TAIWAN SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO NORTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 003551 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2031 TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM KN TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST REF: A. SECSTATE 172816 ¶B. TAIPEI 2800 Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reason 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) AIT Director conveyed Ref A talking points on UNSCR 1718 to NSC Secretary-General Chiou I-jen, and Pol Chief conveyed them separately to MOFA Director-General for NORTH American Affairs Leo Lee, on October 17. The Director expressed appreciation for Taiwan's serious attention to proliferation issues, both with respect to NORTH KOREA and also other potential proliferation problem countries, like Iran. He stressed the high level of attention being paid to this matter by Washington. ¶2. (C) Chiou responded that he had just chaired an interagency meeting this morning with relevant agencies specifically to follow up on UNSCR 1718 implementation. At that meeting, Chiou told DIR, he made four points on actions he has taken this week: --Directed the economic ministries to further tighten up the list of prohibited items for export, to which 300 sensitive items had recently been added. --Directed MOFA to review procedures for all NORTH Korean visitors to Taiwan, with the aim of further tightening procedures. --Instructed the Executive Yuan (EY) to draft revisions to existing trade and banking laws, specifically with an eye to requirements under UNSCR 1718. --Called for these directives to be reviewed at an Executive Yuan meeting on October 25. ¶3. (C) Wherever possible, Chiou continued, the government will look to implement procedures promptly via EY implementation of executive powers; otherwise, the relevant draft language will be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for swift legislative action. ¶4. (C) At MOFA, POL Chief expressed appreciation for Taiwan's various statements condemning the NORTH Korean nuclear tests (See Ref B) and thanked Taipei for its cooperation on a range of non-proliferation issues. Director-General Lee reiterated President Chen Shui-bian's Oct 9 statement that condemned the NORTH Korean nuclear test as a "serious act of provocation" and a threat to the stability of the Korean peninsula and the East Asia region. He also stressed that Taiwan sees itself within the camp of democratic nations seeking to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue peacefully. Lee told AIT that MOFA was holding a series of internal meetings on October 17 to map out what further steps Taiwan can take on the NORTH KOREA issue. He added that the deliberation would feed into the National Security Council meeting on UNSCR 1718 implementation later that same day. (Note: This meeting was evidently what Chiou described in his discussion with the Director later that same day. End Note.) YOUNG