CHINESE AND KOREAN AMBASSADORS' PERSPECTIVES ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000570

SIPDIS



SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/AS TSHANNON
DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/BSC DBARNES, CCROFT, BFRIEDMAN AND SMURRAY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016
TAGS: PREL ECON ETRD PINR OTRA CH JA KS UY
SUBJECT: CHINESE AND KOREAN AMBASSADORS' PERSPECTIVES ON
LATIN AMERICA

REF: STATE 70035

Classified By: Charge D'Affaires James D. Nealon
for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: Charge met separately with Ambassadors from
the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and South Korea to
discuss regional perspectives in the wake of Assistant
Secretary Shannon's trip to Asia on April 8-15. Chinese

SIPDIS
Ambassador Wang Xioyuan said he had been briefed on A/S
Shannon's visit to Asia, and termed his engagement "important
and constructive." Korean Ambassador Tae-Shin Jang also said
he had been briefed on the Assistant Secretary's visit to
Asia and similarly characterized it as constructive. Both
Ambassadors implied that Uruguay was not especially
significant for their respective countries, but that their
missions were needed to maintain a presence in the region.
Charge has also requested a meeting with the Japanese
Ambassador (who has been traveling) and expects to consult
with him when he returns. End Summary.

China
--------------


2. (C) Charge met June 16 with Ambassador Wang at his
residence. Wang arrived in Uruguay three months ago from
Equatorial Guinea. He has served previously in the region,
in Cuba and Mexico. He speaks excellent Spanish. Charge
opened the conversation by mentioning Assistant Secretary
Shannon's recent trip to Asia, and the Ambassador cut in and
said "Yes, I've been briefed on the visit. It was important
and constructive." Wang told Charge that he is here to
"improve trade". He said that China's current trade in Latin
America is about 50 billion dollars per year, and that "it
needs to be much more." He added that fourteen billion
dollars of trade is with Brazil and five billion is with
Argentina. Regarding political developments in the region,
Wang refused to be drawn in saying, that "We have good
relations throughout the region. Political labels like left
and right are not important to us." The issue of Taiwan did
not surface.


3. (C) Turning to the PRC's relations with Uruguay, Wang
couldn't put a figure on total Uruguay-China trade. When
asked, as the press has reported, if Uruguay has approached
China about a Free Trade Agreement (FTA),Wang laughed and
said "I've read the same stories. I've had neither formal nor
informal talks about free trade, though I would like to." He
opined that Uruguay should emulate Chile and open up to the
world and reported that China's FTA with Chile, negotiated in
less than a year, has led to a boom in trade between the two
countries. Asked about Chinese investment in Uruguay, Wang
said there are three substantial investments: a hardware
company selling to the state-owned fixed-line telephone
company, a small fishing fleet and an effort to assemble
trucks in the Colonia free zone, which has been on-and
off-again. On bilateral trade, Wang said that China is
Uruguay's top customer for wool. China buys very little
beef, because Uruguay cannot compete with Australia on price.
Uruguay sells some high-end beef for tourist restaurants,
Wang said.

Korea
--------------


4. (C) Charge met on June 20 with Korean Ambassador Jang.
Jang speaks excellent English and some Spanish, having served
previously in Norway, Peru, Russia and Indonesia. He has an
MA from SAIS, and his wife attended the University of
Maryland. The couple has an eight-year old son living with
them. Jang is reportedly recovering from liver cancer and
sticks to a strict diet of Korean food. He enjoys Karaoke
singing and has a wry sense of humor.


5. (C) Jang had also been briefed on A/S Shannon's meetings
in Korea, and termed them "constructive." Jang described

Korean-Uruguayan relations as excellent, "but there is very
little going on", and indicated that Seoul was not much
interested in Uruguayan domestic politics. Bilateral trade
is 60 million dollars a year, "negligible" according to Jang.
Korean businessmen know nothing about Uruguay and it is hard
to get them interested. The internal market is too small, he
said, and Mercosur doesn't work well enough for Uruguay to be
attractive as a regional center. He said that Korean products
are too expensive to compete here, especially because of
shipping costs. Korea has not considered an FTA with Uruguay
because the trade volume wouldn't justify the time and
effort. Korean investment in Uruguay is tiny. Its largest
investment is in a fleet of 40 high seas fishing boats,
though Koreans (Reverend Moon group) owns the downtown
Radisson hotel and the daily newspaper "Ultimas Noticias".


6. (C) Turning to the region, Jang described Korean relations
with Latin American countries as "excellent" across the
board. He noted that China has done a superb job of
cultivating a soft, benign image in the region, in direct
contrast to the current image of the United States in Latin
America. He said that, ironically, China is now seen in many
places as neutral, whereas the U.S. is perceived as having a
political agenda. (Note: In another setting, Jang said he
believed that the US handling of North Korea was purposely
"bellicose" to justify the presence of the Seventh Fleet and
US military bases in the Far East."

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Chinese Ambassador Wang was predictably guarded in his
comments about his country's activities in Uruguay and the
region. Korean ambassador Jang, while more forthcoming,
downplayed the importance of Uruguay to Korea and obviously
enjoyed being at post that was quiet and not high on Seoul's
radar screen. Both diplomats appeared willing to engage in
future conversations about Latin America in the future. End
Comment.
Nealon