TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON HIZBALLAH, IRAN, AND WHO

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001790

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016
TAGS: PREL ECCT PARM MTCR WHO TBIO IR TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON HIZBALLAH, IRAN, AND WHO

REF: RYAN-TO-YOUNG E-MAIL MAY 23 2006

Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young. Reason(s):
1.4 (B/D)


1. (S) Summary. Taiwan Foreign Minister James Huang told
the Director that Taiwan will respect U.S. sensitivities
regarding both Hizballah and Iran. His unannounced visit to
Lebanon in April was intended to establish friendly relations
and explore commercial opportunities. The meeting with a
Hizballah leader at a reception was unplanned and unexpected.
Taiwan has put on hold its plan to establish a trade Office
in Tehran in deference to U.S. concerns. End Summary.

Taiwan and Hizballah
--------------


2. (S) Israeli Representative to Taiwan Ruth Kahanoff
requested a meeting with the Director on May 22 to discuss
Israel's concerns about contact between Taiwan and Hizballah
in Lebanon. On the tail end of his trip to Africa in early
April, Taiwan Foreign Minister James Huang paid a secret
visit to Lebanon where he was hosted by Lebanese FM Fawzi
Salukh, according to Kahanoff. The Israeli office here
learned that during his visit, FM Huang was introduced to
Hizballah Secretary General Nassrullah. Officials at the
West Asian Department of the Taiwan MOFA confirmed Huang's
meeting with Nassrullah to Kahanoff, but they dismissed it as
merely a courtesy call suggested by FM Salukh.


3. (S) However, Kahanoff said she later learned from an
unidentified country representative in our unofficial corps
here that garrulous NSC Deputy Secretary General Parris Chang
had bragged to him that Taiwan might sell certain sensitive
equipment, including night vision devices, to Lebanon (she
speculated possibly directly to Hizballah but couldn't
further confirm that point) as part of an attempt to curry
favor, and perhaps lead to a diplomatic breakthrough.
Kahanoff subsequently wrote a letter to FM Huang raising
concerns about his meeting with Hizballah, stressing to him
that Hizballah has been designated by both Israel and the
U.S. as a terrorist organization with close links to Iran.
That letter was sent before President Chen's early May trip
to Latin America during which a hoped-for transit stop in
Lebanon fell through; it remains unanswered. Kahanoff
expressed hope that AIT might separately approach the Taiwan
FM to convey our common concerns about Hizballah


4. (S) Following coordination with the Department, the
Director delivered talking points on Hizballah (ref e-mail,
text provided para 10) to FM Huang on May 23. Huang
explained that the purpose of his unannounced April visit to
Lebanon had been to understand the regional situation,
discuss cooperative projects, and explore potential markets
there for Taiwan goods and possible sources for energy
supplies. In Beirut, he met with the Interior Minister and
"a few foreign friends." He did not meet with the Foreign
Minister, whom he understood to be close to Hizballah, nor
had he planned to meet with any Hizballah officials. His
meeting with Hizballah leader Nassrullah at a reception in
Beirut, Huang said, had been unplanned and unexpected. Huang
stressed that he understood the special U.S. sensitivities
regarding Hizballah and emphasized that his initiative in
Lebanon "will by no means challenge U.S. policy." His
Lebanon visit, he reiterated, was intended only to establish
friendly relations and to explore commercial opportunities,
especially securing product markets and energy supplies,
explaining that Taiwan "does not want to put all of our eggs
in one basket," China.

Taiwan Representative Office in Iran
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5. (S) FM Huang then raised Taiwan's desire to establish a
representative office in Iran, noting that he had discussed
this issue with the U.S. in February. Taiwan concluded an

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agreement with Iran a year ago to establish a Taiwan trade
office in Tehran, because Taiwan purchases some USD 2 billion
of products from Iran each year and because Iran represents a
potentially huge market for Taiwan products. The only reason
Taiwan had not proceeded to open an office in Iran, Huang
explained, was because of U.S. concerns, though he was not
sure whether the U.S. had ever specifically requested Taiwan
not to open a trade office in Iran. Although he understood
the timing for opening an office in Iran is particularly
sensitive now, Huang argued that if Taiwan could establish a
trade office in Tehran, it could cooperate with Washington by
exchanging information and by supporting the U.S. policy of
peaceful transformation in Iran.


