NETHERLANDS/EU/CHINA ARMS EMBARGO: LOCAL TAIWAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002023 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2014 TAGS: PREL PARM MARR PHUM CH TW NL EUN SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/EU/CHINA ARMS EMBARGO: LOCAL TAIWAN OFFICIALS WEIGH IN REF: A. THE HAGUE 1846 ¶B. THE HAGUE 1796 (NOTAL) ¶C. THE HAGUE 1779 (NOTAL) ¶D. THE HAGUE 1660 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY POLITICAL COUNSELOR ANDREW J. SCHOFER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Taiwanese representatives in The Hague are engaging the Dutch government and parliamentarians in an effort to slow down the EU's rush to lift its arms embargo on China. Several parliamentarians have expressed sympathy for the Taiwanese position, but do not want to undercut the Dutch EU presidency by forcing the issue. Dutch commercial relations with China have also been cited as a reason for supporting lifting the embargo. Taiwanese efforts here (and elsewhere in Europe) could help raise the public profile of the embargo issue, particularly with regard to regional stability. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) PolCouns and PolMilOff were invited to meet with Siao-Yue Chang, Head of the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands and her colleague Steve C.C. Hsia on August 10 to discuss the EU's China arms embargo. EmbOffs outlined U.S. concerns about a possible lift of the EU's embargo as well as Mission's efforts on this issue in general terms. We noted that we have stressed both regional stability and human rights concerns to the GONL when making our case against lifting the embargo. Chang said she had been in repeated contact with GONL officials to express Taiwan's opposition to lifting the embargo, but was not hopeful about bringing the Dutch government around on this issue. MFA Asia Director Robert Milders reportedly told her that the British have already decided to support lifting the embargo, while Asia Deputy Director Margarita Bot reportedly argued that the Netherlands, as current EU president, had to remain neutral in the matter. ¶3. (C) Chang also described her ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the issue in the Dutch parliament. Opposition MPs -- such as Labor Party foreign affairs spokesman Bert Koenders and Socialist Party foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel -- strongly oppose lifting the embargo, according to Chang, but are basically powerless to affect the government's plans on this issue. Chang has therefore focused her recent efforts on convincing ruling coalition members -- including the Chairman of the Second Chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee, Henk de Haan of the Christian Democrats, and Liberal Party defense affairs spokesman Hans van Baalen -- to push the government to take a stronger stand on the embargo. Although de Haan and van Baalen are sympathetic, Chang said, they also want the Netherlands to have a successful EU presidency, and apparently accept the government's argument that a successful EU-China Summit in December is necessary to achieve this. Chang observed that Dutch commercial relations with China had also been cited as an argument in favor of lifting the embargo. According to Chang, however, Dutch-Taiwan trade was not insignificant -- two-way trade was 5.4 billion USD and the Dutch investment in Taiwan was 2.5 billion USD -- and should be factored into Dutch calculations. ¶4. (C) Chang said her colleagues at Taiwan offices throughout the EU had been instructed to raise the embargo with host governments, and sought advice on which nations might be more receptive to such approaches. Given the U.S. security equities at stake, Hsia asked if the issue had been discussed in a NATO context, and wondered whether it might be useful to do so. In response to a question from Emboffs, Chang assessed that there was little likelihood of Beijing canceling or sabotaging the EU-China summit if the embargo was not lifted, since to do so would be embarrassing for the PRC leadership. ¶5. (C) Comment: The efforts of Chang in the Netherlands will be useful in raising the profile of the embargo issue here. We encouraged her and Hsia to continue to engage with the GONL, particularly with regard to impressing upon Dutch interlocutors the seriousness of the regional security concerns. As noted previously, however, the GONL's narrow focus on hosting successful EU-China summit has so far taken precedence over the human rights and regional security concerns raised by us and others, including the Dutch parliament. In December 2003, for example, the Dutch parliament unanimously supported a resolution opposing the lift of the embargo; the vote, however, was not formally binding on the GONL, and FM Bot told parliament the following January that the government would not block an EU consensus to lift. Parliament has been largely silent on the issue since then. End comment. RUSSEL