VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #0897/01 2080938
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270938Z JUL 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1997
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9297
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0730

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 000897 
 
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: NORTH KOREA, U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news 
coverage July 25-27 on the 2009 World Games, which closed 
successfully in Kaohsiung on Sunday; on President Ma Ying-jeou's 
election as KMT Chairman Sunday; and on the developments in 
cross-Strait relations.  In terms of editorials and commentaries, a 
column in the KMT-leaning "China Times" discussed North Korea and 
said the "normalization of relations" between Washington and 
Pyongyang means nothing but political jargon when the two share no 
mutual trust at all.  With regard to U.S.-China-Taiwan relations, an 
editorial in the pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" 
welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's nomination of Republican Utah 
Governor Jon Huntsman as the next U.S. ambassador to China.  The 
editorial expressed hopes that that Huntsman, who said he is 
"personally invested in the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait 
relations," will be prepared to "make a candid assessment on 
cross-Strait pacts between the Communists and the KMT government 
that are potentially injurious" to Taiwan.  End summary. 
 
¶2. North Korea 
 
"'Normalization of Relations' between the United States and North 
Korea Is Merely Political Jargon" 
 
"The [recent annual] meeting of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers 
originally had no intention to discuss the nuclear issue on the 
Korean Peninsula, because the peninsula is not in the Southeast 
Asian region and the ASEAN nations can do nothing about it.  But 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked animatedly about the 
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue [during the ASEAN annual meeting], 
which even triggered mutual verbal abuse between her and Pyongyang. 
The so-called [proposed] 'comprehensive package' has become useless 
before it was fully exposed. ... 
 
"The United States regards 'normalization of relations' as a kind of 
reward, or a kind of charity.  If Pyongyang were able to destroy 
totally its existing nuclear missiles and facilities and promise 
that it would no longer develop such weapons, Washington would then 
establish diplomatic ties with it.  But it will be a separate issue 
as to how the relations [between the two nations] are faring after 
they have diplomatic ties.  Just take a look at the fact that the 
United States had already removed Pyongyang from its blacklist of 
'state sponsors of terrorism,' but then Congress suggested that 
Pyongyang be included in the list again.  Isn't it possible that 
[the two countries] can sever their relations after they have 
established formal diplomatic ties?  Pyongyang will not be so stupid 
as to be fooled [by Washington]. 
 
"Pyongyang, [on the other hand,] views normalization of its 
relations [with Washington] as a beginning to resolve their 
bilateral disputes.  Once the United States and North Korea 
establish formal diplomatic ties, they can resolve the nuclear issue 
via bilateral talks, bypassing the 'Six Party talks.'  Pyongyang 
will then determine its next step depending on the domestic 
political climate of the United States.  In that vein, once both 
sides fail to reach any agreement and sever diplomatic ties, 
Pyongyang will have nothing to lose.  But Washington [is too smart] 
to swallow the bait, either.  As a result, given the circumstances 
when there is no mutual trust between the two countries, 
'normalization of relations' truly has little value other than being 
merely political jargon." 
 
¶3. U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations 
 
"A Likely Envoy with a Clear Message" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation: 
30,000] editorialized (7/25): 
 
"The likely appointment of Republican Utah Governor Jon Huntsman as 
the next US ambassador to China is an intriguing development, and 
certainly welcome as far as Taiwan is concerned.  "Amid increasingly 
aggressive comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 
Pyongyang's brinkmanship, Huntsman's emergence as the probable next 
envoy to China sends another signal that the US is beginning to 
reassert itself and make up for a period of Asia policy neglect that 
emboldened not only North Korea and Myanmar but also Chinese 
militarism. ... 
 
"For people in Taiwan who support a democratic state anchored in 
principles of self-determination, the importance of the issue should 
not be overstated.  It is up to the pro-independence side of 
politics to continue communicating with the Americans through the 
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and through channels in the US. 
This is especially important now that AIT Director Stephen Young is 
ending his term.  It is essential that his replacement receive a 
more professional and cordial reception than awaited Douglas Paal, 
whose poor relationship with the then-Democratic Progressive Party 
government represented a modern-day nadir in Taiwan-US relations. 
 
"The pro-China administration of President Ma Ying-jeou, however, 
may feel a little uneasy at the thought of Huntsman, a former 
Taiwan-based Mormon evangelist, being 'personally invested in the 
peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences, in a way that 
respects the wishes of the people on both Taiwan and the mainland,' 
as he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday. 
Huntsman will be all too aware of the Chinese Nationalist Party's 
(KMT) grim past, and his background as a politician and his personal 
characteristics point to a straight shooter, a man willing to live 
up to his promise of delivering a 'hard-headed realist' approach to 
US-China ties.  It is to be hoped that, notwithstanding the 
inevitable softening of language that comes with diplomatic 
postings, Huntsman will be prepared to make a candid assessment on 
cross-strait pacts between the Communists and the KMT government 
that are potentially injurious to Taiwanese." 
 
WANG