US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI4813

UNCLAS TAIPEI 004813 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - ERIC 
BARBORIAK 
DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, KPAO, TW, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS 
 
1. Summary: Major Chinese-language Taiwan dailies focused 
their coverage December 7 on the possible personnel 
reshuffle in the DPP and Cabinet and the possible merger 
between the KMT and the PFP in the wake of last Saturday's 
elections.  The centrist "China Times" ran an exclusive news 
story on its front page with the headline: "Bian Invites 
[Legislative Yuan President] Wang Jin-pyng to Head the 
Cabinet," while the front-page headline story of the pro- 
unification "United Daily News" said "Chance of [PFP 
Chairman James] Soong Running for the Taipei City Mayorship 
is 80 Percent."  The pro-independence "Liberty Times" 
reported on its page two that "DPP Members Believe [Vice 
President] Annette Lu Has Strong Ambitions to Vie for the 
DPP Chairmanship."  The pro-independence "Taiwan Daily," on 
the other hand, carried an exclusive interview with 
Presidential Office Senior Advisor Koo Kuang-min on its 
front and third pages saying that Koo urged President Chen 
to declare Taiwan-centered awareness as his core policy. 
 
2. Several newspapers continued to editorialize December 7 
on the reforms of the DPP government.  An editorial in the 
"United Daily News" discussed Taiwan's cross-Strait policy, 
urging President Chen to use a `framework of economic and 
trade interaction' to sustain `political peace and 
stability" across the Taiwan Strait.  End summary. 
 
"Cross-Strait Relations: Use the `Framework of Economic and 
Trade Interaction' to Sustain `Political Peace and 
Stability'" 
 
The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 
400,000] commented in an editorial (12/7): 
 
". [President] Chen Shui-bian's remarks prior to last 
Saturday's [island-wide] elections that `cross-Strait 
relations will become more limited should the pan-Blue camp 
win a sweeping victory' indicated that he was clearly aware 
that cross-Strait policy is essential to the ruling of 
Taiwan.  Chen's remarks aroused strong antipathy [among 
people] partially because of his threatening tone and 
partially because he insisted on lying to the people since 
he knew what he said was not viable. 
 
"Following Saturday's elections, DPP's Straits Exchange 
Foundation Chairman Chang Chun-hsiung asked, `How could [the 
government] possibly restrict cross-Strait relations?' 
Chang's view was not just his own but a consensus shared by 
many Taiwanese people and foreign companies in Taiwan.  In 
the wake of the 3-in-1 elections, there were mounting voices 
inside the DPP calling for the [government] to renounce its 
`isolation policy,' moderately pursue `globalization,' and 
open the three links across the Taiwan Strait. Such calls 
not only reflected the post-election situation in Taiwan but 
were also a natural trend resulting from changes in history 
and in the world. . 
 
"We invite Chen Shui-bian to repeat his self-inventive 
slogan several times: `Establish a cross-Strait framework 
for peaceful and stable interaction!"  The sole and only way 
to carry out the spirit of this slogan is to `use a 
`framework of economic and trade interaction' to sustain 
[cross-Strait] `political peace and stability.'" 
 
KEEGAN