TAIWAN UPBEAT ON LATEST UN BID

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 002784 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2031 TAGS: PREL UN UNSC UNGA TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN UPBEAT ON LATEST UN BID REF: A. TAIPEI 132517 ¶B. LEE-SCHRAGE LETTER 4 AUGUST 2006 Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reason 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General for International Relations John Chen told AIT on August 14 that Taiwan's latest overtures to the UNGA this year involve bids to gain "recognition" of Taiwan by the UN and to urge UN involvement in maintaining peace in the East Asia region. Chen acknowledged that the PRC would ultimately stifle the two draft resolutions that Taiwan's allies plan to introduce at the next meeting of UNGA, but insisted on characterizing the two resolutions as a "step forward" from previous proposals. He stressed that while maintaining the "Republic of China" designation initially, this year's proposal on participation refers to "Taiwan" throughout the rest of the text. Chen insisted the shift to using "Taiwan" was not "ideologically" driven, but done with the intent to present a clear picture of what the "ROC" represents and to make "Taiwan" more conspicuous. (Note: Director-General Chen made these comments in the course of AIT's presentation of the talking points in Ref A. End Note.) ¶2. (C) Director-General Chen continued by noting that this time around Taiwan was not actually applying for "membership" per se but rather for UN "recognition" of the fact that the ROC has sovereignty over the territory of Taiwan and its outlying islands. This, too, he portrayed as a new tactic, but one which he admitted still has membership as its ultimate aim. Chen also highlighted the change in the second proposal for maintaining peace and security in the East Asia region vice in the Taiwan Strait as in previous years. Arguing that this would be more widely accepted, Chen urged the US to support the "peace proposal," but he did acknowledge that the proposal's focus on the PRC military buildup across the Taiwan strait would intensify PRC objections to the measure. ¶3. (C) Director-General Chen told AIT that MOFA is reviewing other measures it could bring forward in the UN this year or next, such as submitting an application for membership directly to the UN Secretary General. He explained that such a proposal, which MOFA is currently studying, would entail a letter from President Chen Shui-bian directly to UNSG Kofi Annan. (Note: This would apparently be in addition to the current proposal put forward by Taiwan's formal diplomatic allies for "recognition" conveyed by TECRO-Washington to AIT-Washington on August 4 (Ref B) and publicly announced on August 11. End Note.) ¶4. (C) MOFA Section Chief for UN Affairs Bob Chen (Lung-chin) told AIT in a separate discussion that MOFA officials have been under great pressure from President Chen Shui-bian's administration to push bolder, more radical initiatives in the UN. He characterized the August 11 proposal as "more moderate" than other actions MOFA had debated undertaking. ¶5. (C) Comment. Section Chief Bob Chen may have been referring to proposals to drop "Republic of China" completely from this year's UN draft resolution and to use only "Taiwan," a move that would have agitated Beijing more than the yearly Taiwan UN bid ritual and could have been read by Beijing as crossing a "red line" toward independence. Local media and some AIT contacts from the pan-Green camp had told AIT last week that an embattled President Chen was contemplating such a move in an effort to shore up his deep-Green base. In a speech on August 12, President Chen himself publicly suggested that Taiwan should apply to join the UN directly under the name of "Taiwan," calling for a "serious" review of current policies and suggesting the administration would continue to pressure MOFA officials to push the envelope on Taiwan's accession to the UN. End Comment. YOUNG