US embassy cable - 04TAIPEI3984

UNCLAS TAIPEI 003984 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/RSP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - 
ROBERT PALLADINO 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, KPAO, TW, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: TAIWAN'S LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 
 
 
"[Last Saturday's Legislative] Election Is Not the Only 
[Thing] President A-Bian Has Failed to Win" 
 
Journalist Chang Hui-ying noted in the centrist, pro- 
status quo "China Times" (12/15): 
 
"When it comes to the outcome of [last Saturday's] 
legislative elections, what the DPP failed to win was 
not votes or seats [in the Legislative Yuan] alone. 
Instead, President Chen Shu-bian has in fact lost two 
of the most valuable things - namely, the respect and 
trust of the people [of Taiwan], and this was a major 
factor leading to the DPP's electoral defeat. . 
 
"When [a president] has lost his people's respect for 
him, it means he has also lost their trust.  Chen has 
always made beautiful promises whenever he is defeated. 
Now he is vowing to be the president of all the people 
of Taiwan.  But people can hardly forget the fact that 
he has openly used Taipei-Washington ties and cross- 
Strait relations as a weapon to attack [candidates of 
other political parties], and has put the safety of all 
the people of Taiwan at risk.  Given the fact that Chen 
has more than once used concrete words and actions to 
tell the Taiwan people that he looks upon himself and 
his position as the first thing that he should protect, 
followed by the interests of his party and then the 
interests of his country, how many people dared to [use 
their votes] to grant him unrestricted power again? 
 
"As a state leader, Chen has not only lost the respect 
and trust of his people but has also lost the respect 
and trust of Taiwan's most important ally - the United 
States.  The mutual trust between Taipei and Washington 
has been badly damaged, and the United States has been 
troubled enough as a result of Chen's political 
manipulations.  As a result, Washington has decided to 
actively interfere with everything concerning Taiwan, 
even the change of names of its state-owned 
enterprises.  But the real reason behind all of this is 
because the United States has lost even the slightest 
bit of respect for Chen as the president of Taiwan, and 
it no longer trusts Chen's policies or pledges. 
 
"Compared to the minor defeat in the legislative 
elections, [losing the respect and trust of the United 
States] is a major defeat for Chen.  The DPP failed in 
Saturday's elections, but Chen as the leader of Taiwan 
is the one that has suffered a really severe defeat." 
 
KEEGAN