Cablegate: Media Reaction: U.S. Arms Procurements

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004965

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
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S. ARMS PROCUREMENTS

Summary: Major Chinese-language Taiwan dailies continued to
focus their coverage December 23 on the second meeting
between KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou and PFP Chairman James
Soong Thursday following the December 3 island-wide
elections and the controversial U.S. arms procurements bill.
The pro-independence "Liberty Times," Taiwan's biggest
daily, carried the results of a National Defense Ministry's
latest poll survey on its page three that said: "70 Percent
[of the People Polled] Said They Support the [U.S.] Arms
Procurement Bill's Delivery to the Legislative Yuan's
Procedure Committee for Review." The centrist "China Times"
reported on its page three that "The United States
Guarantees That It Will Sell Eight Submarines to Taiwan;
Public Bidding [for the Submarines] Can Go Ahead First." In
terms of editorials, an editorial in the pro-unification
"United Daily News" said Washington's recent suggestion to
President Chen Shui-bian that Taiwan increase its annual
defense budget to 3% of its GDP showed that the U.S.
government knows better how to "manage" Taiwan and that
Chen's accepting of Washington's proposal is a double injury
to Taiwan's national dignity and Chen's personality. End
summary.

"Chen Shui-bian and [U.S.] Arms Procurements: Double Injury
to [Taiwan's] National Dignity and [Chen's] Personality"

The pro-unification "United Daily News" [circulation:
400,000] commented in an editorial (12/23):

"By comparison, it seems the U.S. government knows better
how to `manage' Taiwan than Chen Shui-bian. All the more,
Washington indeed went beyond its authorities and replaced
Chen's position in `managing' Taiwan. A precedent of this
situation was seen in the past when [Chen] sought to
initiate a referendum on Taiwan's writing a new constitution
, and now the [U.S.] arms deal [with Taiwan] is another
example.

"The [U.S.] arms deal [with Taiwan] has made a major turn
[recently]. The United States suggested that Taiwan change
its way of listing all the funding earmarked for [U.S.] arms
procurements as a special budget into adding it to the
government's regular defense budget and increase Taiwan's
annual defense budget to 3% of its GDP. Washington made
such proposals because it has already had a clear view that:
first, the opposition camp's move to oppose the U.S. arms
procurement bill and the debate on Taiwan's national defense
that such a move triggered has, to a certain extent, won
public support. The longer the arms procurement bill is
procrastinated, the more alienated Taiwan's society will
feel about the bill. Second, given the fact of Taiwan's
quickly deteriorating financial status, it will be more
difficult to remove the opposition legislators' obstruction
to the bill if the government still insists on listing the
arms procurement funding as a special budget. Third, the
United States has seen particularly clearly that Chen Shui-
bian has lost his power and prestige now, so it started to
adopt a resolution that tilts toward the pan-Blue camp's
position.

"The question is: even the U.S. government has seen
everything crystal clear and worked out a possible
resolution [to the stalled arms procurement bill], how come
that Chen got stuck in the deadlock of the bill and has been
at his wit's end about what to do for the past two years?
In the end, it turned out that Chen still had to swallow the
antidote prescribed by the United States [to resolve the
problem]. Such a situation is akin to a double injury to
both Taiwan's national dignity and Chen's personality
especially when he is the president of the Republic of
China! .

"The U.S. proposal to change the funding for the [U.S.] arms
procurements from a special budget to regular defense budget
seems relatively feasible, at least on the technical and
financial levels, even though it fails to provide a genuine
answer to Taiwan's debate over its national defense. . The
United States said Taiwan must demonstrate its capability
and determination to defend itself via arms procurements.
But everybody knows that no one can show his capability and
determination to defend himself simply via arms
procurements. For Taiwan at this moment, the psychological
consensus of `whom and what are we fighting for' is nearly
at the brink of decomposition. ... What meaning would
everything have for Taiwan, let alone the arms procurements,
if the island fails resolve the problem of `for whom and
what are we fighting for' and the economic and political
conflicts inherent in our cross-Strait policy? That is the
core concept of the `anti-arms procurements' movement. ."

PAAL

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