TAIWAN REQUESTS U.S. ASSISTANCE ON WHO, OTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000860 SIPDIS SEOUL PLEASE PASS TO AMBASSADOR MORIARTY; STATE PLEASE PASS TO AIT/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2015 TAGS: PREL ETRD KIPR KDEM TW IPR SUBJECT: TAIWAN REQUESTS U.S. ASSISTANCE ON WHO, OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS REF: A. MESERVE-PAAL E-MAIL OF 2/23 ¶B. PALMER-MOORE E-MAIL OF 2/23 Classified By: AIT Director Douglas H. Paal, Reason: 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (C) Summary. MOFA International Organizations Director-General John Chen expressed appreciation to the Director February 24 for U.S. assistance on Taiwan participation in WHO International Health Regulations (IHR). Chen, however, requested further U.S. help to modify the terms of the PRC-WHO agreement, in response to which the Director was not encouraging. Chen and the Director also discussed Taiwan participation in APEC, and Chen handed the Director a list of international organizations that Vice Foreign Minister Michael Kau intends to raise during his early March visit to Washington. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) John Chen (CHEN Chung),who assumed his new position as Director-General of the MOFA International Organization (IO) Department in early January, met with the Director on February 24 to discuss Taiwan participation in WHO, APEC and other international organizations. Chen, who will accompany Political Vice Minister Michael Kau (Ying-mao) to Washington in early March, also gave the Director a White Paper containing the issues and organizations that VFM Kau intends to raise in Washington (paper faxed to EAP/TC). WHO -------------- ¶3. (C) Dir-Gen Chen expressed appreciation to the Director for U.S. assistance in extending applicability of the International Health Regulations (IHR) to include Taiwan. The Director responded that there appeared to have been some progress in Geneva the day before, February 23, when WTO members adopted the principle of universal applicability for the IHRs. In turn, he said, the U.S. was grateful that Taiwan and its diplomatic allies had not again raised the proposal to amend Article 65 to extend coverage of the IHRs to any "territory exercising competence over its external health relations,8 because the PRC had indicated that it would withdraw its concessions if there were further mention of Article 65. We hoped there would be direct discussions between WHO and "Taipei CDC" on a proposed exchange of letters, discussions to which the PRC had agreed on the condition that there was no publicity. The Director explained that the PRC had concurred that WHO teams could go to Taiwan in the event of another public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),subject only to WHO notification of the Chinese mission in Geneva. If the WTO-Taiwan letters were exchanged and the IHRs were formally adopted at the WHA, the effect would be to make Taiwan a de facto party to the IHRs. This would be a major contribution to the public health of people in Taiwan and all areas having transportation links with Taiwan. The U.S., the Director concluded, looked forward to continuing to cooperate on implementing the entire package. (AIT will also deliver the above message in Ref A to Taiwan CDC.) ¶4. (C) Chen reiterated Taiwan,s appreciation for US assistance on the IHRs. Taiwan, he went on, hoped the WHO-PRC side agreement would not contain language detrimental to Taiwan, pointing to wording such as "territories and provinces of China" and the term &Taiwan China,8 the latter of which, he said, was unacceptable to Taiwan. He also protested the requirement to notify the PRC Mission in Geneva before sending a WHO team to Taiwan. The Director responded that he understood this was part of an all or nothing package but promised to report Chen,s comments to Washington. APEC -------------- ¶5. (SBU) As the new IO Director-General, Chen also serves as Taiwan,s senior APEC official. Chen said that he would be attending the SOM in Seoul next week and confirmed that he had a meeting arranged there with U.S. APEC Senior Official Lauren Moriarty. ¶6. (SBU) The Director conveyed the points on APEC contained in Ref B on USG priorities for APEC in the coming year. Chen responded, in general terms, to a number of points as follows: -- Trade: Chen responded that although he was not yet fully briefed on the details of the APEC agenda, Taiwan supported the USG position on advancing the Doha Development Agenda, adding that Taiwan had a number of issues on agricultural trade, but was prepared to deal with them in promoting the DDA. (Comment. Chen was apparently referring to Taiwan,s membership in the G-10, which has been opposing agricultural trade reform in the Doha round. In the past, Taiwan economic and foreign affairs officials have blamed the Council of Agriculture for Taiwan,s obstructionist position on liberalizing agricultural trade. It is not yet clear if Taiwan is prepared to shift its position in this area, but we welcome Chen,s indication that at least parts of Taiwan,s bureaucracy recognize the disconnect between Taiwan,s overall support for trade liberalization while pushing to block liberalization of trade in agricultural goods. End comment.) -- Digital Issues: Chen expressed appreciation for USG recognition of Taiwan,s contributions in the digital area. After some consultation with his