VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0211/01 0560928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250928Z FEB 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0976
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8948
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0398

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000211 
 
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 
 
Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused February 
25 news coverage on former President Chen Shui-bian, who pleaded not 
guilty to corruption charges in a pretrial hearing Tuesday; on 
Taiwan's sagging economy and on the debate between the ruling and 
opposition parties over whether Taiwan should sign a Comprehensive 
Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with China.  In terms of 
editorials and commentaries, a column in the mass-circulation "Apple 
Daily" said it is still too early to rate Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton's recent trip to China as both sides are still at the stage 
of "testing the waters."  A column in the conservative, 
pro-unification, English-language "China Post" hailed Clinton's 
visit to China and said that "both countries appear to share a sense 
of global responsibility and are willing to work together on the two 
main challenges facing the world today: the continuing international 
financial crisis as well as climate change."  An editorial in the 
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," however, called 
Clinton's move to "de-link human rights from other U.S. concerns" an 
"unwise decision."  End summary. 
 
A) "Hillary Clinton's Maiden Visit -- Neither Big Talk nor Action" 
 
Apple Daily Publisher James Tu wrote in his column in the 
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] (2/25): 
 
"... U.S.-China relations are essential for both Washington and 
Beijing.  On the Chinese side, it goes without saying that [Chinese 
President] Hu Jintao will take the lead in such relations.  For the 
United States, however, unless the relationship was personally 
dominated by the president himself, such as [former Presidents] 
Richard Nixon, George Bush and George W. Bush, it would normally be 
handed over to the people that the president trusted most, such as 
Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor to [former] President 
Jimmy Carter Zbigniew Brzezinski, and National Security Advisor to 
[former] President Bill Clinton Sandy Berger.  Since Sino-U.S. 
relations are very complicated and have many ramifications, and they 
normally involve many agencies, one can hardly control [every 
aspect] without adequate authority.  Hillary Clinton is a rival that 
[U.S. President Barack] Obama had to elevate for sake of solidarity 
in the Democratic Party, and she is definitely not one of his 
trusted subordinates.  Obama has not had time yet to touch on the 
China issue, let alone control it.  Now is still too early to tell 
who will be Obama's trusted subordinates in the future, but in the 
end it will not be Hillary Clinton.  In that vein, now is too early 
to give a high rating to Clinton's visit to China.  China's Xinhua 
News Agency did not exaggerate it when it addressed Clinton's China 
visit as a 'journey to test the waters.'  Perhaps it will take a 
very long time for both Washington and Beijing to walk out of the 
stage of feeling their way [toward a new relationship]." 
 
B) "Clinton's China Trip Focuses on Positive" 
 
Columnist Frank Ching noted in the conservative, pro-unification, 
English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] (2/25): 
 
"Hillary Clinton's visit to China -- the most important leg of her 
trip to Asia, which included Japan, Indonesia and South Korea -- 
went off well, in part because the U.S. secretary of state had 
indicated publicly ahead of time that differences over human rights 
would not be allowed to inhibit progress on other matters. ... 
Clinton's pragmatic attitude enabled her not only to demonstrate the 
Obama administration's desire to work with China, it also enabled 
her to demonstrate the American commitment to human rights without 
poking China in the eye. ...  No doubt problems will arise in future 
but, for now, both countries appear to share a sense of global 
responsibility and are willing to work together on the two main 
challenges facing the world today: the continuing international 
financial crisis as well as climate change. ..." 
 
C) "Clinton's Unwise Choice to Appease China?" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation: 
20,000] editorialized (2/25): 
 
"The first diplomatic excursion by new United States Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton began with expectation and ended in 
discouragement for hopes that the new Democratic administration of 
President Barack Obama will fulfill its promise to renew American 
democratic leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. ...  Washington 
certainly needs China's cooperation on many issues, including 
regional security, energy and climate change and global economics 
and finance, but it should also be evident that the willingness of 
the PRC to cooperate with the U.S. is limited by the ingrained 
suspicion by the Chinese Communist Party regime that the U.S. and 
other democracies, including Taiwan, are threats to its expansionist 
ambitions and even its survival. ...  Unfortunately, Clinton may not 
realize that while Washington needs some cooperation from Beijing, 
the PRC is even more in need of "cooperation" from the United States 
since the dynamism of the Chinese economy is now largely reliant on 
foreign investment and access to markets in the United States, 
 
Europe and Japan for its merchandise exports. 
 
"Clinton's unwise decision to de-link human rights from other U.S. 
concerns and her failure to insist that Beijing abide by key 
universal principles in handling issues such as labor standards, 
environmental protection, human rights and Tibet and Taiwan will 
send a wrong message to both the world community and Asia. 
Unintended side-effects will include the discouragement of activism 
for democracy and human rights within China, the granting of Beijing 
an even freer hand to throw its military and diplomatic weight, 
especially in relation to Taiwan and Tibet, and, ironically, the 
erosion of Washington's leverage in bargaining with Beijing on 
economic issues.  After years during which the Bush administration 
sacrificed American democratic values, interests and credibility for 
the expediency of his obsessive war on Iraq, the community of 
nations in Asia, including Taiwan, need a new American leadership 
who will not hand over leadership in Asia to an authoritarian China. 
 Unfortunately, such leadership has yet to appear." 
 
WANG