TAIWAN PRAISES PRC TOURISM VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004572

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/TC
DEPT PASS AIT/W

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2015
TAGS: ECON CH TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN PRAISES PRC TOURISM VISIT

REF: TAIPEI 4310

Classified By: AIT Director Douglas H. Paal, Reason 1.4 d

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Shao Qi-wei, Director of the PRC's China
National Tourism Administration (CNTA) wrapped up a ten-
day trip to Taiwan on November 6. The Taiwan government
took every effort to make Shao's visit a success,
including removing items labeled "Republic of China" from
sites visited and expressing regret for protests against
the visit. At the end of the visit, Shao identified the
Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association as the PRC
organization that would coordinate consultations with
Taiwan on tourism. Taiwan officials hailed the visit as
a success, but political obstacles remain. Further
progress on the tourism initiative is unlikely before
Taiwan's December 3 elections. End summary.

Shao Sees Whole Island but Few Officials
--------------


2. (U) Shao Qi-wei, Director of the PRC's China National
Tourism Administration (CNTA) wrapped up a ten-day trip
to Taiwan on November 6. Shao led a delegation of 65
national and local tourism officials and travel agency
representatives on a comprehensive familiarization tour
of all of Taiwan's major tourist destinations. Stops
included Taipei, Taoyuan, Ali Shan, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
Kenting, Taitung, Taroko Gorge, and Hualien.


3. (C) Shao was invited by the Taiwan Visitors
Association (TVA),an association made up of industry
associations and companies but controlled by the Ministry
of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). According
to Taiwan officials, one of the PRC conditions for the
visit was that Shao would not have any formal meetings
with Taiwan government officials. Taiwan observed this
condition. However, Taiwan officials were guests at some
events that Shao attended. Notably, Legislative Yuan
Chairman Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwan Tourism Bureau Deputy
Director General Lai She-jen, and Mainland Affairs
Council (MAC) Economics Department Director Fu Don-cheng
attended the welcome dinner for Shao on his first night
in Taiwan. Former KMT chairman Lien Chan also attended.
Lai's boss, Taiwan Tourism Bureau Director General Hsu
Wen-sheng, told AIT/T that Taiwan's Legislative Yuan had
threatened to cut his budget if he met with Shao. Shao
met privately with People's First Party (PFP) Chairman
James Soong on the ninth day of the visit. When Shao
visited Taipei's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on the second
day of his visit, MOTC Minister Lin Ling-san was giving a
speech in a different part of the building. Lin invited
Shao to attend the speech, but Shao declined.


4. (U) The Taiwan government took every effort to make
Shao's visit a success. TVA asked hotels and other
locations on Shao's itinerary not to display items with
Taiwan's official name "Republic of China." After Taiwan
groups protested the delegation's visit in Taichung and
Kaohsiung, MAC issued a press release expressing regret
and calling on the people of Taiwan to treat the visitors
as guests.

PRC Identifies Window for Consultations
--------------


5. (U) On the final evening of the visit at a dinner in
Taipei, Shao made a statement confirming the PRC's
commitment to move forward on the tourism initiative.
The most important sign of concrete progress as a result
of the visit was his formal announcement that the Cross-
Strait Tourism Exchange Association (CSTEA) would be the
PRC coordinator for consultations with Taiwan on the
tourism initiative. Taiwan identified the Travel Agency
Association of the Republic of China (TAAROC) as its
coordinating organization in August. (Note: AIT/T has
previously identified this organization as the Travel
Agents Association of Taiwan. Its Chinese name in pinyin
is Zhonghua Minguo Luxing Gonghui Quanlianhui. It is a
relatively new organization formed by combining the
travel agent associations from Taipei and Kaohsiung with
an association that covers the rest of the island. End
note.)
Taiwan Hails Results
--------------

6. (C) MAC issued a press release praising the visit and
calling for further progress. TAAROC Assistant Chairman
Yao Ta-kuang told AIT/T that the visit was very
successful. He said that the two sides had agreed to
arrange consultations based on mutual convenience, noting
that there was no timetable set for discussions.


7. (C) Tourism Bureau's Hsu told AIT/T that Shao's trip
was very useful and highlighted the PRC decision to
identify the CSTEA as its window for consultations.
Previously, he explained, the PRC had only used agencies
that were strictly government entities for such
negotiations. MAC officials also emphasized the
importance of the PRC's decision to identify CSTEA as its
window for consultations, though MAC Chairman Joseph Wu
privately noted to the Deputy Director that this was one
more effort by Beijing to avoid using the word "China,"
as in China National Tourism Administration, to describe
cross-Strait negotiations.


8. (C) Hsu explained that now CSTEA and TAAROC would
proceed through informal communication to resolve the
outstanding issues. Despite lingering security and
immigration concerns at some Taiwan government agencies,
Hsu believes there are no outstanding issues that will be
difficult to resolve. He commented that the only
remaining obstacles were political ones, noting that
TAAROC may have to change the name it uses in these
consultations to remove the ROC label. (Note: Much of
TAAROC's leadership is the same as that of the Taipei
Association of Travel Agents, which would be a more
acceptable nomenclature for the PRC. End note.) Hsu
said that there would be no significant progress on the
tourism initiative before Taiwan's December 3 elections.

Chinese New Year Charter Flights
--------------


9. (C) Pending progress on both Chinese tourists to
Taiwan and regular cross-Strait passenger and cargo
charter flights, MAC's Wu told the Deputy Director,
Taipei is prepared to move ahead quickly on an interim
Chinese New Year charter flight agreement for flights
starting two to three weeks before the Lunar New Year on
January 29 and extending for two to three weeks after the
holiday. Taipei, he told the Deputy Director, expects to
begin negotiating with PRC representatives sometime this
week (November 13-19) using the January 2005 "Macao
Model." Taipei hopes to expand the New Year charter
flights, Wu continued, to include all Taiwan passport
holders and perhaps even foreigners working for Taiwan
businesses in Mainland China.


10. (C) Wu told the Deputy Director that Taipei is also
hoping to expand the number of cities in Mainland China
covered by the New Year charters, but will not accede to
Beijing's request to include Taipei's Sungshan Airport.
Wu explained that Sungshan exclusively served the Taiwan
domestic travel market and no longer had immigration and
customs services. Wu noted that Taiwan had proposed
adding Okinawa as a transit Flight Information Region
(FIR) in addition to the Hong Kong FIR. Flying via
Okinawa's airspace instead of Hong Kong's would shorten
the routes from Taipei to Shanghai and Beijing by 350
miles and 180 miles respectively. (Comment: Taipei also
prefers Okinawa as a transit FIR because it would
strengthen the argument that cross-Strait flights are
international. End Comment.)
Paal