VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1117/01 2580946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150946Z SEP 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2314
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9386
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0813

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001117 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD - THOMAS HAMM 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: NORTH KOREA, U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused 
September 15 news coverage on the captain of a Taiwan navy submarine 
being swept overboard during a mission; on the confrontation between 
Taiwan and Japan vessels over a Taiwan fishing boat's alleged 
intrusion into Japanese waters; on the H1N1 epidemic in Taiwan; and 
on Premier Wu Den-yih's meeting with Hong Kong politician Leung 
Chun-ying during Wu's trip to Hong Kong before Wu assumed the 
premiership. 
 
¶2.  In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the 
KMT-leaning "China Times" commented on the United States' recent 
decision to hold bilateral talks with North Korea.  The column 
interpreted the development, saying that it was an indication that 
the United States has yielded to North Korea.  The development has 
also made South Korea uneasy, the column said.  Regarding relations 
between China and the United States, another commentary in the 
"China Times" said the idea that China and the United States form a 
"G2" is unlikely, because neither the United States nor China is 
willing or interested in pushing forward such an idea to make it 
come true.  End summary. 
 
¶3. "North Korea" 
 
"The United States Holds Talks with North Korea, South Korea Does 
Not Relish [the idea]" 
 
The "International Lookout" column in the KMT-leaning "China Times" 
[circulation: 120,000] wrote (9/15): 
 
"United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs 
Philip Crowley said that the United States will have contact with 
North Korea and persuade North Korea to return to the six-party 
talks; even the possibility of United States Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton meeting with North Korean diplomats at the United 
Nations is not ruled out. 
 
"What matters is that he [Crowley] said, 'any talks that we have 
with North Korea will be held within the six-party context.'  Such 
phrasing is different from that in the past.  In the past, the 
United States' said that [the bilateral talks] would be held within 
the six-party 'framework.'  Now, they [the bilateral talks] will be 
held within the six-party 'context.'  If [the bilateral talks] are 
held within the [six-party] framework, the two parties [the United 
States and North Korea] must follow the rules set during the 
six-party talks and inform other parties what occurred during the 
[bilateral] talks.  However, [if the bilateral talks] are held 
within the [six-party] context, the two parties can make decisions 
on their own and it is not a necessity that other countries be 
informed. 
 
"These circumstances reveal two things.  First, the level of contact 
by the two countries has risen to the level of ministers of foreign 
affairs.  Second, as long as the label of six-party talks is not 
withheld from them, [the two countries] can hold talks at their own 
desire. 
 
"If one says that this is not a concession by the United States [to 
North Korea], no one will believe it.  However, why was the Obama 
administration eager to make concessions?  The answer is clear 
judging from common sense, which is that time is on North Korea's 
side.  The longer the procrastination, the more powerful North 
Korea's nuclear capability becomes and the fewer bargaining chips 
the United States has.  Now, to take advantage of North Korea's show 
of goodwill, Washington needs to make progress.  Moreover, domestic 
support in the United States for Obama's foreign policy still 
exists.  In the future, if such support decreases in tandem with the 
decline of [President Barack Obama's] reputation, it will be more 
difficult to hold [bilateral] negotiations. 
 
"South Korean's conservative newspaper 'JoongAng Daily' pointed out 
that even if bilateral talks [between the United States and North 
Korea] are held, such talks would just be an old-style, boring 
[fight] between defense and attack with no promising prospects. 
Such a tone fully shows that South Korea deeply fears that the 
United States would make progress with North Korea and abandon South 
Korea.  Why does [South Korea] assert that North Korea would still 
perform 'in the old way?'  Why does [South Korea] assert that such 
[bilateral] talks would be boring?  North Korea has recently shown 
consistent goodwill to the United States with clear measures very 
different from those in the past.  What's more, would the United 
States Secretary of State be willing to go into battle only to do 
boring things?" 
 
¶4. "U.S.-China Relations" 
 
"G2, An Expectation Difficult to Realize and an Unnecessary Source 
of Worry" 
 
Jia Qingguo, the Associate Dean of the School of International 
Studies (SIS) at Peking University, wrote in the KMT-leaning "China 
Times" [circulation: 120,000] (9/15): 
 
"... If one carefully analyzes the possibility of China and the 
United States forming a G2 in the foreseeable future, one can easily 
see that there is no need either to expect or worry about a G2. 
Under the current circumstances, the possibility of a G2 forming in 
the foreseeable future is remote.  Neither China nor the United 
States have the willingness or the prerequisites to advance a 
so-called G2. 
 
"First, the United States does not have the willingness to advance a 
G2.  Fundamentally speaking, deep down in their hearts, most 
Americans do not regard China as a partner which has common goals 
and is able to cooperate with [the United States] in the long run. 
Some Americans look at China as a competitor.  They believe that the 
relationship between China and the United States is a relationship 
between a hegemonic country and a rising country. .... There are 
more Americans who regard China as a country which holds different 
values [from that of the United States].  They do not believe that 
China and the United States can work together...without common 
values....The United States once had debates about whether to invite 
China to join the G8.  Most people believed then that it should not 
happen because China is not a so-called democratic country. ... 
 
"China does not have the willingness to advance a G2 either. 
Fundamentally speaking, deep down in their hearts, most Chinese 
people not only do not believe that China has risen, but also do not 
believe that China is able to lead in global issues and take 
international responsibility in a broad sense....Some Chinese people 
regard the United States as a threat to China's peaceful development 
and believe that it is impossible for the United States, as a 
hegemonic country, to do nothing and merely sit by and watch China's 
rise. 
 
"To most Chinese people, China is still a developing country.  China 
still faces many challenges during the process of domestic reform 
and development.  Before these issues and challenges are properly 
managed and solved, it is neither possible for China to -- nor 
should China -- excessively care about international issues, 
especially in terms of taking on too many international 
responsibilities. ..." 
 
STANTON