US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI3808

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 003808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TW, Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy 
SUBJECT: FOREIGN POLICY DISCOMFORTS; DPP DISCOMFORTS 
 
 
Classified By: AIT Acting Director David J. Keegan, Reason(s): 
1.4 (B/D) 
 
1.  (C) Former Taiwan Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao told AIT 
earlier this week that he has become increasingly 
uncomfortable with the &green8 tilt of MOFA and its 
diplomatic representation abroad since he left office in 
February 2002.  More and more, he complained, Taiwan,s 
representatives and ambassadors have been selected for their 
&greenness8 (pro-independence sentiments). 
 
2.  (C) Tien explained that his top priority when he took 
office as President Chen Shui-bian,s first Foreign Minister 
in May 2000 had been to maintain continuity and reassure 
friends and allies that Taiwan foreign policy would not 
radically change under the DPP.  President Chen, on the other 
hand, had from the very outset pushed his independence 
agenda, greatly complicating Tien,s work as Foreign 
Minister.  Noting Chen,s recent non-starter initiative to 
meet Hu Jintao at the November 2005 APEC leaders, meeting, 
Tien explained that he, Tien, had similarly tried to utilize 
the November 2001 Shanghai APEC meeting as a stage for Taiwan 
and the PRC to meet.  The difference, Tien explained, was 
that he, Tien, had worked for weeks trying to get Chen and 
his advisors to focus on the Shanghai meeting so that he 
could prepare the way with the U.S., PRC and other attendees. 
 Chen, however, waited until one week before the meeting to 
announce that Lee Teng-hui would represent Taiwan -- too 
late, Tien lamented, and causing Taiwan to completely miss an 
opportunity to improve cross-Strait relations. 
 
3.  (C) Tien, who grew up in Tainan &just a bicycle ride8 
from Chen Shui-bian, said he was surprised how much Chen and 
DPP support has slipped in Tainan over the past eight months. 
 When he, Tien, visited Tainan last week, he found that some 
of his &bentu8 (Taiwanese) friends were disenchanted, with 
some even considering voting for the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou in 
the 2008 presidential election, because )- &ironically,8 
Tien noted )- the once &black gold8 (corrupt) KMT has 
become the party of reform and cleanliness under Ma.  Last 
month, the former DPP Mayor of Tainan, in the presence of 
Tien Hung-mao, told the Director that the popularity of Chen 
and the DPP had declined substantially in Tainan. 
Unhappiness over repeated corruption scandals in the ruling 
DPP had alienated Tainan voters and given Ma Ying-jeou a 
perfect opportunity to establish himself as the 
anti-corruption candidate.  Ma, the mayor added, is easily 
the most popular candidate for 2008 in Tainan. 
KEEGAN