Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TAIPEI3493
2006-10-12 09:07:00
SECRET
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:
MTAG: TAIWAN DELIVERS IRAN/NORTH KOREA VISA
how-toVZCZCXRO6785 OO RUEHGH DE RUEHIN #3493/01 2850907 ZNY SSSSS ZZH O 120907Z OCT 06 FM AIT TAIPEI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2543 INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5761 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0148 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 4343 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0166 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 8107 RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 9612 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 6974 RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 0393 RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI PRIORITY 0433 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFISS/HQ BICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003493
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/TC AND ISN/MTR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2026
TAGS: ETTC UNSCR TW NKWG
SUBJECT: MTAG: TAIWAN DELIVERS IRAN/NORTH KOREA VISA
INFORMATION
REF: A. TAIPEI 3388
B. STATE 168991
C. STATE 168812
D. STATE 156220
Classified By: AIT Deputy Director Robert S. Wang, REASONS 1.4 B/C
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003493
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/TC AND ISN/MTR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2026
TAGS: ETTC UNSCR TW NKWG
SUBJECT: MTAG: TAIWAN DELIVERS IRAN/NORTH KOREA VISA
INFORMATION
REF: A. TAIPEI 3388
B. STATE 168991
C. STATE 168812
D. STATE 156220
Classified By: AIT Deputy Director Robert S. Wang, REASONS 1.4 B/C
1. (S) As per the agreement reported Ref A, Taiwan has
provided AIT with detailed information on North Korean and
Iranian nationals receiving Taiwan visas for review by
Washington agencies. AIT has forwarded the information via
the State Intranet system to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR. Separately,
AIT delivered to the Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT)
the Washington agency comments contained in Refs B&C on
Taiwan export license applications. End Summary.
2. (S) AIT Econ officers met with Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA) Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) Section Chief
Chou Chung-hsing again on October 12 to exchange compact
disks (CDs) of information useful in combating terrorism and
weapons proliferation.
Taiwan's CDs: The Ying
--------------
3. (S) Taiwan's CDs contained the name, passport number,
date of birth, sex, visa type, number of entries, issue
place, issue date, enter-before date, duration of stay, visa
number, remarks, and a digital photograph for each of the
most recent 10 Iranians and North Koreans granted visas to
travel to Taiwan. Chou explained that the MOFA computer
technicians claimed to have difficulty sorting their visa
database by nationality, so Chou instructed them to manually
select the 10 most recent visa cases for each nationality.
However, Chou said that by the time of the next exchange his
technicians would be able to perform computerized sorting of
the data.
4. (S) Section Chief Chou told AIT that there were 1290
visas issued to Iranian nationals in 2005 and 942 visas
issued to Iranians in 2006 through the end of September.
This compares with only 41 visas issued to North Korean
nationals in 2005 and 51 visas issued to North Koreans in
2006 through the end of September. This averages out to
about 100 visas per month to Iranians and about 3-5 per month
for North Koreans. Chou noted that since Taiwan announced
tighter restrictions on North Korean travel to Taiwan on
September 1 in support of UNSCR 1695 there have been no visas
issued to North Koreans. Taiwan had received one visa
application from a North Korean in Japan who wanted to visit
Taiwan for tourism, but the application was rejected since
under the new restrictions only travel for business or
visiting relatives is permitted.
AIT's CD: The Yang
--------------
5. (S) In return, AIT provided Chou with a CD containing the
September 28 update of the U.S. Treasury Specially Designated
Nationals (SDN) list. Chou commented that Taiwan
periodically received some information on lost/stolen foreign
passports through intelligence channels, but that his
impression was the data was not complete or timely. He said
that Taiwan was still unable to obtain a complete list of
lost/stolen passports similar to the information that
Interpol shares with its members. He also noted that Taiwan
lacks a channel for reporting its own lost/stolen passports
to Interpol, such as the more than 500 Taiwan passports
stolen from a local travel agency on October 5.
The Path to our Goal
--------------
6. (S) Both AIT and MOFA CA view this first data exchange as
a test of a new information-sharing channel. AIT has
transmitted the visa data to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR via the State
Department Intranet system. Both CA and AIT will keep
TAIPEI 00003493 002 OF 002
records of the number of applicants, how long it takes
Washington agencies to provide comments on the applicants,
the number of applicants scoring "hits" indicating suspicious
intentions, and follow-up actions taken by Taiwan
authorities. AIT expects that the testing phase will provide
information essential for planning how to move closer to the
Ref D goal of allowing Washington agencies a chance to review
visa applications prior to adjudication. As noted Ref A,
Section Chief Chou agreed that after the testing phase there
could be more realistic discussions on how to move forward.
