US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI1939

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001939 
 
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, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
 
1. Summary:  Almost all the major Chinese-language 
Taipei dailies focused April 27 on the violent clashes 
at CKS Airport between Pan-Blue and Pan-Green 
supporters Tuesday morning when they "saw off" KMT 
Chairman Lien Chan as he embarked on his eight-day trip 
to China.  The centrist "China Times" is the only 
Chinese-language newspaper that reported on Lien's 
China trip on its front page, with the headline: "Sixty 
years later, Lien Chan arrives in Nanjing."  The "China 
Times" and the two pro-independence newspapers - 
"Liberty Times" and "Taiwan Daily" - all carried the 
same news story on their page two which quoted 
President Chen Shui-bian as saying that there should be 
reconciliation in Taiwan before cross-Strait talks are 
conducted.  The pro-unification "United Daily News" 
reported on its second page that Lien and Chinese 
President Hu Jintao will likely talk about building a 
military security mechanism across the Taiwan Strait. 
 
2. A "United Daily News" editorial discussed President 
Chen's April 25 telephone conversation with Lien prior 
to the latter's departure, in which Chen mentioned that 
"the [Taiwan] government does not deny `the contents of 
the talks in 1992,' but it is a historical fact that 
`there was no 1992 consensus.'"  The editorial said 
Chen's remarks indicate that he might accept the 
consensus if both sides of the Taiwan Strait agree to 
forgo the term "the 1992 consensus" and use "the 
contents of talks [between the two sides] in 1992" in 
its place.  A limited-circulation, pro-unification, 
English-language "China Post" editorial commented on 
Lien's China trip, saying it is full of big challenges 
as he has to find common ground for both sides on a 
range of bitter disputes.  End summary. 
 
A) "The April 25 Telephone Conversation [between 
President Chen and Lien Chan]: Lien and Hu Might as 
well Give Chen Shui-bian a Hand?" 
 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 
600,000] editorialized (4/27): 
 
". What's noteworthy is that during his telephone 
conversation with [KMT Chairman] Lien Chan April 25, 
President Chen took the initiative to mention `the 1992 
consensus,' and both men chatted about it on the phone. 
But the discussion [about the 1992 consensus] that was 
evident in the press release announced by the KMT 
failed to appear in the press release issued by the 
Presidential Office later. . 
 
"It is said that Chen said on the phone: the [Taiwan] 
government does not deny `the contents of the talks in 
1992,' but it is a historical fact that `there was no 
1992 consensus.' 
 
"Chen's remarks seemed to say: he believes that the 
words `the 1992 consensus' were created by some other 
people later and that there was no such term in 1992. 
Therefore, Chen does not acknowledge the words `the 
1992 consensus,' but he does not deny `the contents of 
the talks [between both sides of the Taiwan Strait] in 
1992.' 
 
"Such an approach of fickleness and paying excessive 
attention to wording has again put Chen in a dilemma. 
This is because Chen has once said `the 1992 consensus' 
was `one country, two systems'; it was [an attempt to] 
`annihilate the Republic of China' and it was 
`capitulationism.'  Regardless of whether these 
statements can be called `the 1992 consensus,' are they 
the `the contents of the talks in 1992'?  It is thus 
evident that when Chen said he does `not deny the 
contents of the talks [by both sides of the Taiwan 
Strait] in 1992,' the contents he referred to were 
definitely not the terminology he demonized earlier. . 
 
"The chat about `the 1992 consensus' during the April 
25 telephone conversation [between Chen and Lien] 
indicate that Chen was trying to check out Beijing's 
attitude via his conversation with Lien.  Chen is of 
course too embarrassed to say that he acknowledges `the 
1992 consensus' now, but `the contents of the talks in 
1992' as called by Chen are definitely not the 
terminology that he once demonized.  In other words, if 
both sides of the Taiwan Strait agree to term `the 1992 
consensus' as `the contents of the talks in 1992,' 
chances are that Chen might accept and acknowledge [the 
consensus.]  The reason why the Presidential Office 
deliberately deleted such a discussion [in its press 
release] was because it wanted to play down its 
fickleness and to leave some leeway for this major 
political probe. . 
 
"If Chen's remark that he `does not deny the contents 
of the talks in 1992' is an approach to probe 
[Beijing's attitude], we hope that both Lien and 
[Chinese President] Hu Jintao would give Chen a hand by 
not being tied down by the words `the 1992 consensus.' 
They might as well come up with a broader discourse on 
`the contents of the talks in 1992' that is more 
applicable or acceptable for both sides. ." 
 
B) "Lien's Peace Mission to PRC Filled with Big 
Challenges" 
 
The conservative, pro-unification, English-language 
"China Post" [circulation: 30,000] noted in an 
editorial (4/27): 
 
". Indeed, the mission Lien carries with him is 
extremely challenging.  On the one hand, he must have 
the courage to firmly defend Taiwan's political 
sovereignty and unequivocally reflect the opinion of 
the majority of its 23 million people, even though he 
is traveling in a private capacity and as the leader of 
his own party. 
 
"At the same time, Lien has to use his wisdom and 
political prowess to get his Beijing hosts to listen to 
him carefully and to find common ground on a range of 
bitter disputes so as to create an atmosphere for 
reconciliation and, ultimately, for action by the 
governments of the two sides to reopen dialogue. ." 
 
KEEGAN