Cablegate: Media Reaction: U.S. Financial Crisis

VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIN #1713 3460728
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110728Z DEC 08
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0537
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8791
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0249

UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001713

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. FINANCIAL CRISIS

Summary: Taiwan's major Chinese-language dailies focused December
11 news coverage on the contention over the state-run enterprises'
year-end bonuses; on the controversy surrounding Taiwan legislators'
possible U.S. citizenship; and on the Taiwan High Court's decision
to nullify the election of a KMT legislator on charges of vote
buying. In terms of editorials and commentaries, an op-ed in the
mass-circulation "Apple Daily," written by a Ph.D. candidate at a
PRC university, discussed the way the U.S. government is handling
the current financial crisis and said the United States has again
adopted similar strategies to "beat down on other countries while at
the same time strengthening itself." End summary.

"[Financial] Crisis of the United States, [But the Bill Is] Paid by
Other Countries"

Wu Fang-ming, a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Economics and
Management in Beijing's Tsinghua University, opined in the
mass-circulation "Apple Daily" [circulation: 520,000] (12/11):

"... The [discussion regarding] who is paying the bill for the U.S.
[financial] crisis has again verified that in the financial and
economic crises of recent times, the U.S. government has adopted
similar strategies to suppress other [countries] while at the same
time strengthening itself: taking advantage of the unique edge
enjoyed by the U.S. currency in the global financial system and
dispersing the crisis to other countries, and beating down or even
destroying, those countries that are on the rise. The financial
storm in Asia [in 1997] was a typical 'financial/currency war,'
which resulted in significant depreciation of the Asian currencies
against the greenback, in order to reduce import prices and the
inflation rate in the United States. That way [the United States]
was able to take over businesses that either went bankrupt or whose
value dropped considerably by paying very low prices and thereby
stimulating the [market's] needs for U.S. dollars. If one looks at
the current financial tsunami from such a perspective, [one can tell
that] neither Washington nor Wall Street is as fragile as tofu and
they will not easily collapse at the first blow. Instead, [the way
Washington handled the financial crisis] contains a shrewd strategic
intent and implies a model of re-distribution of global wealth:
interests [go to] the United States while risks are shared by the
globe. The United States is thus a one hundred percent
'unilateralist' hegemon! Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it
has become the super hegemon of the world."

YOUNG

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