VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0196/01 0510741
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200741Z FEB 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0952
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8937
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0387

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000196 
 
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: SECRETARY CLINTON'S ASIA TRIP 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused 
February 20 news coverage on Taiwan's sagging economy, on the 
on-going investigation into the corruption case against former 
President Chen Shui-bian and his family, on the possibility of 
signing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) 
between Taiwan and China, and on the results of the recently-held 
college entrance exam island-wide.  Nearly all major 
Chinese-language papers reported on a "New York Times" story 
Wednesday, which quoted U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Timothy 
Keating as saying in Hong Kong that he is willing to invite military 
officials of China and Taiwan to the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii 
to have talks. 
 
¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the 
pro-independence "Liberty Times" discussed Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton's recent remarks on the cross-Strait situation and 
said that "the 'peace in the Taiwan Strait' welcomed by the United 
States is by no means the 'peaceful unification' claimed by China, 
nor is it the 'false appearance of peace' that President Ma intends 
to trade at the expense of [Taiwan] losing its economic independence 
and political autonomy."  An op-ed piece in the pro-independence, 
English-language "Taipei Times" written by an American commentator 
discussed Clinton's Asia trip and said,  "her decision to make her 
first overseas trip to Asia, particularly China, was a smart one 
and, if done with aplomb, could yield enormous returns for the 
administration of US President Barack Obama as it attempts to 
re-establish world leadership."  End summary. 
 
A) "We Want Peace, not 'Peaceful Unification' That Deprives 
[Ourselves of Our] Sovereignty" 
 
The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 700,000] 
editorialized (2/20): 
 
"Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu is currently on a visit in the United 
States at the invitation of the State Department.  Chen said in 
Washington D.C. that U.S. officials noted positively the warming 
[relations] across the Taiwan Strait.  The United States does not 
want to be forcibly dragged into conflicts between the two sides of 
the Taiwan Strait and is pleased to see alleviated tensions in the 
Taiwan Strait, [Chen added,] but Washington also attaches importance 
to the opinions of Taiwan's opposition parties. ... 
 
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently on a 
visit in Asia, pointed out that the United States supports and 
encourages mitigated tensions in the Taiwan Strait.  Yet Clinton 
also unequivocally emphasized that articles in the Taiwan Relations 
Act clearly demand that the United States provide support for 
Taiwan's defense.  This indicates that the 'peace in the Taiwan 
Strait' welcomed by the United States is by no means the 'peaceful 
unification' claimed by China, nor is it the 'false appearance of 
peace' that President Ma intends to trade at the expense of [Taiwan] 
losing its economic independence and political autonomy.  Rather, 
the message released by the United States is closer to what Mayor 
Chen meant when she said the price for alleviated tensions in the 
Taiwan Strait can never be the loss of Taiwan's sovereignty or a 
retrogression of Taiwan's human rights. ..." 
 
B) "Clinton Can Usher in Real Change" 
 
Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society's Center on US-China 
Relations, opined in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei 
Times" [circulation: 30,000] (2/20): 
 
"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off to China. Her decision 
to make her first overseas trip to Asia, particularly China, was a 
smart one and, if done with aplomb, could yield enormous returns for 
the administration of US President Barack Obama as it attempts to 
reestablish world leadership.  That Clinton chose to go to Asia 
now, when the US State Department remains unsettled - with no 
ambassador in Beijing, many old officials having departed or 
leaving, and many new appointees still unseated - attests to her 
determination to stake out Asia as her own area.  What she brings to 
this task is openness and an eagerness to construct a new 
architecture for Sino-US relations. But, even as a host of other 
issues come into play, strengthening this most important of 
bilateral relationships requires a new, underlying common interest. 
Paradoxically, the challenge of climate change is a good place to 
look. ... 
 
"As they contemplate this turning point, China's leaders should be 
aware of how malleable US foreign policy currently is. Although they 
are accustomed to experiencing the US as a dominant, often censuring 
'great power,' the reality now is that the US is beginning not only 
a new presidential administration, but a whole chapter in its 
history. ...  It is not that former US president George W. Bush's 
administration left Sino-US relations in such bad repair, but that 
the possibilities for a substantial change for the better have never 
been greater. Clinton's openness to new approaches and her early 
 
trip to Beijing provides an incomparable opportunity for Chinese 
leaders to help make the fight against global climate change - which 
is perhaps the most important challenge to confront the world in our 
time - a common odyssey." 
 
WANG