US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI1183

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001183 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TW 
SUBJECT: LY PRESIDENT WANG JOINS KMT CHAIRMAN RACE 
 
REF: A. TAIPEI 00632 
 
     B. TAIPEI 00997 
 
Classified By: AIT Director Douglas Paal, Reason(s): 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Legislative Yuan (LY) President Wang Jin-pyng 
declared his candidacy for the KMT Chairman race on March 17. 
 Wang's long-expected announcement came a day after the KMT 
formally decided to postpone the election date from May 28 to 
July 16.  Wang's opponent, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, 
charged that the change was devised to benefit Wang.  Wang 
denied these allegation to AIT and accused Ma of spreading 
rumors.  KMT insiders have hinted that Lien Chan prefers Wang 
to Ma, and they say that Lien approved the delay both to help 
Wang and to enable Lien to visit Beijing in July as KMT 
Chairman.  End Summary. 
 
Happy Birthday, Mr. President 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Legislative Yuan (LY) President and KMT Vice 
Chairman Wang Jin-pyng declared his candidacy for the KMT 
Chairman race at a press conference on March 17, his 
sixty-fourth birthday.  In his long-expected announcement, 
Wang said that he wanted to be KMT Chairman in order to 
preserve the Republic of China (ROC); to facilitate KMT 
organizational reform; to unify the Pan-Blue alliance; and to 
promote cross-Strait exchanges based on the "1992 Consensus" 
(the so-called "one China, different interpretations" formula 
espoused by the KMT).  Wang told the crowd that the only hope 
for a Pan-Blue Presidency in 2008 is if the KMT, People First 
Party (PFP), and New Party unify behind a single candidate. 
Wang said that he is best positioned to facilitate moves 
toward a merger of KMT and PFP. 
 
Suspicions of Conspiracy 
------------------------ 
 
3. (C) Wang's press conference came a day after the KMT 
Central Standing Committee (CSC), the party's highest 
decision making body, decided that the party would hold the 
chairman election on July 16, instead of the originally 
scheduled May 28 date.  According to the newly approved 
schedule, the KMT will publish details of the election on May 
16, register candidates between May 25 and June 8, and 
release the names of the candidates between July 4 and July 
8.  Ma supporters resisted these changes, charging that the 
delay was devised by Chairman Lien Chan to give Wang more 
time to mobilize supporters in Southern Taiwan.  The Ma and 
Wang camps are also locked in a dispute over a proposal to 
lift a party rule that prohibits party members who have not 
paid their membership fees from voting in the chairman 
election.  Many Ma supporters charge that Wang is planning to 
use his influence over local grass-roots organizations to pay 
otherwise inactive KMT members to vote for Wang.  Most KMT 
officials, however, believe that given the demographic, 
especially ethnic, structure of active KMT members, Ma will 
win in a fair fight. 
 
4. (C) Despite his public pledge that the chairman election 
will not be a personal battle between Ma and himself and that 
he will strive for Wang-Ma cooperation for the sake of party 
unity, Wang told AIT privately that the KMT is doomed if Ma 
wins the chairmanship.  Wang dismissed the contention that Ma 
had a better track record on reform, proclaiming that the 
reforms that he had brought to the LY were better than those 
in the Taipei City administration under Ma.  Wang denied that 
he or his supporters are attempting to tamper with the 
election rules in order to give himself the advantage, and he 
accused Ma of spreading such rumors.  Wang acknowledged to 
AIT that if the election were held today, Ma would win. 
However, in a few more months, Wang said he was confident 
that his organizational skills would tip the balance in his 
favor.  Wang dismissed media reports that he and Ma talk 
regularly in order to maintain good relations.  Wang said 
flatly, "we do not talk." 
 
"Layers of Truth" 
----------------- 
 
5. (C) KMT Spokesperson Cheng Li-wen told AIT on March 16 
that there was actually a specific, non election-related 
reason for the postponement of the chairman election.  Cheng 
said that Lien Chan wants to lead a delegation to Beijing in 
July to discuss cross-Strait relations, and that he wants to 
go as KMT Chairman.  KMT/New Party Legislator Joanna Lei 
(Chien) confirmed to AIT that Lien's proposed PRC visit was 
one reason for the election delay.  Lei told AIT that New 
Party Chairman Yok Mu-Ming has been laying the groundwork for 
Lien's proposed visit and that it was Yok who urged Lien to 
delay the chairman election.  Lei, however, pointed out that 
there are always "layers of truth" in politics, and that 
Lien's desire to slant the election in Wang's favor was also 
an instrumental factor.  She said that there was a confluence 
of interests. 
 
6. (C) In contrast to Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's matter 
of fact "I'll give it a try" pronouncement to a small group 
of journalists on February 14, Wang organized a lively event 
in a Taipei Sheraton Hotel banquet hall with life-size 
photos, music, lights, and legions of supporters.  In 
addition to Wang's wife, who rarely makes public appearances, 
and relatives from Kaohsiung, thirty KMT LY members flanked 
Wang on stage, while another thirty plus sat in the audience. 
 In addition to KMT Legislators John Chiang Hsiao-yen 
(recently changed from Chang), Joanna Lei, and Lee 
Chuan-chiao, legislators from other parties, including PFP 
Legislator Chiu Yi and Nonpartisan Solidarity Union Yen 
Ching-piao, also attended.  Lei told AIT that she attended to 
support the "democratic process."  Chiang told AIT that he 
attended because Wang is the Legislative Speaker, and that he 
would attend a Ma event if Ma invited him. 
 
Comment: Evening the Odds 
------------------------- 
 
7. (C)  The energy and excitement that Wang's supporters 
brought to the banquet hall of the Sheraton Hotel is the 
direct result of Wang's superior interpersonal skills. 
During successive LY election campaigns, Wang traveled the 
island, attending weddings, funerals, grand openings, and 
groundbreakings.  He also helped LY candidates by providing 
financial resources and rallying votes.  Ma might be 
charismatic and telegenic, but in person, he is aloof and 
distance.  In contrast, in ward boss fashion, Wang will 
drink, smoke, and play mahjong with his supporters.  Despite 
Wang's organizational skills and close relationship with the 
professional politicians, Pan-Blue insiders continue to 
admit, and opinion polls show, that Ma is the preferred 
Pan-Blue presidential candidate for 2008.  In order to be the 
candidate in 2008, however, most observers believe Ma must 
first win the chairmanship.  Even before the start of the 
race, Ma supporters fear that Wang's skills at party 
organization will allow him to manipulate the rules to his 
advantage.  These fears appear to be materializing, with the 
party's decision to postpone the election date likely to be 
the first shot in what will undoubtedly be a divisive, and 
less-than-transparent, election process. 
PAAL