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

VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #2298/01 2780922
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050922Z OCT 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7086
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7334
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8614

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 002298

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS

1. Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news
coverage October 5 on Typhoon Krosa, which is expected to hit Taiwan
over the weekend; on the Double Ten Day celebrations; on Taiwan's UN
referendum; and on Chen Chi-li, a former criminal gang leader in
Taiwan known for his alleged involvement in the murder of Taiwan
writer Henry Liu in San Francisco in 1984, who died of cancer
Thursday in Hong Kong. The pro-independence "Liberty Times" ran a
banner headline on page two that said "[Former Taiwan Foreign
Minister] Fredrick Chien Confirms the Six Assurances; the United
States Does Not Support China's Claim of Sovereignty over Taiwan."

2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, a "Liberty Times"
editorial echoed Fredrick Chien's remarks on Taiwan's sovereignty
and said "it is the pillar of the United States' 'one China policy'
'not to support the PRC's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan' and not
to allow Beijing to alter the status of Taiwan's independent
sovereignty." An op-ed in the pro-independence, English-language
"Taipei Times," written by Missouri State University's International
Affairs graduate program director Dennis Hickey, urged the Bush
administration to endorse a resolution that enables Taiwan to
participate in the UN as an observer using the name "Chinese
Taipei." End summary.

3. U.S.-Taiwan Relations

A) "The United States Has Never Supported the People's Republic of
China's Sovereignty Claim over Taiwan"

The pro-independence "Liberty Times" [circulation: 720,000]
editorialized (10/5):

"The 'Heritage Foundation,' a Washington D.C.-based think tank, held
a seminar recently on 'President Reagan's Six Assurances to Taiwan
and Their Meaning Today," in which all the persons involved sought
to go back to history and clarify six 'assurances' that President
Ronald Reagan had made to President Chiang Ching-kuo. ... The U.S.
government has constantly reiterated that its 'one China policy' is
based on the three communiques signed between China and the United
States and the 'Taiwan Relations Act.' (TRA) The seminar on
'President Reagan's Six Assurances to Taiwan and Their Meaning
Today' this time provided a valuable opportunity [for people] to get
a better understanding of the United States' 'one China policy.'
Through the discussion of the origin and course of development of
the 'Six Assurances,' people can tell more distinctly that the
United States' 'one China policy' does not support the People's
Republic of China's (PRC) claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

"Whenever the Beijing authorities talk about the 'one China
principle,' they never mention the TRA or the 'Six Assurances.'
That is because both the TRA and the 'Six Assurances' partially
contradict Beijing's 'one China principle.' Based on the TRA and
the 'Six Assurances,' the United States has made it very clear that
Taiwan, the safety of the Taiwan people and Taiwan's future are by
no means internal affairs of the PRC. ... [J]udging from the TRA
and the 'Six Assurances,' one can see very clearly that it is in
Taiwan's and the United States' common interests to maintain
regional security in the Western Pacific. It is also the pillar of
the United States' 'one China policy' 'not to support the PRC's
claim of sovereignty over Taiwan' and not to allow Beijing to alter
the status of Taiwan's independent sovereignty. The common ground
of such core values has far exceeded the differences between Taiwan
and the United States caused by [Taiwan's] UN referendum, and Taipei
and Washington's 'recollection of the Six Assurances' at this moment
has pointed out this situation just in time."

B) "US Should Seek Compromise at UN"

Dennis Hickey, director of the graduate program in International
Affairs at Missouri State University, opined in the
pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation:
30,000] (10/5):

"... Washington should not support Taiwan's full membership in the
UN or jettison its 'one China' policy. This would jeopardize the US'
important relationship with China. Moreover, Taiwan's UN campaign
does hold the potential to increase tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing has already threatened Taiwan and calls its vice president
as 'the scum of the nation.' And Taiwan's new drive to join the UN
is doomed to failure. China will undoubtedly block the move. But
there is something the US can do. In order to defuse the UN
controversy and help prevent it from escalating into a regional or
global crisis, the US administration ought to abide by an important
part of official policy that it now ignores. According to the 1994
interagency review of US policy toward Taiwan, the US will 'support
opportunities for Taiwan's voice to be heard in organizations where
it is denied membership.' But Taipei still has no voice in the UN.

"Rather than bully Taipei, Washington ought to follow the advice it

so often proffers to Beijing and try out some new thinking.
Employing quiet diplomacy, the US should gently nudge other
countries -- including China -- toward the idea that Taiwan deserves
a voice in the UN and should be allowed to participate -- if only as
an 'observer' or 'non-state actor.' When the 63rd session of the UN
General Assembly opens next September and Taipei's diplomatic allies
once again ask it to consider Taiwan's full membership, Washington
should be prepared to support a compromise proposal that is
consistent with longstanding US policy and does not violate the
sacrosanct 'one China policy.'

"The Bush administration should endorse a resolution that enables
Taiwan to participate in the UN as an observer using a name similar
to the one it now employs when participating in the Olympic Games --
Chinese Taipei. After all, it is clear that the time has arrived
for the international community to find a way for Taiwan's voice to
be heard in the UN."

YOUNG

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