DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 001366

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB/TPP/BTA, EB/IFD/OMA, AND
EAP; NSC FOR SHANNON;
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD;
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2010
TAGS: PREL ETRD EINV DR CH TW HA
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS

REF: SANTO DOMINGO 579 (NOTAL)

Classified By: ECOPOL Counselor Michael Meigs.Reason 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Taiwan Foreign Minister Tan-Sun Chen
visited the Dominican Republic February 24-25 to shore up
bilateral relations in response to several recent visits by
PRC officials. President Fernandez announced that he would
visit Taiwan in April, signalling that he intends to maintain
relations with Taipei for the time being. Dominican Foreign
Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso decorated Chen, and the two
signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations on a free
trade agreement before the end of 2005. Taiwan also donated
US $7.5 million to a high-tech industrial park being promoted
by the Fernandez administration. The Taiwan ambassador here
continues his efforts to attract investment to the Dominican
Republic, which he characterizes as a "serious venue" for
Taiwan's relations with the Caribbean region. End summary.



2. (C) Taiwan,s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, John
Feng, says that recent visits to the Dominican Republic have
added to Taipei,s concern about its receding diplomatic
relations in the Caribbean. In the past six months, three
Chinese commercial delegations and senior Chinese Communist
Party officials visited Santo Domingo, and 10 Dominican
senators (mostly from the opposition PRD) toured China at the
invitation of PRC authorities.


3. (U) Taiwan,s Foreign Minister Tan-Sun Chen countered
these Chinese initiatives with a trip to the region last
month to visit Haiti and, on February 24-25, the Dominican
Republic. Chen and his party called on President Fernndez,
Vice President Rafael Albuquerque, legislative leaders and
Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso.


4. (SBU) The results in Santo Domingo:

- - Fernandez accepted an invitation for himself, First Lady
Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, and Morales Troncoso to visit
Taiwan. The president plans a two-day stopover on a trip in
mid-April that will include an international financial
meeting in Okinawa and stops in Singapore and Tokyo.
Dominican MFA Asia director Miriam Nadal says this visit will
reaffirm Dominican ties to the Taiwan government, which date
back to 1947.

- - Chen and Morales Troncoso signed a letter of intent to
begin negotiating a free trade agreement before the end of
the year. "We,ve been trying to do this for many years, but
until now the Dominicans were unreceptive," Ambassador Feng
said.

- - Taiwan donated US $7.5 million to a government-planned
"Instituto Tecnologico de las Americas," a project designed
to attract private investment in information processing and
related activities. The grant will help pay for
infrastructure such as buildings, computer servers, and
emergency power.

- - Chen received a decoration from the Dominican Government.
Both sides affirmed their goal of increasing political,
cultural, and economic exchanges.

Two-Way Trade and Investment
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


5. (SBU) Feng said the Dominican Republic imports about USS
100 million worth of goods and services from Taiwan annually
and exports only about USD 6 million; trade figures for the
PRC are almost identical. Taiwan private investments here
total about USD 100 million, while China has virtually none.
Feng noted the difficulty his embassy had had in attracting
Taiwan investors here. He said State Investment Council
chair Eddy Martinez and Agriculture Secretary Amilcar Romero
had just returned from a trip to Taiwan, accompanied by
Dominican entrepreneurs, to seek foreign investors.


6. (U) There are some 500 Chinese from Taiwan and 60 Taiwan
businesses in the Dominican Republic. In contrast, Feng
said, Haiti has only 7 or 8 persons from Taiwan, representing
2 families and 2 businesses.

Comment
- - - -


7. (C) The announcement of Fernandez,s upcoming visit to
Taipei lends weight to the MFA,s oft-repeated line to us
that "there is no change in the position of the Dominican
Republic."
HERTELL