VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1400/01 3290923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250923Z NOV 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2813
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9540
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0937

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001400 
 
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: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ASIA TRIP, 
U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news 
coverage November 25 on AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt's visit in 
Taiwan; on Premier Wu Den-yih's interview with several major Taiwan 
papers; and on the year-end city mayors' and county magistrates' 
elections around the island.  The pro-independence "Liberty Times" 
ran a banner headline on page two, reading "Burghardt: [When 
Speaking of] Respect for China's Sovereignty and Territorial 
Integrity, the United States is Referring to Tibet and Xinjiang." 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" ran a banner headline on 
page ten, reading "Taiwan-U.S. TIFA [Talks]; Burghardt: Will Be Held 
Next Month."  The KMT-leaning "China Times" also ran a banner 
headline on page five, reading "[AIT Director] William Stanton: 
TIFA Talks to Be Resumed in Taipei Early Next Year." 
 
¶2.  In terms of editorials and commentaries, a column in the 
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" discussed U.S. President Barack 
Obama's recent trip to Asia, saying Obama's yielding and catering to 
China will definitely be a warning signal for Asian countries.  A 
"Liberty Times" analysis discussed AIT Chairman Burghardt's meeting 
with President Ma Ying-jeou and lambasted Ma for having acted too 
submissively to the United States.  An "Apple Daily" editorial said 
Ma has failed to seize the opportunity to strongly protest to 
Burghardt, so that the latter would feel the pressure and convey 
Taiwan's messages to Washington.  A separate "Apple Daily" column 
refuted Burghardt's remarks on U.S. beef in Taiwan and said when it 
comes to the interests of the Taiwan people, it is definitely a 
"real issue."  An editorial and a column in the conservative, 
pro-unification, English-language "China Post" both welcomed the 
"partnership" between the United States and China, saying that what 
Obama did was just "acknowledging a 21st century reality."  End 
summary. 
 
¶3. President Obama's Asia Trip 
 
"The Empire Is Digging Its Own Grave While Small Countries Are 
Putting on a False Show of Peace" 
 
James Tu, the publisher of "Apple Daily," wrote in his column in the 
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 540,000]: 
 
"[President] Obama's maiden tour to Asia has failed to achieve the 
results he had anticipated.  His tight eight-day schedule did not 
bring ease or peace but rather doubts to Asian nations.  Didn't 
[Singapore's] Lee Kuan Yew say that Asian nations need the United 
States to counterbalance an increasingly powerful China?  But when 
in China, Obama was accommodating and flattered Beijing the whole 
time, to an extent that he had almost lost the dignity expected of 
the leader of a hegemonic power. ... 
 
"Obama may be a new hand in terms of diplomacy, but his team in 
charge of national security and foreign relations is composed of 
elites specializing in Asian affairs.  Now that the itinerary that 
these elites have carefully arranged has, unexpectedly, resulted in 
making the United States and its president lose face, one cannot but 
call it a major setback.  But on top of the many apparent concession 
s [the United States has made to China], Obama's yielding and 
catering to China is definitely a warning signal for Asian 
countries. ... 
 
"The visit by India's Prime Minister to the United States this time 
provided a good opportunity to test the United States' strategic 
intent for Asia.  If Washington fails to adjust its [Asian] policy 
in a timely way, its leadership [in the region] will certainly 
decline, and the power structure in Asia will thereby face a 
restructuring.  Some countries will feel compelled to kowtow to 
China, while others will naturally try to seek a way out or to form 
an alliance to resist China.  Such a development will surely 
generate irreparable damage to the stability in Asia and to the 
United States' prestige. ..." 
 
¶4. U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations 
 
A) "Ma-Burghardt Meeting -- Scolding People on the Main Streets 
while Apologizing to Them in the Alleys?" 
 
