US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI68

UNCLAS TAIPEI 000068 
 
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, Cross Strait Politics, Foreign Policy 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS 
 
 
A) "Charter Flights for the Chinese New Year - Both 
Sides of the Taiwan Strait Interact to Get What They 
Want" 
 
Journalist Chu Chien-ling said in the centrist, pro- 
status quo "China Times: (1/10): 
 
". To view the matter from a deeper perspective, even 
though those who are in charge on both sides of the 
Taiwan Strait did not talk about it directly, the 
subtle position held by the United States in cross- 
Strait interactions must have been one of the major 
factors behind the fact that the authorities on both 
sides of the Taiwan Strait are willing to put aside 
their political concerns and have chosen to push for 
the charter flights for the Chinese New Year.  Over the 
past year, Washington's cross-Strait policy has been 
evidently tilting toward China.  For Beijing, political 
dialogue across the Taiwan Strait is not viable for the 
time being as a result of the DPP's advocacy for Taiwan 
independence.  But to actively promote charter flights 
for the Chinese New Year - an attempt that may lead to 
realization of the three-links across the Taiwan Strait 
- can at least demonstrate the non-political, mild and 
rational aspects of Beijing's Taiwan policy and thereby 
win the United States' recognition.  For the DPP, 
President Chen Shui-bian's remarks on [Taiwan's] new 
constitution and name change plan during the 2004 
parliamentary campaign have seriously upset the U.S. 
authorities, who regarded such remarks as an attempt to 
destroy the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.  The DPP 
will lose U.S. support if it fails to alleviate cross- 
Strait tension in a short period of time.  This is 
something that the DPP government is aware of and 
contemplating. ." 
 
B) "Relationship Between Taipei, Washington Needs 
Nurturing" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post" editorialized (1/10): 
 
". Official Taipei tends to believe its relations with 
Washington won't turn sour no matter what it does, 
except declaring independence.  That's why [Taipei's 
representative in Washington David] Lee meant to say 
those `slips of the tongue' [i.e. recent remarks by 
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of 
 
SIPDIS 
State Richard Armitage on Taiwan] were no warnings of a 
change in relations between Taiwan and the United 
States. 
 
"Perhaps they are not warnings.  The fact, however, 
remains that Washington was irritated by what President 
Chen Shui-bian had said and done during the long 2004 
parliamentary campaign.  This loose cannon must have 
frustrated the United States.  His promise to give 
Taiwan a new Constitution, for instance, was an attempt 
to change unilaterally the status quo as Washington 
defines it.  He wanted to call all missions abroad, 
including that of Lee's in Washington, Taiwan offices. 
Wasn't it only natural for some American officials to 
vent their pent-up frustration when they had a chance? 
 
"President Chen has been baiting China successfully, 
but he cannot afford to bait the United States." 
 
PAAL