Information Delivered
--------------
7. (S) Separately, AIT delivered to BOFT the Washington
agency comments contained in Refs B&C on Taiwan export
license applications. BOFT noted that export license
applications 1, 2, & 14 were for items on the Wassenaar
Arrangement lists.
YOUNG
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/TC AND ISN/MTR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2026
TAGS: ETTC UNSCR TW NKWG
SUBJECT: MTAG: TAIWAN DELIVERS IRAN/NORTH KOREA VISA
INFORMATION
REF: A. TAIPEI 3388
B. STATE 168991
C. STATE 168812
D. STATE 156220
Classified By: AIT Deputy Director Robert S. Wang, REASONS 1.4 B/C
1. (S) As per the agreement reported Ref A, Taiwan has
provided AIT with detailed information on North Korean and
Iranian nationals receiving Taiwan visas for review by
Washington agencies. AIT has forwarded the information via
the State Intranet system to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR. Separately,
AIT delivered to the Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT)
the Washington agency comments contained in Refs B&C on
Taiwan export license applications. End Summary.
2. (S) AIT Econ officers met with Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA) Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) Section Chief
Chou Chung-hsing again on October 12 to exchange compact
disks (CDs) of information useful in combating terrorism and
weapons proliferation.
Taiwan's CDs: The Ying
--------------
3. (S) Taiwan's CDs contained the name, passport number,
date of birth, sex, visa type, number of entries, issue
place, issue date, enter-before date, duration of stay, visa
number, remarks, and a digital photograph for each of the
most recent 10 Iranians and North Koreans granted visas to
travel to Taiwan. Chou explained that the MOFA computer
technicians claimed to have difficulty sorting their visa
database by nationality, so Chou instructed them to manually
select the 10 most recent visa cases for each nationality.
However, Chou said that by the time of the next exchange his
technicians would be able to perform computerized sorting of
the data.
4. (S) Section Chief Chou told AIT that there were 1290
visas issued to Iranian nationals in 2005 and 942 visas
issued to Iranians in 2006 through the end of September.
This compares with only 41 visas issued to North Korean
nationals in 2005 and 51 visas issued to North Koreans in
2006 through the end of September. This averages out to
about 100 visas per month to Iranians and about 3-5 per month
for North Koreans. Chou noted that since Taiwan announced
tighter restrictions on North Korean travel to Taiwan on
September 1 in support of UNSCR 1695 there have been no visas
issued to North Koreans. Taiwan had received one visa
application from a North Korean in Japan who wanted to visit
Taiwan for tourism, but the application was rejected since
under the new restrictions only travel for business or
visiting relatives is permitted.
AIT's CD: The Yang
--------------
5. (S) In return, AIT provided Chou with a CD containing the
September 28 update of the U.S. Treasury Specially Designated
Nationals (SDN) list. Chou commented that Taiwan
periodically received some information on lost/stolen foreign
passports through intelligence channels, but that his
impression was the data was not complete or timely. He said
that Taiwan was still unable to obtain a complete list of
lost/stolen passports similar to the information that
Interpol shares with its members. He also noted that Taiwan
lacks a channel for reporting its own lost/stolen passports
to Interpol, such as the more than 500 Taiwan passports
stolen from a local travel agency on October 5.
The Path to our Goal
--------------
6. (S) Both AIT and MOFA CA view this first data exchange as
a test of a new information-sharing channel. AIT has
transmitted the visa data to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR via the State
Department Intranet system. Both CA and AIT will keep
TAIPEI 00003493 002 OF 002
records of the number of applicants, how long it takes
Washington agencies to provide comments on the applicants,
the number of applicants scoring "hits" indicating suspicious
intentions, and follow-up actions taken by Taiwan
authorities. AIT expects that the testing phase will provide
information essential for planning how to move closer to the
Ref D goal of allowing Washington agencies a chance to review
visa applications prior to adjudication. As noted Ref A,
Section Chief Chou agreed that after the testing phase there
could be more realistic discussions on how to move forward.
Information Delivered
--------------
7. (S) Separately, AIT delivered to BOFT the Washington
agency comments contained in Refs B&C on Taiwan export
license applications. BOFT noted that export license
applications 1, 2, & 14 were for items on the Wassenaar
Arrangement lists.
YOUNG