colleagues, he said that Peru, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam all supported Taiwan,s proposals on digital issues. -- Security: Again, Chen did not have a detailed response, other than to say that Taiwan supported USG efforts to provide better security for both radioactive sources and shipping containers. -- Transparency and IPR: Chen noted that working on transparency, anti-corruption and enhanced intellectual property rights was in Taiwan,s own interest. The Director interjected that Taiwan still needed to enhance its protection for intellectual property. -- Disaster Relief: Chen initiated the conversation on disaster relief, suggesting that APEC member economies needed to act like a community in responding to disasters. He proposed that APEC consider identifying an internal focal point, perhaps the Deputy Secretary General, to deal with disaster issues and that each member should also identify a focal point for disaster issues. The Director noted the U.S. view that APEC had little to contribute in providing immediate assistance, but could add value in disaster preparedness and long-term commercial recovery efforts. Chen responded that Taiwan had useful experience to share based on its efforts to provide immediate assistance after the September 21, 1999, earthquake in central Taiwan and long-term economic recovery of the area. Community of Democracies -------------- ¶7. (C) Although the Community of Democracies (CD) was under the purview of MOFA,s NGO Department, Chen explained, he wanted to emphasize Taiwan,s hope that it would be invited to the April CD Ministerial Meeting in Santiago. Taiwan participation, he argued, could serve as an impetus for democracy in non-democratic China, much as Taiwan,s earlier application to join the WTO had challenged China and compelled it to rush to catch up with Taiwan. ¶8. (C) The Director responded that he was not sure whether Chile had begun to formally issue invitations to the Ministerial, but that the U.S. had regularly and consistently supported Taiwan,s participation in the CD. In any event, he continued, Taiwan should adopt a larger strategic perspective. After months of rising cross-Strait tensions, in significant part because of provocative rhetoric from Taiwan, there had been a number of positive moves in recent weeks. China certainly saw its WHO agreement as a step forward in cross-Strait relations. In the process of improving cross-Strait relations, there would always be some things that Taiwan liked and some things that it did not like. The Anti-Secession Law was an example of the latter. Progress would continue to be mixed, and a broader strategic perspective would go a long way in continuing the recent positive trend. Taiwan IO White Paper -------------- ¶9. (C) Chen handed the Director a two-page paper (faxed to EAP/TC) requesting U.S. support for Taiwan participation in the following organizations: (1) World Health Organization (WHO): Obtain observer status (see paras 3-4 above). (2) World Customs Organization (WCO): For the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" to be invited to meetings of the Harmonized System Committee and Enforcement Committee as an observer, and further steps to resolve issue of Taiwan participation in WCO. (3) Group of Earth Observation (GEO): Obtain permission to attend meetings and, in the long term, obtain observer status. (4) Kimberley Process (KP): Participate as separate entity with WTO-like nomenclature; &Taiwan, Province of China8 and &Taiwan, China8 absolutely unacceptable to Taiwan. (5) Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (Egmont Group): Prevent PRC blocking Taiwan membership. (6) Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APC): Continue with &Chinese Taipei8 name, and prevent PRC changing to "Taipei, China." (7) International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL): Participate in Interpol's Global Communication System. (8) Community of Democracies: (See paras 7-8 above). Biographical Note -------------- ¶10. (U) John Chen (CHEN Chung) worked very closely with AIT as Secretary-General of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, the Taipei headquarters for Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO) in the U.S., March 2004-January 2005. Earlier he served as Director of TECO in Miami (2002-2004) and Deputy Director of TECO in New York, 1997-2002. He served for six years in Taiwan missions in Singapore and Brunei Darussalam (1986-1992),after which he served for two years as a Section Chief in the International Organizations Department of MOFA. Chen was born on May 20, 1953, in a small village on the west coast of Taiwan. He received his B.A. in English literature at Tamkang University. After joining the foreign service in 1982, Chen studied at Warnborough College, Oxford, England in 1982-83. Chen regularly plays golf and tennis, using these recreational activities to cultivate a wide range of contacts both inside and outside of the Taiwan government. ¶11. (C) Chen was an energetic and effective advocate for solving U.S.-Taiwan issues in his previous position as Director-General of TECRO, and we believe he will bring his formidable energy to his new position, where he should be a positive force for cultivating Taiwan's participation in APEC. With his earlier service as an IO Section Chief, he arrives in IO well-versed in the lore of APEC and other international organizations. PAAL