities on both sides of the Taiwan 
Strait adhere to the supreme principle of 'peace,' interactions 
between the two sides can satisfy public opinion calling for 
 
'co-prosperity and a win-win [situation].'  As long as the 
authorities on both sides pay more attention to public opinion 
calling for 'co-prosperity and a win-win [situation],' peace across 
the Taiwan Strait can thus be maintained. ...  We hope that Ma 
Ying-jeou, Hu Jintao and future leaders from both sides of the 
Taiwan Strait are able to outshine the level and accomplishments 
attained by Chiang Ching-kuo and Deng Xiaoping in terms of their 
thinking and practices on internal governance, and that such 
thinking, practices, and achievements can be reflected in 'peaceful 
and co-prosperous' cross-Strait relations." 
 
C) "Chiang-Chen Meeting Not a Zero-Sum Game; Mutually Beneficial and 
Win-Win to Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait" 
 
Chao Chun-shan, Professor of the Graduate Institute of China Studies 
at Tamkang University, opined in the pro-unification "United Daily 
News" [circulation: 400,000] (11/3): 
 
"... We believe that the consolidation of [Chinese President] Hu 
Jintao's leadership and the smooth transition of government in 
Taiwan for the second time are the important turning points for 
creating a relationship in which both sides of the Taiwan Strait can 
negotiate with each other and systemizes such negotiations.  The 
concept of 'harmony' raised by Hu not only is applicable to the 
Chinese Communists when dealing with international and external 
issues, but also conforms to what the current cross-Strait relations 
need. ... 
 
"... Therefore, the major challenge following the meeting between 
Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman P. K. Chiang and 
China's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) 
Chairman Chen Yunlin is how to simplify every agreement that both 
sides reach and turn them into something operational, making the 
general public feel that they will directly benefit from such 
agreements.  Second, during the process of implementing [the 
agreements], circumstances should be avoided in which 
'countermeasures are taken during the process of policy 
implementation;' and, furthermore, the circumstances in which 
everyone does things his own way should also be avoided.  Last, in 
order to prevent cross-Strait relations from being interfered with 
by some accidents, both sides of the Taiwan Strait should establish 
a hotline mechanism to bring 'preventive diplomacy' and 'preventive 
defense' into full play, which will prevent both sides [of the 
Taiwan Strait] from miscalculating and causing misjudgment. ..." 
 
D) "Chiang-Chen Talks Must Be Steered to a Positive Development 
Direction" 
 
The centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 220,000] 
editorialized (11/3): 
 
"... In other words, in the next few days, we will likely see two 
sets of disjointed images clashing with each other:  one is 
occasions on which representatives from Taiwan's Straits Exchange 
Foundation and China's Association for Relations across the Taiwan 
Strait meet and talk, and the other is scenes in which pro-Green 
protesters demonstrate outside those meeting venues. ...  These two 
sets of images actually reflect the two kinds of group anxiety 
currently flowing in Taiwan:  One is the fear and anxiety that 
Taiwan will be isolated from the globe or East Asia, and the hope to 
plow a way out for Taiwan's sagging economy with alleviated 
cross-Strait tension.  The other is the anxiety that Taiwan will be 
annexed by China, the fear that, with rapid interaction and 
integration across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's destiny will fall 
into Beijing's hands.  These two kinds of group anxiety are the two 
parallel lines marking political confrontation between the Blue and 
the Green camps in Taiwan, which will be released in the next few 
days. 
 
"One can say that this is a highly difficult chess game, with the 
Blue camp hoping that the consensus reached on certain topics during 
the Chiang-Chen meetings can be constructed into a milestone, with 
which both sides can move further towards co-existence and 
co-prosperity, while the Green camp is trying its best to turn any 
consensus into evidence showing that the Ma Administration is 
'leaning toward Beijing.'  Either side that can grasp the true 
intent of the current mainstream public opinion in Taiwan will be 
the real winner in the Chiang-Chen talks." 
 
E) "Welcome to Chen Yunlin" 
 
The pro-unification, English-language "China Post" [circulation: 
30,000] editorialized (11/3): 
 
"Taiwan sincerely welcomes Chen Yunlin. ...  The ARATS chairman's 
brief visit here marks not just the renewal of the dtente but a new 
beginning of a rapprochement between the two sides of the strait, 
which is urgently needed while Taiwan is bracing itself for the 
silent tsunami triggered by the U.S. financial meltdown.  Without 
 
what is known as normalization of their economic relations, Taiwan 
can hardly hope to survive the global tidal wave that may engulf it 
in six months to a year.  The regular meetings of the chairman of 
the two organizations, which would follow the one in Taipei, will 
help make that normalization a reality. ..." 
 
