Cablegate: Business and Other Associations Stay Neutral On Tight

VZCZCXRO6325
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #4057/01 3390907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050907Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3349
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6049
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 8275
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 6713
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8304
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0604
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1566
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5541
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9790
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7271

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004057

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON
DEPT FOR EAP/TC, INR/EAP

FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL TW
SUBJECT: Business and Other Associations Stay Neutral on Tight
Kaohsiung Mayoral Race

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.

1. (SBU) Summary: Professional associations, business groups, and
unions in Kaohsiung are choosing to remain neutral rather than risk
backing a potential loser in the tight mayoral race between KMT
Candidate Huang Chun-ying and DPP Candidate Chen Chu on December 9.
Some AIT/K contacts suggest that corruption allegations against
President Chen and his family are weighing heavily on Chen Chu's
prospects in the December 9 election. End Summary.

Teachers Learn Hard Lessons from the Past
-----------------------------------------

2. (SBU) The 9000-member Kaohsiung Teachers' Association is
reluctant to openly endorse a candidate in the still neck and neck
December 9 Kaohsiung mayoral election, although it has traditionally
affiliated itself with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The
Chairman told AIT/K that the Association learned a "hard lesson"
eight years ago after several candidates they publicly backed in
city council and legislative elections were ensnared in bribery
scandals once elected. Since then, the Association has chosen not
to back individual candidates, instead preferring to provide members
with the results of surveys that it conducts on candidates' views
and policies on matters of interest to the Association.

3. (SBU) The Chairman, nevertheless, was quick to praise former
Kaohsiung City mayor Frank Hsieh (DPP) for taking action on the
Association's main concerns, including improving the teacher
retirement system. While the Association has had less interaction
with KMT candidate Huang Chun-ying, the Vice Chairman noted that
then-Deputy Mayor Huang played a significant role 10 years ago in
helping local teachers establish the Association. The Association's
executive secretary stressed that it is very important for all
teachers and the Association to maintain neutrality because in the
past politics has had too much influence on Taiwan education policy.

4. (SBU) The Chairman lamented that the focus of Kaohsiung's
mayoral election has shifted from city development to the issue of
corruption and rivalry between President Chen Shui-bian and KMT
Chairman Ma Ying-jeou. Stressing that the Association's main
concern is with educational reform, the Chairman expressed
frustration over the failure of Taiwan society to keep politics
separate from education.

Political Neutrality as Good Business
-------------------------------------

5. (SBU) Several business and labor leaders recently told AIT/K
that they also are not planning to endorse a particular candidate
for Kaohsiung mayor, stressing that maintaining public neutrality is
their best strategy. China Steel Union (CSU) Representative Wu
Shun-tsai said that his union has adopted this stance, but only
after a proposal to ask members to choose a candidate to support in
the election proved too controversial. Wu added that in the past
the CSU has made financial contributions to legislators who can
influence issues that impact the Union and its members.

6. (SBU) Despite a public display of neutrality, eighty percent of
Kaohsiung Architects Association members identify ideologically with
the DPP, Association head Kuo Min-neng recently told AIT/K. Kuo,
also a member of the Board of Directors of the city-owned Bank of
Kaohsiung, noted he had worked closely with former Kaohsiung mayor
Frank Hsieh, adding that he is concerned DPP candidate Chen Chu
could lose the election because of President Chen's scandals and the
Kaohsiung Metro corruption probe. Despite having "Green"
credentials, Kuo said that he and his colleagues plan to remain
publicly neutral because their livelihoods depend heavily on being
able to work with the government on land use issues. As a result,
they have hedged their bets by providing financial support to both
the DPP and KMT mayoral candidates.

7. (SBU) Kaohsiung Computer Association President Henry Wang, also
a long-time Green supporter, told AIT/K that the election is
extremely close, predicting that youth and swing voters will play a
determining factor. Wang credited Frank Hsieh with improving
Kaohsiung's image. He complained that the pan-Blue mass media often
distorts the DPP's performance, which has a disproportionate impact

TAIPEI 00004057 002 OF 002

on the young, who tend to uncritically accept television news
reports as fact.

8. (SBU) Reluctant to endorse one party over another, Kaohsiung
Industrial Association President Alex Horng told AIT/K that
Kaohsiung needs an aggressive mayor who has the ability to deliver
results. While Association members want a clean and effective
government, he added, they would prefer a corrupt government that
can deliver results to one that is ultra-clean but ineffective. A
super-clean politician cannot navigate the underworld of Taiwan
politics, Horng argued, citing the Kaohsiung Metro as an example of
a project that is nearing completion despite corruption allegations.
Nevertheless, allegations of President Chen's corruption are an
embarrassment to Taiwan, Horng observed, and he predicted this issue
will have a large negative impact on Chen Chu and other DPP
candidates.

THIELE

YOUNG

© Scoop Media