JAPAN ON TAIWAN OBSERVER STATUS BID FOR WHA

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 002439 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR OES/IHA AND EAP/TC LEVY E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2016 TAGS: TBIO PREL JA TW WHO SUBJECT: JAPAN ON TAIWAN OBSERVER STATUS BID FOR WHA REF: STATE 66826 Classified By: EST M/C Joyce B. Rabens for Reason 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 6. ¶2. (SBU) ESToff met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Global Issues Department Official Yuka Fujino on May 2 to discuss the U.S. position on the Taiwan observer status bid in advance of the World Health Assembly (WHA). He drew from the points sent in reftel demarche but did not leave a non-paper. ¶3. (C) Fujino thanked ESToff for the information. Tokyo also welcomes the MOU between China and the WHO signed last year and supports Taiwan's participation in technical health-related meetings. Fujino said that Tokyo's current position is that it "supports the discussion on Taiwan's observership." When ESToff asked for further clarification, Fujino responded that the ambiguity was there because Tokyo is still considering its official position. Tokyo does not plan to make any statements during the Two-by-Two debates, but will most likely make some type of a general statement at the plenary underscoring the importance of active participation in health related meetings and processes of all parties regardless of political borders or situations. Fujino explained that in the end, Tokyo was moving in the direction of Washington's position. ¶4. (C) Fujino asked several follow-up questions regarding the U.S. position. She wondered how the United States envisioned Taiwan's unilateral assumption of the IHRs to materialize and how Taiwan's reporting would be accepted by the WHO. If there is an emergency and the WHO needs to enter Taiwan, which government authorities would the WHO approach to authorize it? Would it be Taipei or Beijing? She also asked if it was confirmed that the U.S. would not participate in the Two-by-Two debates given that the U.S. delegation does not intend to speak on the issue of Taiwan observer status. ¶5. (C) Finally, Fujino asked if ESToff could confirm whether the U.S. had any plans to ask for a vote on Taiwan's status at the WHA. She said that since other parties have also focused on the question of Taiwan's WHO status during their discussions with Japan, the U.S. position would be useful information for Tokyo to consider. Fujino explained that if support for Taiwan's observer status does not increase, such a vote would be counterproductive. On the other hand, even if there is a relatively small increase in the number of supporters, this could signal to other parties that positions are changing and more countries support Taiwan's observer status. ¶6. (U) Action request: Post requests any further information EST can use to respond to Fujino's questions as MOFA prepares for the late May WHA. DONOVAN