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