Cablegate: Media Reaction: U.S.-Taiwan Relations

VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #4174 3560434
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220434Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3518
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6122
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7352

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 004174

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: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS

Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused their
coverage December 22 on the second trial hearing for the
Presidential Office Allowance for State Affairs case, and on other
local political issues. All papers reported that First Lady Wu
Shu-chen is unlikely to appear in court today due to poor health.
In terms of editorials, most papers continued to focus on local
politics. An editorial in the limited-circulation,
pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News," however, discussed
an article entitled "Taiwan's Independence," which was published
recently on a website hosted by two left-wing U.S. think tanks. The
editorial said the article "offers at least a glimmer of hope that
at least some foreign policy analysts in the U.S. left realize that
the key to lasting peace and progress in the Taiwan Strait and East
Asia does not lie in helping Beijing annex a democratic Taiwan but
in 'educating' the PRC leadership away from outdated and rigid
'Sinocentric' myths." End summary.

"U.S. Left Discovers Justice for Taiwan"

The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" [circulation:
20,000] editorialized (12/22):

"During the past two years, there have been numerous signs that the
tide in foreign policy and East Asian policy and academic circles in
the United States had been swinging in favor of the Chinese
Communist Party-ruled People's Republic of China and against the
possibility of 'Taiwan independence' or self-determination. ... It
is therefore significant that a whiff of fresh air has appeared in
an unexpected quarter, namely from the Web site 'Foreign Policy in
Focus' (www.fpif.org) hosted by two U.S. left-wing think tanks, the
Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies and the New
Mexico-based International Resources Center. On December 20, the
FPIF Web site posted an article entitled 'Taiwan's Independence' by
Ian Williams, a frequent contributor to WPIF Web site and the United
Nations correspondent for 'The Nation' weekly, the oldest and
arguably most influential publication on the U.S. left. ...
William's article is a notable exception as it sketches the outlines
for a progressive position on the Taiwan Strait conundrum that puts
priority on protecting an independent and democratic Taiwan. ...

"For those in the U.S. left who take values such as democracy,
social justice, peace and opposition to U.S. militarism seriously,
the Taiwan Strait question poses numerous dilemmas since it features
a threatening authoritarian but formerly admired 'socialist' PRC
regime against a democratic Taiwan, which was seen as a pariah U.S.
client state during the KMT era. Now, Taiwan poses one of the few
cases in which the military and diplomatic might of the United
States is supporting the continued existence of a genuine
'center-left' democracy instead of dictatorships or monarchies. The
FPIC [sic] article offers at least a glimmer of hope that at least
some foreign policy analysts in the U.S. left realize that the key
to lasting peace and progress in the Taiwan Strait and East Asia
does not lie in helping Beijing annex a democratic Taiwan but in
'educating' the PRC leadership away from outdated and rigid
'Sinocentric' myths. In our view, a progressive position would be
to urge Beijing to acknowledge the reality of Taiwan's independence
and working out a new relationship with Taiwan as an equal state and
as a future ally and friend instead of a target of annexation and
thus a foe."

WANG

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