VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0829/01 1890830
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080830Z JUL 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1918
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9281
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0714

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000829 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-JAPAN-TAIWAN RELATIONS, XINJIANG 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news 
coverage July 8 on a Tuesday Taipei County report saying that traces 
of arsenic were found in the frying oil of two of the county's 
McDonald's branches and one Domino's Pizza branch; on the escalating 
riots in China's Xinjiang region; and on the Ma Ying-jeou 
administration's efforts to fight corruption.  In terms of 
editorials and commentaries, an editorial in the pro-unification 
"United Daily News" discussed Japan's planned troop deployment at 
Yonaguni Island.  The article said both the United States and Japan 
need to adjust their cross-Strait policies so as to cope with the 
new developments going on in the Taiwan Strait.  With regard to the 
riots in Xinjiang, a column in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" 
and an editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei 
Times" both criticized the Ma administration for making no response 
as of now to the developments in Xinjiang.  End summary. 
 
¶2. U.S.-Japan-Taiwan Relations 
 
A) "Let's Talk Starting from Japan's Plan to Station Military at 
Yonaguni Island" 
 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000] 
editorialized (7/8): 
 
"Japan's Defense Ministry confirmed that it will likely station 
military on Yonaguni Island, which is located in the areas off 
[Taiwan's] Yilan [County].  The move reminded the world to pay 
attention to how Japan will cope with the new cross-Strait situation 
in the wake of Taiwan's second power transition in 2008.  It also 
reminded people that the United States is also facing the same 
situation. ...  There are two major characteristics when it comes to 
the cross-Strait relations since [mid] 2008:  First, [the 
possibility for] military confrontation has dropped. ...  Second, 
economic interaction is on the rise. 
 
"Such a development has not only influenced Taiwan and mainland 
China, each on one side of the Taiwan Strait, but has also had an 
impact on the United States' and Japan's relations with both sides 
of the Taiwan Strait.  First, the reduced [possibility] of military 
confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is akin to 
meaning that the United States and Japan have lost their political 
leverage when they seek to interfere with cross-Strait matters.  The 
previous strategic thinking that 'emergencies in areas surrounding 
Japan' also include 'emergencies in the Taiwan [Strait]' will likely 
become an unfounded statement.  Second, as a result of the warming 
economic interaction in the Taiwan Strait, the major risk that 
Taiwan is facing is no longer [the possibility that] it will be 
annexed by Beijing by force, but that Taiwan will lose its economic 
independence under the strong economic impact of mainland China. 
Both the United States and Japan will thus have to adjust their 
future cross-Strait policies in order to cope with such a new 
development. ... 
 
"As a matter of fact, the biggest possible common ground that will 
be shared by the four sides -- Taipei, Beijing, Washington and Tokyo 
-- is the following two concepts:  'peace' and 'economics.'  It will 
meet the fundamental interests of all sides if Taiwan will be able 
to retain its democracy with a certain level of economic 
independence, and surely such a development will serve Beijing's 
interests.  Both the United States and Japan should consider 
advancing Taiwan's role in economics and trade by means such as 
signing a free trade agreement with Taiwan.  Beijing should welcome 
such a practice so as to make Taiwan's democracy more willing to 
accept a more constructive and dignified cross-Strait relationship. 
..." 
 
¶3. Xinjiang 
 
A) "Under the Gun Barrels of China ..." 
 
The "Free Talks" column in the pro-independence "Liberty Times" 
[circulation: 700,000] wrote (7/8): 
 
"... Taiwan people must wake up immediately; if Taiwan fails to 
secure its sovereignty and is annexed by China, the tragic episodes 
happening in Tibet and Xinjiang today will be the ending Taiwan will 
face tomorrow.  Will Ma Ying-jeou continue to praise China's 
progress in human rights and act as an accomplice to the Chinese 
regime's suppression of its people?" 
 
B) "Xinjiang and Taiwan's Silence" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 
30,000] editorialized (7/8): 
 
"The Chinese government has its admirers for being able to temper 
diplomatic difficulties by spreading money through the region and 
integrating its economic structure with the US and other major 
economies.  But when it comes to managing regions dominated -- now 
or in the past -- in population terms by non-Han peoples, China 
remains in a political Stone Age in which brutality, torture, 
terror, unchallenged propaganda, racism, colonialism and media 
blackouts are essential tools of governance.  China's 'peaceful 
rise' slogan is usually taken to refer to Beijing's relations with 
the Asian region and the rest of the world. The term has had little 
currency when it comes to domestic developments and conflicts. ... 
 
"Beijing's decades-long exploitation of Xinjiang's people and their 
natural resources cannot continue indefinitely without escalating 
conflict. Yet the problem has been worsened -- not only by 
irresponsible levels of Han immigration but also Beijing's inability 
to allow democratic reforms that would empower and legitimize the 
role of Uighurs outside the party-state nexus.  The consequence of 
this is a problem that has plagued Muslim societies the world over: 
When autocrats lock up and smear moderate opponents with terms like 
'splittists' and 'terrorists,' the only space left is for radicals 
and genuine terrorists.  In this way, Beijing helps to bestow upon 
its citizenry a self-fulfilling prophecy of a militant insurgency 
nightmare and possible future links with Islamic terrorists to the 
west.  It is a diabolically stupid situation, and almost all of it 
is Beijing's making. 
 
"The response of President Ma Ying-jeou's administration to 
developments in Xinjiang has been immensely disappointing. Ma's 
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) continues to state that Xinjiang is 
Chinese territory, but this does not demand that the party or the 
government hide in the wings as the Chinese Communist Party runs 
roughshod over the Uighurs.  It would be wrong to infer from their 
silence that Taiwan's government and the KMT are complicit in the 
violence in Xinjiang. But by saying nothing as atrocities 
accelerate, both are suggesting that the fate of the Uighurs -- whom 
they profess to be compatriots -- is of no consequence, and 
certainly not worth damaging the progress of an economic accord with 
Beijing. ...  Despicable acts are made more unbearable by the 
silence of those who seek benefits from oppressors. From now on, the 
Taiwanese government's response will have to be strong and clear if 
it is to make up for its extraordinary cynicism and its denial of 
the human rights and dignity of China's Uighur minority." 
 
WANG