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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGZ #0451/01 2110849
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300849Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0797
INFO RUEHGZ/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0212
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0613
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0142
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0152
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0141
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0203
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0155
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0199
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0195
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC 0039
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000451 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/TC, EAP/CM, INR/EAP, S/P 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV TW CH
SUBJECT: Taiwan Research Institute: Cross-Strait Understanding 
Improving, but Still Not Sufficient 
 
Ref: 08 Guangzhou 170 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: "Ignorance is our greatest enemy," said Professor 
Liu Guoshen of Xiamen University's Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) 
as he opened a recent meeting with visiting American scholars.  TRI 
academics used the opportunity to emphasize the value of direct 
exchanges between PRC and Taiwan officials and scholars.  They also 
offered what sounded like well-rehearsed critiques of Taiwan's 
democracy and tendency to focus political and military discussions 
on PRC-based short-range missiles and other "micro-level" issues. 
Chinese scholars said they expect cross-Strait economic and cultural 
ties to continue expanding despite a slower pace for political 
confidence building.  End Summary. 
 
Direct Exchange, Not Media Coverage, is Key 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Thirteen American scholars met with faculty from Xiamen 
University's Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) as part of the Public 
Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on U.S.-China 
Relations.  Professor Liu Guoshen led an unusually frank exchange of 
views that focused on the Mainland's continuing need for direct 
communication with Taiwan in order to increase mutual understanding 
and resolve differences.  Several TRI academics cited their recent 
visit to Taiwan and unprecedented expansion of contact with 
representatives of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as 
important indicators that person-to-person contacts are growing 
positively. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Political Science Assistant Professor Li Peng said that 
only reading media reports and academic works can easily lead 
officials and academics on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to 
misunderstandings.  Li complained that journalists from the 
Mainland's popular Global Times Newspaper (Huanqiu Shibao) 
frequently request interviews with him and other researchers, but 
they often publish out-of-context quotations that mislead readers 
"in order to sell more papers."  Li expressed his belief that media 
outlets in Taiwan also engage in similar behavior, which he said 
necessitates increased direct exchanges. 
 
Taiwan's Democracy Perceived as Corrupt 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Professor Liu declared that Chinese academics have studied 
the implementations of democracy in the United States and Taiwan and 
they see many negative aspects.  Liu claimed, and other TRI scholars 
reiterated, that the greatest weakness in Taiwan's democratic system 
is "vote buying" and other "irregularities," including the 2004 
election-related shooting of former President Chen Shui-bian. 
Without acknowledging the irony in his statements, Professor Liu 
said the amount of money required for someone in Taiwan to become 
mayor of a town or to run for the Legislative Yuan is akin to 
"buying" the position, which the scholars said demonstrates why 
democratic elections are not "a good fit" for Taiwan or China. 
Responding to follow-up questions, Assistant Professor Zhang 
Wensheng added that mainland scholars and officials also see 
Taiwan's "mafia" and "criminal economic schemes" -- such as phone 
and internet scams -- as social threats that will need to be 
addressed as closer ties develop. 
 
China's Missiles and the PLA's Diverse Voices 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Responding to questions about the PLA role in China's 
cross-Strait policy, Assistant Professor Li Peng acknowledged that 
the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and China's foreign affairs 
agencies sometimes appear to support differing policy views.  Li 
cited Senior Colonel Wang Weixin of the PLA Academy of Military 
Science as one prominent PLA voice on cross-Strait issues, but 
cautioned that Colonel Wang is only one of many voices that the 
Central Government considers when making policy decisions. 
Professor Li also suggested that PLA views may appear more strident 
to outsiders because their job is to plan and prepare for worst-case 
scenarios; China-U.S. military-to-military relations are 
underdeveloped; and different PLA units view cross-Strait issues 
based on their specific roles and background. 
 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000451  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) On the question of mainland missiles aimed at Taiwan, 
Political Science Professor Chen Xiancai asserted that improved 
technology has reduced the emphasis on short-range missiles because 
longer-range inland-based missiles are now capable of similar 
missions.  Assistant Professor Li said there had been a lot of 
discussion and exchange on the missile question and other military 
issues, but the two sides fundamentally see the missile issue 
differently.  Taiwan makes the Fujian-based missiles into a major 
issue, while PRC academics believe problems related to Taiwan's 
"sense of security" (anquan gan) are more about broad politics than 
micro-level military unit issues, according to Li. 
 
Economic and Cultural Ties Flourishing 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Taiwan's expanded cross-strait engagement has mostly 
focused on economic incentives, according to Professor Zhang 
Wensheng.  If direct investment opportunities continued to expand 
for PRC entities, Zhang said the benefits of closer ties would be 
even more obvious to the people of Taiwan.  Cultural ties have also 
increased as cross-strait marriages exceeded 260,000 this year. 
Allowing more PRC students to earn university and graduate degrees 
in Taiwan would also help draw the two sides closer together, said 
Zhang.  However, Professor Li concluded that building political 
trust across the Taiwan Strait would continue to be a slow process 
and would depend most importantly on increased engagement. 
 
GOLDBECK