6. (S) The Director expressed U.S. appreciation for the
close cooperation between AIT and the Taiwan NSC and National
Security Bureau (NSB) in working to prevent Iranian
exploitation of Taiwan's open market and high tech
capabilities. He stressed the importance of staying vigilant
for Iranian government or industry efforts to obtain Taiwan
high tech items that might contribute to development of
missiles and WMD.

Positive Face on Transit
--------------


7. (C) FM Huang pointed to his interview in the current
issue of "The Journalist" magazine (no. 1002),in which he
gave a detailed account of President Chen's transits on his
trip to Latin America. He pointed out that he explained the
flight westward, vice eastward via Alaska, as intended to
avoid embarrassment to Taiwan and the U.S. and as an
opportunity to explore diplomatic initiatives in other
regions. The Director responded that his own public comments
have been in the same vein, emphasizing that U.S.-Taiwan ties
are strong and have not been damaged and that we are looking
forward to enhancing cooperation with Taiwan.

Taiwan at WHO
--------------


8. (C) The Director expressed appreciation for Taiwan's
cooperative attitude on the WHO, in particular its
International Health Regulations (IHR) announcement and its
stance at the WHA yesterday. Noting support from Canada and
New Zealand for Taiwan WHO participation, he stressed that
the U.S. desires to work with Taiwan to enhance its active
participation in WHO activities. Huang responded that Taiwan
had been surprised by the relatively low-key PRC behavior in
Geneva, noting that "We were hoping the PRC would react in
the traditional way."

PRC Squeezing Taiwan's International Space
--------------


9. (C) PRC diplomacy is not always quite so nuanced, FM
Huang continued, pointing to PRC FM Li Zhaoxing's May 18
meeting with the foreign ministers of four of Taiwan's allies
in Mexico City -- a heavy-handed effort "to undermine our
position in Central America." At the meeting, Li accused the
four FMs and their countries of violating the "one China
policy" and hurting the PRC, which he followed with a rather
clumsy charm offensive. Taiwan, Huang noted wryly, "is
fortunate to have Li Zhaoxing as PRC Foreign Minister."

Talking Points Presented to Foreign Minister
--------------


10. (S) The demarche talking points Director delivered to FM
Huang as directed by ref e-mail were as follows:

-- Hizballah is a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Before 9/11, Hizballah was responsible for more American
deaths than any other terrorist organization in the world.

-- The Lebanese Government headed by Prime Minister Siniora

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is working hard to reassert sovereignty and control
throughout the country following Syrian military withdrawal
in April 2005. The GOL made a decision to disarm Palestinian
militias outside refugee camps within six months and the
ongoing "national dialogue" is currently discussing the
status of Hizballah's arms.

-- The international community has repeatedly called for
Hizballah's disarmament through a series of UN Security
Council resolutions, including UNSCR 1559 and 1680.

-- We urge you to avoid meeting with members of Hizballah and
restrict your meetings with Lebanese officials to those
legitimately elected by the Lebanese people. Until Hizballah
renounces violence and disarms, it cannot play a role as a
legitimate political actor. As UN Secretary General Annan
said in his April 2006 report, "Armed militias outside the
control of the government are incompatible with restoration
of Lebanon's sovereignty, unity, and political independence."

-- Hizballah relies on money laundering and other criminal
activity as a means of raising funds. They view criminal
enterprises as a means of diversifying their funding sources.
Hizballah is involved in a wide range of criminal
activities, ranging from trafficking in counterfeit or
pirated goods to sophisticated money laundering, insurance
and credit card fraud schemes.

-- The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Lebanese Hizballah
have been linked to armor-piercing explosives that have
resulted in the deaths of Coalition forces in Iraq.

YOUNG