US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI3793

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP/TC, INR/EAP 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, TW, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: Aftermath of Thai Labor Riots: Political 
Maneuvering 
 
Ref:  Taipei 03525 
 
1. Summary. In the aftermath of the labor riots involving 
Thai workers on Kaohsiung City's Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT) 
system (reftel), the response to the riots has been mostly 
political, with the DPP generally seeking to get the issue 
behind them.  The KMT on the other hand is gradually 
ratcheting up its criticism of the DPP government's 
management of the situation.  Local Kaohsiung politicians 
are busy repositioning themselves and polishing their images 
to prepare for the run at the 2006 mayoral slot in Kaohsiung 
City.  End Summary. 
 
---------------------- 
The Political Response from Taipei 
---------------------- 
 
2.  (U) In public statements concerning the riots, Premier 
Hsieh (who was Mayor of Kaohsiung at the time the KMRT 
project commenced) has tried to deflect blame from City and 
County officials, pointing out that the project is a build- 
operate-transfer (BOT) project and thus Kaohsiung City 
Government's role is limited to providing specifications for 
the construction and deadlines for the completion. 
According to Hsieh, all management activities are the 
responsibility of the successful bidder-- KRTC and its sub- 
contractors.  Premier Hsieh has emphasized the potential 
criminal liability of the Thai laborers, but has been less 
vocal about investigating any of the alleged corrupt labor 
practices or government oversight. 
 
3.  (U) Vice-President Lu, Hsiu Lien on the other hand, has 
been both vocal and active in her support of the laborers, 
whom she sees as the aggrieved parties in the case.  She has 
formed a blue ribbon panel to investigate the incident and 
has assembled a team of sixteen lawyers to provide pro-bono 
legal support to the laborers in the event that they face 
charges.  Lu personally visited the site of the riots and 
spoke to both Thai officials and Thai laborers. 
 
4.  (U) Despite the fact that Premier Hsieh was the Mayor of 
Kaohsiung at the time the contracts were awarded, the 
opposition KMT and PFP have directed most of their criticism 
toward Acting Kaohsiung Mayor, Chen Chi-mai, his father, 
Chen Che Nan, a Presidential Advisor, and Chen Chu, the head 
of the Central Government Council of Labor Affairs (CLA). 
The criticism of Chen Chi-mai is largely tangential and is 
based on allegations that his father was involved in corrupt 
labor practices in the initial contract with Hua Pan.  Chen 
Chu has been criticized for failing to insure proper 
oversight of the hiring and working conditions for foreign 
labor. 
 
5.  (U) Both Chen Chi-mai and Chen Chu are expected to 
compete for the DPP's nomination to run for Mayor of 
Kaohsiung in the 2006 mayoral election.  In the aftermath of 
the KMRT Thai Labor incident, Chen Chu has just stepped down 
as the head of the CLA, nominally to take responsibility for 
the current mess.  However, press reports speculate that she 
may simply want to distance herself from the case as quickly 
as possible in order to maintain political viability in the 
upcoming Kaohsiung mayoral election. 
 
6.  Yeh Chu-lan, a prominent DPP leader and former vice 
premier, has been appointed to succeed Chen Chi-mai as 
Acting Mayor of Kaohsiung. 
 
---------------------- 
The Political Response from Kaohsiung 
---------------------- 
 
7. (U) Kaohsiung Acting Mayor Chen Chi-mai submitted his 
earliest written resignation to Premier Hsieh on Aug. 30, 
2005.  His stated purpose was to take political 
responsibility for the conditions that led to the Thai labor 
riot in Kaohsiung.  Chen's last day in office was 
characterized by an AIT/K contact in the Kaohsiung City 
Government as one in which the mayor's assistants were busy 
packing as "they are now out of a job".   However, Chen's 
staff spun the story as a positive one, saying that because 
Chen still is young (40 years old), his resignation 
emphasizes his social reliability and his image and he still 
intends a future political career. 
 
8. (SBU)  The DPP Kaohsiung City Chairman Chao Wen-nan told 
AIT/K that Chen Chi-mai's resignation was actually an action 
mirroring Chen Chu's resignation.  Chen Chu, Chairperson of 
Taiwan's CLA, resigned to take responsibility for the riot. 
By resigning now, Acting Mayor Chen intends to show people 
that he as responsible a local administrator as Chen Chu is 
an island-wide administrator. 
9.  (U) Press reports today continue to watch the dominos 
fall as Chen Chi-mai's appointees, such as Vice Mayor Zhen 
Wenlong and Kaohsiung Information Office Director Wang Shi- 
si, also resigned from their positions.  The City Council is 
postponing meetings until a new "acting" administration is 
in place. 
 
-------- 
DPP Damage Control 
-------- 
 
10.  (SBU) Comment. There is little political benefit to the 
DPP in carrying out a thorough investigation of the 
allegedly corrupt labor practices, since the entire KMRT 
project has been carried out by DPP administrations, both at 
the local and national level.  The premier, in his public 
remarks, has consistently focused on the laborers and the 
private companies, KRTC and Hua Pan Management.  Despite the 
fact that many public allegations have been made about the 
involvement of DPP heavyweights in corrupt practices leading 
to the awarding of the contracts to KRTC and Hua Pan, the 
Premier has placed little emphasis on this aspect of the 
investigation.  There is evident concern that the 
investigation could adversely impact the DPP's prospects in 
next year's Kaohsiung's mayoral election.  Getting contacts 
within the City and County governments to comment on the 
case has been difficult.  Contacts who normally are quite 
forthcoming either refused initial requests for meetings, or 
cancelled meetings that they had already agreed to hold. 
The issue is very sensitive and it appears likely that the 
City Administration continues to be very concerned about 
potential fallout.  While it will take a few days to sort 
out the implications of the appointment of DPP heavyweight 
Yeh Chu-lan as Acting Mayor, the move suggests the DPP is 
trying to demonstrate the importance it places on the 
position of Kaohsiung mayor and on maintaining its 
fundamental support base in Kaohsiung. 
 
11.  (U) "All politics are local" is the adage in play in 
this series of resignations as politicians begin reposition 
themselves for future campaigns. Chen Chi-mai's resignation 
now puts him on equal footing Chen Chu, another potential 
2006 mayoral candidate.  These two resignations appear to be 
not the end of two careers in government, but the beginning 
of the struggle between the two Chens for the slot of DPP 
candidate for the upcoming mayoral election. 
 
12.  (U) It is likely that the opposition focus on Chen Chi- 
mai and Chen Chu also relates to next year's Kaohsiung 
Mayoral election.  Unlike most other constituencies in the 
South, Kaohsiung City is fairly evenly split between the 
Blue and Green factions.  The last election, won by Hsieh, 
Chang Ting, was a very close contest.  If both leading DPP 
contenders are made vulnerable by the riots and ensuing 
investigations, the KMT will stand a fair chance of retaking 
Kaohsiung City and breaking the DPP's stranglehold on the 
South. 
 
13.  (U) AIT will continue to follow and report on the case 
as it develops.  End Comment. 
 
Thiele 
 
Keegan