F) "Chiang-Chen Meeting Will Not Be Able to Extinguish the Embers of 
Taiwan's Democracy and the Taiwan-Centric Consciousness" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 700,000] 
editorialized (11/3): 
 
"... As a matter of fact, no matter whether it is based on the ROC 
Constitution upheld by the Blue camp or the fact that Taiwan is 
already an independent country, the talks between [Taiwan's] Straits 
Exchange Foundation and [China's] Association for Relations across 
the Taiwan Strait are in essence talks between two countries.  They 
are neither ambiguous talks between the two sides of the Taiwan 
Strait, nor those between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party, 
which have gone beyond the authorities of each respective party. 
But under the arrangement of the Ma Administration, the Chiang-Chen 
talks seem to have become the KMT-CCP talks in disguise, or even 
worse, a ceremony in which Taiwan welcomes envoys from a superior 
nation to sign a treaty of surrender. ...  The Chiang-Chen meeting 
will be performed today.  For the Ma Administration, it will be a 
comedy, with unification being the theme of its story.  But for the 
majority of the Taiwan people, including the Blue camp, the meeting 
is, without a doubt, a tragedy that cannot be redeemed. ..." 
 
G) "The Beginning of Civil Disobedience" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 
30,000] editorialized (11/1): 
 
"... In this case, however, the DPP protest [last weekend] marked 
the beginning of the end of Ma's grace period as an engineer for 
cross-strait rapprochement. The tide has turned, and the nervousness 
of the Ma administration as it battles fiscal incompetence and 
ideological banality reflects this. ...  Consistent with the KMT's 
legislative agenda, the government and judicial officers are 
politicizing agencies to the point where their neutrality should be 
called into question. The protests that will follow Chen Yunlin, 
chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan 
Strait (ARATS), are threatening to tap dissatisfaction over these 
developments, and could result in a deterioration that Ma manifestly 
does not have the skill to handle.  In other words, courtesy of Ma's 
ineptitude, it seems inevitable that cross-strait detente was going 
to arrive hand in hand with civil unrest. ... 
 
"The irony of all this, of course, is that Ma was Washington's 
preferred candidate. Yet the US seemed oblivious that the KMT 
government was going to have to deal with concerted opposition to 
its policies - and in the same manner as the ancient regime. 
Representations have already been made to the US State Department 
about increasing abuse of speculative powers by local prosecutors 
and their disgraceful manipulation of the media. What kind of 
reception they will receive is hard to predict. On the one hand, the 
State Department boasts an admirable mechanism of global human 
rights analysis that culminates in an indispensable annual report. 
On the other, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been tarred by 
the Bush administration's attacks on fundamental judicial processes 
in the Guantanamo Bay debacle. 
 
"The likely scenario is that American Institute in Taiwan Director 
Stephen Young will have a few quiet words with President Ma or 
Premier Liu Chao-shuan after the ARATS visit is over.  By that time, 
it may be too late. There is evidence that politicized members of 
the community are girding for something more dramatic. If this turns 
out to be the case, the State Department and the AIT might refer to 
an American classic of political thought, Civil Disobedience - 
referred to on this page in yesterday's edition - before speaking 
out. There they might find insights into the entitlements of an 
unhappy citizenry in the face of a government that undermines civil 
liberties and the spirit of the law." 
 
H) "Beijing Must Change its Mindset" 
 
Tseng Chien-yuan, an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at 
Chung Hua University, opined in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] (11/3): 
 
"... Given the international disadvantage it faces, if Taiwan fails 
to make it clear to the world that the Republic of China (ROC) is a 
sovereign and independent nation based on law when Chen visits 
Taipei as China's official emissary, we will be basically giving in 
to Beijing and saying that China has sovereign rights over Taiwan. 
The Taiwan Strait would become a part of China's waters and the 
international community will not be able to intervene in any 
disputes that may occur in the Strait, which would place Taiwan in a 
 
dangerous position. ... 
 
"If China is really sincere about coexisting peacefully with Taiwan 
and does not wish to see any further spread of what they refer to as 
'Taiwanese separatism,' it must try to understand the anger 
Taiwanese have held toward China for so long. Beijing must also 
realize that Taiwan is a sovereign nation, equal to it in status, 
and it must also show due respect and courtesy to President Ma 
Ying-jeou as president of the ROC. ..." 
 
I) "Beijing Must Change its Mindset"' 
 
Tseng Chien-yuan, an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at 
Chung Hua University, opined in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 30,000] (11/3): 
 
"... Given the international disadvantage it faces, if Taiwan fails 
to make it clear to the world that the Republic of China (ROC) is a 
sovereign and independent nation based on law when Chen visits 
Taipei as China's official emissary, we will be basically giving in 
to Beijing and saying that China has sovereign rights over Taiwan. 
The Taiwan Strait would become a part of China's waters and the 
international community will not be able to intervene in any 
disputes that may occur in the Strait, which would place Taiwan in a 
dangerous position. ... 
 
"If China is really sincere about coexisting peacefully with Taiwan 
and does not wish to see any further spread of what they refer to as 
'Taiwanese separatism,' it must try to understand the anger 
Taiwanese have held toward China for so long.  Beijing must also 
realize that Taiwan is a sovereign nation, equal to it in status, 
and it must also show due respect and courtesy to President Ma 
Ying-jeou as president of the ROC. ..." 
 
YOUNG