Cablegate: Media Reaction: Taiwan's Political Situation, U.S.-Taiwan
VZCZCXYZ0016
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHIN #4084 3420915
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080915Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3385
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6068
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7292
UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 004084
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - DAVID FIRESTEIN
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S POLITICAL SITUATION, U.S.-TAIWAN
RELATIONS
1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their
coverage December 8 on Taiwan's winning the third gold medal in the
Asian Games in Doha Thursday; and on the Taipei and Kaohsiung
mayoral elections, which are slated for Saturday, December 9. The
pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's largest-circulation
daily, ran a banner headline on page four that said "Regardless of
[Mayoral] Election Outcomes, Bian Wants Premier Su to Stay on in His
Current Position." In terms of editorials and commentaries, an
editorial in the pro-unification "United Daily News" discussed
tomorrow's elections, calling them a chance for the light-Green
voters to make a choice between the "pro-Bian line" and the
"Non-Bian line." An editorial in the limited-circulation,
pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times," on the other
hand, discussed a plan by the Washington-based Formosan Association
for Public Affairs (FAPA) to campaign to have future AIT Taipei
directors go through the full, formal Senate confirmation process.
The article expressed disapproval of such a plan and said "Taiwan
gains nothing by appearing to be the one who is destabilizing the
situation." End summary.
2. Taiwan's Political Situation
"Will the DPP Be Able to Jump out of the 'Chen Shui-bian Vortex'?"
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000]
editorialized (12/8):
"People will cast votes tomorrow. Some people called tomorrow's
elections a vote of confidence for Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou.
But such a statement seems to have underestimated and oversimplified
the significance of the elections. As a matter of fact, Saturday's
elections are not merely a 'race between the Blue and the Green
camps,' namely, an opportunity for the voters to pick their side
from the two political labels: Ma and Chen. Instead, the
light-Green voters, who are exasperated at the DPP's failure really
to achieve anything, will have to make a choice between the
'pro-Bian line' and the 'non-Bian line.' ...
"Chen's corruption scandals have almost become the only agenda for
this year's Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections. But this is
just a facade. The real problem lies in the fact that over the past
decade, particularly the six-and-a-half-year reign of Chen, Taiwan
is facing a split national identity, collapsed constitutional
system, deteriorating cross-Strait relations, dismantled mutual
trust between Taiwan and the United States, confounded right and
wrong in society, the island's marginalization, an opaque economic
situation, and suffering of the people -- it is as if the entire
nation and society have sunk into a dirty, muddy vortex that gets
people nowhere. Will Taiwan be able to jump out of the vortex after
the elections?"
3. U.S.-Taiwan Relations
"FAPA's Misguided Pie in the Sky"
The pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation:
30,000] editorialized (12/8):
"... The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), an
influential pro-independence lobby in the US, has announced that it
is starting a campaign to make the directors of the American
Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - the de facto US embassy - go through
confirmation hearings in the US Senate. To examine this idea, we
must set aside reality, after elucidating what that reality is:
FAPA's campaign has no chance of success. ...
"If the AIT director had to go through a Senate confirmation
hearing, he would enjoy all of the prestige and glory that comes
with having one's personal history ripped to shreds for partisan
blood sport, as 'real' ambassadors do. How wonderful. More to the
point, it would also mean that the pro-China lobby would have a
voice in determining who conducted diplomacy with Taiwan. How does
that help anyone? Taiwan is pretty lucky to have a real diplomat -
AIT Director Stephen Young - as it is. Most countries get saddled
with political cronies whose qualifications are determined by how
much money they donated to the US president's campaign fund. Taiwan
gains nothing by appearing to be the one who is destabilizing the
situation. The country's power and influence come from holding the
moral high ground, not undermining it."
YOUNG