US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI3522

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003522 
 
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 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CHINA-RUSSIA MILITARY EXERCISE 
 
 
1. Summary: The Taipei dailies gave extensive coverage 
August 23 to the 17-hour riot by Thai workers in 
Kaohsiung and the Government Information Office's (GIO) 
clarification regarding its delay in distributing to 
local charity groups the money collected for last 
December's tsunami relief efforts.  All the major 
Chinese-language newspapers in Taiwan, however, also 
reported on the Ministry of National Defense's move to 
transfer NT$7 billion from the special budget for the 
U.S. arms procurement bill to Taiwan's regular annual 
budget.  The pro-unification "United Daily News" ran an 
exclusive news story on its front page that was topped 
with the headline: "Aborigine passports are altered en 
masse."  The sub-headline added: "A cross-national ring 
purchases I.D. cards from possibly `over a thousand' 
aborigines [residing] in Hualien and Taitung, uses them 
to apply for passports and sells them at a high price 
to mainland Chinese being trafficked [to other 
countries].  U.S. and Canadian governments express 
concern [about this]." 
 
2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, most 
newspapers editorialized on the GIO's failure to 
efficiently handle the relief money collected for 
helping tsunami victims. Professor Yang Yung-ming of 
National Taiwan University commented on the China- 
Russia military exercises in an op-ed piece in the mass- 
circulation "Apple Daily," noting that China's 
strategic intent to use military force to maintain its 
national interest and position in the region is very 
clear.  An editorial in the limited-circulation, pro- 
independence, English-language "Taiwan News" said the 
Sino-Russia military exercises constitute an act 
inimical to peace and security in Northeast Asia and 
will inevitably intensify military competition in the 
region.  End summary. 
 
A) "China and Russia Want to Establish a Security 
Protection System" 
 
Yang Yung-ming, professor of political science at 
National Taiwan University, commented in the mass- 
circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 570,000] 
(8/23): 
 
". The joint Sino-Russia military exercises do not 
represent a military alliance between the two 
countries, but the drills did manifest multiple 
significances in various aspects such as weaponry, 
tactics, strategy and politics.  Any judgment made from 
a single perspective cannot define the big picture as a 
whole.  One thing is certain, though -- namely, China's 
strategic intent to use military [force] to maintain 
its national interest and position in the region is 
very clear.  The political and military interaction and 
cooperation between China and Russia will likely enter 
a new stage in the Sino-Russia security protection 
system, and in the future, the security strategy 
situation in East Asia will no longer be single- 
handedly controlled by the United States.  These are 
the new situations that Taiwan needs to acknowledge and 
encounter." 
 
B) "China Signals Ambitions in Joint War Games" 
 
The pro-independence, English-language "Taiwan News" 
[circulation: 20,000] editorialized (8/23): 
 
". The most worrisome aspect of the exercises is that 
they constitute a major indication that China's 
strategy of economic opening is being transformed into 
a strategy of cross-border projection of military 
force. 
 
"In contrast to Moscow's cautious decision to avoid the 
sensitive Taiwan Strait, Beijing clearly intended to 
manifest its capabilities to project force not only 
eastward toward Taiwan and the East China Sea through 
simulation of blockade actions, but also showed its 
potential to intervene in the Central Asia region 
comprised by the five country Shanghai Cooperation 
Organization. . 
 
"There can be little doubt that the decision to hold 
the joint exercises aims to display China's military 
muscles to neighboring countries, notably Japan and 
Taiwan, and indirectly, the United States. . 
 
"In sum, the holding of the joint exercises constitutes 
an act inimical to peace and security in Northeast Asia 
and will inevitably intensify military competition in 
the region. 
 
"The display of PRC military prowess with advanced 
offensive Russian-made weaponry also sends a sobering 
message to Taiwanese citizens and politicians about the 
necessity and urgency of upgrading our own defensive 
preparations." 
 
KEEGAN