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### Viewing cable 07AITTAIPEI2630, MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS, SOUTH KOREAN

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
07AITTAIPEI2630 | 2007-12-20 07:51 | 2011-08-23 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | American Institute Taiwan, Taipei

`

    VZCZCXYZ0007
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHIN #2630/01 3540751
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 200751Z DEC 07
    FM AIT TAIPEI
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7643
    INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7573
    RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8844

` `

    UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 002630

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/TC, EAP/PA, EAP/PD - NIDA EMMONS
    DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO TW
    SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-TAIWAN RELATIONS, SOUTH KOREAN
    PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

    ¶1. Summary:  Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused news
    coverage December 20 on Lee Myung-bak's victory in South Korea's
    presidential election Wednesday; on Taiwan's Central Election
    Commission's insistence on the "one-step" voting format for the 2008
    legislative election; and on the controversial organic law of
    Taiwan's National Communications Commission.  The centrist,
    KMT-leaning "China Times" ran a banner headline on page five that
    said "The United States Opposes the UN Referendum; [U.S. Secretary
    of State Condoleezza] Rice Is Reportedly to Go into Action to
    Pressure [Taiwan]."

    ¶2. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an op-ed in the
    pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" alleged that State
    Department officials "seem to have made another secret deal with
    China to limit and control democracy and freedom of Taiwan."  The
    article also criticized U.S. policy on Taiwan and China as being
    "vacuous, vague and vapid."  With regard to South Korea's
    presidential elections, an editorial in the pro-unification "United
    Daily News" discussed the enlightenment of such an election for
    Taiwan.  A commentary in the mass-circulation "Apple Daily" also
    discussed "dirty tricks" in the South Korean presidential election.
    A "China Times" op-ed commented on the result of the South Korean
    presidential election, saying the conservative influence in South
    Korea has revived.  End summary.

    ¶3. U.S.-Taiwan Relations

    "Those Underhanded Secret Deals"

    Jerome Keating, a Taiwan-based writer, opined in the
    pro-independence, English-language "Taipei Times" [circulation:
    30,000] (12/20):

    "The more they protest, the more time and verbiage they expend and
    the more they insist that they respect Taiwan's democracy, the more
    obvious it becomes. The US State Department, its officials and
    henchmen seem to have made another secret deal with China to limit
    and control the democracy and freedom of Taiwan. ...  Any rational
    person must wonder at the overkill, concern and effort to clarify ad
    nauseam that the US cares deeply about Taiwan's democracy -- except
    that it doesn't want Taiwan to practice it. The issue is Taiwan's UN
    referendum, a referendum that everyone agrees will have no binding
    power or consequence.  So why all the effort? Shades of US secretary
    of state Henry Kissinger, the sellout king par excellence: Has the
    US made another secret deal with China and let China define the
    terms? ...

    "Can anyone clearly state what the US is obligated to do regarding
    Taiwan and the 'status quo'? Can anyone clearly state what China is
    obligated to do regarding Taiwan and the 'status quo'? The burden
    only falls on Taiwan and evidence shows that this burden comes from
    a secret deal that Taiwan was not privy to.  US policy on Taiwan and
    China is vacuous, vague and vapid. It has purposely been kept this
    way for more than half a century so that no one can clearly define
    the US' obligations. China, on the other hand, has always insisted
    that it has no obligations except the right to declare war when it
    feels offended and that it can move the goal posts that determine
    what offends it when it so pleases. That so much effort has been
    expended over such minutiae as Taiwan's UN referendum can only point
    to one thing: a secret deal with China in which the US contains
    Taiwan in the ways and minutiae that China wants Taiwan contained.
    ...

    "Burghardt's message ended with the words that new leaders present a
    new opportunity to solve problems on important issues.  He did not
    want Chen to cause problems for his successor. It is no wonder that
    the US shows favoritism for wishy-washy KMT presidential candidate
    Ma Ying-jeou, who is also China's favorite in the upcoming
    elections. However, the US is also going to have a new leadership
    soon. Will its new president be bound by the secret deals of the
    past? Will he or she have a new opportunity to solve problems and
    deal with the important issues of the Taiwan Strait in a new way?
    Will we even see some new faces in the State Department?"

    ¶4. South Korean Presidential Election

    A) "Incompetent Ruling Party Falls from Power -- the Enlightenment
    of South Korea's Presidential Election for Taiwan"

    The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation: 400,000]
    editorialized (12/20):

    "Despite the joint suppression launched by South Korean President
    Roh Moo-hyun and other rivals prior to the election, Lee Myung-bak
    still won a landslide victory Wednesday.  This result conveyed a
    clear message:  the people of South Korea have decided
    wholeheartedly to remove its incompetent ruling party, and no tricks
    or moves could shake their determination. ...
    PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

    "Under such circumstances, the indifferent atmosphere which
    prevailed during the campaigns, however, indicated a special kind of
    calm.  The fact that Roh Moo-hyun, who has a law degree, was removed
    and replaced by Lee, who used to be a 'manager,' reflects two
    psychological changes in South Korean society.  First, the obsession
    with 'regionalism' that has dominated South Korea's politics for
    years has greatly declined following transfers of power over the
    past decade.  Second, the [South Korean] people's expectations for
    politics have transformed from a strong belief in symbols and
    ideology to the practical pursuit of economic development and
    livelihood.  This phenomenon of 'abatement in the political fever'
    is an essential process for the maturation of democracy. ..."

    B) "Dirty Political Tricks in South Korea"

    Columnist Antonio Chiang wrote in his column in the mass-circulation
    "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] (12/20):

    "In the history of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak is the first elected
    president who has the background of an entrepreneur.  His election
    signifies that the Korean people of the new generation have grown
    tired of confrontational politics.  Even though Lee won a landslide
    victory in the presidential election, he is still required to be
    probed by special prosecutors in his capacity as president-elect.
    This is an unprecedented situation in Seoul's constitutional
    history, so it is expected that South Korea's political situation
    will stay chaotic in the [near] future. ..."

    C) "South Korea Again Calls Back Conservatism"

    Tsai Zheng-jia, an assistant research fellow at the Institute of

    SIPDIS
    International Relations of National Chengchi University, opined in
    the centrist, KMT-leaning "China Times" [circulation: 400,000]
    (12/20):

    "... From the political science point of view in interpreting [the
    result of the South Korean presidential election], the election of
    opposition Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak represents
    the second change of government in South Korea.  South Korea has
    come out of the infant stage of democracy and has formally become a
    mature democratic country.  From the economic point of view, the
    election of Lee Myung-bak, a former Hyundai CEO, also represents the
    landslide victory of the "influence of industrialization." South
    Korea formally steps into [the ranks of] industrialized countries.
    ..."

    YOUNG

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