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Tsou Jiing-wen noted in an analysis in the 
pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 680,000] (11/25): 
 
"[President] Ma Ying-jeou received [AIT Chairman] Raymond Burghardt 
Tuesday, who offered some explanations with regard to the content of 
the joint statement inked during [President] Obama's trip to China. 
The Presidential Office, in return, issued a press release about the 
call of this [U.S.] envoy.  In contrast to the open remarks made 
during the press conference jointly held by Obama and [Chinese 
President] Hu Jintao and the written joint statement, the United 
States' way of handling [Taiwan] was no different than 'scolding 
people on the main streets while making apologies in the alleys.' 
What's more humiliating was that Ma, as the representative of our 
U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
country, went so far as to praise [his meeting with Burghardt] by 
calling it 'the smoothest one in many years in which Taiwan was able 
to get the most extensive information [about Obama's trip to 
China].' [Ma's] showing great forbearance in putting up with such an 
insult was extremely inappropriate. ... 
 
"It has almost become a routine that [Washington] will send someone 
to Taiwan just to placate the island after a U.S. president has 
visited China and made some remarks.  What is at stake is the 
attitude Taiwan uses in expressing its position [to Washington]. 
When compared with his predecessors, no one has been as servile as 
Ma, who sees China as his close relative and the United States as 
his adoptive father, as if it would kill him if he has to act 
neither arrogantly nor submissively.  At the end of the Ma-Burghardt 
meeting, the U.S. envoy gave no certain answers to any of the wishes 
that Taiwan desires -- a development indicating that [Burghardt] 
only has limited authority.  But when it comes to U.S. beef issue, 
[Burghardt] gave very clear and precise orders of 'not to touch the 
[U.S.-Taiwan] protocol'.  One cannot help but wonder what the real 
purpose of Burghardt's visit this time is. ... 
 
"If [Taiwan] wants the United States to do something to make up for 
the harm it did in creating imbalance [across the Taiwan Strait], it 
cannot just settle for having a small chat with Burghardt in the 
Presidential Office.  The U.S. government must find an opportunity 
to state its position openly to the international community.  Why 
couldn't the statement that 'the United States has never taken a 
position on Taiwan's political status' have been announced in 
Washington?  As for the [U.S.] 'commitment to help maintain Taiwan's 
self-defense capabilities,' why not carry it out by quickly 
approving the sale of F16 C/D fighter jets [to Taiwan]?  What Taiwan 
people want is something substantive for Taiwan, and not just 
granting or saving face for politicians.  Ma is extremely disgraced 
by expressing 'sincere gratitude' to Burghardt!" 
 
B) "Ma Ying-jeou Is Not as Good as Tsai Ying-wen" 
 
The mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 540,000] 
editorialized (11/25): 
 
"Obama's Asia trip has exposed his weakness and that of his foreign 
relations team; [his trip] has not only aroused grave concerns from 
Taiwan but has also annoyed India.  Except for China, which has 
reaped a bumper harvest, all the other countries throughout East 
Asia and Southeast Asia were very confused. ...  AIT Chairman 
Raymond Burghardt arrived in Taiwan Sunday to brief Taiwan on the 
Obama-Hu meeting, saying things such as 'the United States has not 
abandoned the 'Taiwan Relations Act' (TRA) and that its Taiwan 
policy remains intact.  This is a routine procedure of the U.S. 
State Department.  The Taiwan government should seize this 
opportunity to protest strongly to Burghardt in a righteous and 
stern manner; it would be reasonable even if it had to behave in an 
exaggerated way, because only by doing so can Burghardt feel the 
pressure and thereby seriously convey [Taiwan's] messages to Obama 
and his team. 
 
"What was disappointing is that President Ma did not seem to have 
noticed the harm the Obama-Hu 'joint statement' has done to Taiwan; 
neither has he noticed the clever wording of linking Taiwan 
implicitly with the pledge in the statement to 'respect China's 
sovereignty and territorial integrity,' which will weaken the power 
of the United States' protection of Taiwan under the TRA in the 
future. ... 
 
"Burghardt called [the controversy over the import of U.S. beef] a 
phony issue in Taiwan.  Former Peoples' Liberation Army 
Lieutenant-General Li Jijun also said during a [recent] meeting in 
Taiwan that the [Chinese] missiles targeting Taiwan are a 'phony 
issue.'  How can it be a phony issue when we are asked to eat toxic 
U.S. beef?  [Should the answer be yes], then is anti-terrorism a 
phony issue as well?  Are the missiles targeting Taiwan a phony 
issue?  Then independence for Tibet and Xinjiang is also a phony 
issue.  If Ma fails to stand up firm, anyone can say that the safety 
and security of the Taiwan people is a phony issue.  If so, the 
president will be a phony president as well." 
 
