NSPO REACTION TO AIT DEMARCHE

S E C R E T AIT TAIPEI 003745 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EC/NP CHRIS KESSLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2016 TAGS: ECON ETTC PREL TSPA TW SUBJECT: NSPO REACTION TO AIT DEMARCHE REF: A. SECSTATE 179400 ¶B. TAIPEI 2926 Classified By: Acting Director Robert S. Wang for reasons 1.4b/d ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: AIT delivered ref A demarche to National Space Program Office (NSPO) Director Lance Wu on October 30. Wu said he understood the U.S. policy on the release of satellite source codes. He said he appreciated and accepted the offer to collaborate with Orbital Systems. Wu said that Asahi TV and a UN organization had requested imagery obtained from Formosat 2 in the wake of the DPRK's nuclear test. He said Taiwan's next space project was to eject a payload from a sounding rocket in the upper atmosphere and recover it. End summary FORMOSAT-3 DEMARCHE DELIVERED -------------- ¶2. (S/NF) AIT ESTH Officer delivered ref A demarche to Lance Wu, Director of the National Space Program Office (NSPO) on October 30 and explained U.S. policy forbids the release of program software to foreign partners of U.S. commercial ventures. AIT explained it was in the U.S. interest to see that Formosat-3 was a success and we were willing to help in any way we could to resolve problems. Wu said he understood the U.S. position and that in the past month he had gotten useful help from Orbital Sciences Corp. and that in some cases NSPO resolved the problems independently. Wu claimed that Formosat-3 could obtain three-dimensional data of the ionosphere that could benefit missile flight performance. CYCLOPS ON HOLD, BROADBAND PENDING EVALUATION -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) Wu said the follow-on project to Formosat-2 or "Cyclops" was put on indefinite hold because Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislator Liao Pen-yen had criticized NSPO for financial mismanagement of the project (not selecting the lowest bid). Wu said the National Security Bureau was the main driver on the "Cyclops" project, a remote-sensing satellite project designed to eventually replace Formosat-2. ¶4. (S/NF) On the military broadband communications satellite project, a NT$150 billion project, 30 percent funded by the National Science Council and the rest by the Defense Ministry (MND),the NSPO has yet to make a recommendation between the Boeing and Northrop companies and submit it to the MND for review. According to Wu, legislator Liao wants to get personally involved in this project, perhaps for personal gain. FORMOSAT 2 AND KIM'S NUCLEAR TEST -------------- ¶4. (S/NF) Wu said Japanese Asahi TV had approached NSPO for imagery of the North Korean nuclear test site. According to an October 22 report from the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun, an unspecified client of NSPO had obtained imagery covering coordinates 41.311 North and 129.114 East near the alleged test site. Yomiuri reported that pictures of the site showed a road slightly skewed after the test. Wu said NSPO provided Asahi with a power point presentation. Wu also said a UN office that was monitoring the nuclear test also had requested imagery from NSPO. All these deals were made through SPOT, the French company that handles satellite imagery sales for Formosat 2. Wu added that if AIT had any special needs for imagery, it should ask NSPO through the National Science Council. INFIGHTING AT NSPO -------------- ¶5. (C) Wu has been grilled by legislators regarding allegations he misused funds in the procurement of Canadian satellite components connected with the German Rapideye satellite system. Wu claimed that his deputy at NSPO, Chen Shao-shing had secretly met with legislator Liao Pen-yen in the U.S. Wu claimed that the meeting was evidence that Chen was conspiring with Liao to get rid of him (Wu). This is the first time Wu has described personnel difficulties within NSPO. ¶6. C) Wu lamented that National Science Council (NSC) Minister Chen Chien-jen (the parent agency of NSPO) was "too soft" and could not be counted on to defend NSPO. (Note. Chen's response to the legislator's allegations was "anyone violating the law will be prosecuted" end note.) ¶7. (C) Wu said he definitely will not be staying on when his term at NSPO ends next Summer. Wu said he regretted having given up his U.S. residence card when he joined NSPO. He intends to get back into scientific research and might seek a position in the private sector. NSPO NEEDS UNCLE SAM -------------- ¶8. C) Wu said NSPO could use some help from the U.S. to advertise its successes with Formosat-3. This would discourage legislators who wanted to sabotage the project for their partisan interests. He suggested that NOAA and NSF could use their influence to make a public statement of the project's accomplishments in weather forecasting and studies of the ionosphere. NEXT STEP: LAUNCH AND RECOVER A SMALL PAYLOAD -------------- - ¶9. (S/NF) Wu also said that NSPO's next project, scheduled for February 2007, was to launch a small payload from their sounding rocket, eject it in the upper atmosphere and then try to recover it at sea. This would require very precise timing, correct trajectory, altitude and velocity inputs to ensure the ejected payload does not hit any rocket components. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Wu did not seem surprised when informed that U.S. software program codes cannot be released to NSPO. It appears that Department's intercession with Orbital Sciences has already produced positive results. AIT believes NSPO can sort out any remaining operational issues directly with Orbital Sciences. Wu may well be preoccupied with his future employment. His experience in this arena suggests Taiwan may face an uphill struggle to convince other Taiwan scientists residing in the U.S. to return to Taiwan and take up leadership positions. END COMMENT WANG