C) "A Real [Issue] Indeed" 
 
The "Spicy Apple" column in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" 
[circulation: 540,000] wrote (11/25): 
 
"AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt came to Taiwan to brief the island 
on [U.S. President] Obama's China visit.  He believes that the 
controversy in Taiwan over the U.S. beef is a 'phony issue' and a 
political issue 'because the elections are looming.'  These remarks 
do not sound right, nor are they the appropriate rhetoric one would 
expect of a diplomat, because when it comes to the interests of the 
Taiwan people, their health is definitely a real issue.  Burghardt 
U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
cited examples of the Americans, saying that they all let their 
children and grandchildren eat U.S. beef.  'No one is concerned, and 
there is no controversy in the United States.'  As a matter of fact, 
the Taiwan people are not against U.S. beef, but the beef offal and 
ground beef that have high risks to one's health.  This is 
definitely a real issue. ..." 
 
D) "Some Perspective Needed for U.S. on Fears about China" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language "China Post" 
[circulation: 30,000] editorialized (11/25): 
 
"... For starters, the perceived new tone adopted by President Obama 
is the wiser diplomatic approach for America to take with all its 
allies as well as trading partners.  Walking softly while keeping a 
big stick available -- but carefully out of sight -- is the only way 
America can continue being a major influence in the world, despite 
the waning of some of its power.  Secondly, those who worry about 
America's debt to China are right to be concerned, but the situation 
does not portend a seismic shift just yet.  Bear in mind that China 
is not even America's largest lender.  That would be Japan, which 
has loaned the U.S. almost US$590 billion.  The fact that China 
provides so much credit to the U.S. means the People's Republic has 
a vested interest in maintaining stability.  Pulling the rug out 
from America might satisfy some rabid Chinese nationalists but would 
be detrimental to the majority of Chinese.  China's leaders are not 
from the Kim Jong-il School of Economics.  China's savvy leadership 
understands the uniquely symbolic relationship between U.S. 
consumers and Chinese producers.  When U.S. presidents and 
politicians tell their people that China is not a strategic threat 
to America, some of their citizens chalk the sentiment up to global 
niceties.  When their leaders say that China is America's partner, 
some Americans roll their eyes in disbelief.  To these Americans, 
China is simply a competitor -- a massively powerful competitor that 
doesn't necessarily follow the rules of the game. ... 
 
"... To be sure, the PRC is a major world player.  We all know the 
superlatives:  largest population, biggest army and so on.  But 
china is unlikely to genuinely surpass America anytime soon. ... 
China's millions of poor will require decades of slow progress 
before China can truly emerge as a real international player. 
China's delicate dance of trade relations with the U.S. and the 
world is its ticket to a brighter future.  By the same token, 
America's best chance of maintaining its dominance is by working 
with China.  America and China must act as two pistons of the same 
engine that drives the global economy forward.  When President Obama 
says China and America are partners, he isn't engaging in political 
new-speak, he's just acknowledging a 21st century reality." 
 
E) "Shift in Power after Obama Visit" 
 
Columnist Frank Ching noted in the conservative, pro-unification, 
English-language "China Post" [circulation: 30,000] (11/25): 
 
"Observers analyzing the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to 
China, not surprisingly, looked for signs of a shift in the world 
balance of power -- and they found them. ...  Of course, the shift 
in the balance of power does not mean that china is going to replace 
the United States as a global hegemon.  It does mean, however, that 
China will play a much bigger role in world affairs. ... 
 
"So what we have now is a framework for a bilateral relationship in 
which each sees the other as a partner.  What remain is now is to 
build political trust, which is clearly still lacking.  While both 
countries say that they are committed to building a positive, 
cooperative and comprehensive relationship for the 21st century, old 
problems such as Taiwan, Tibet and human rights are as intractable 
as ever while new problems are bound to emerge.  It will not be easy 
for this new partnership to work.  But if it doesn't, then the 
outlook for the resolution of world issues in the 21st century will 
be bleak." 
 
STANTON