Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ULAANBAATAR450
2006-06-13 06:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Cable title:  

Foreign Policy Advisor on Shanghai Cooperation

Tags:  PREL MARR MG UZ CH RU IR 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHGH
DE RUEHUM #0450 1640616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130616Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9990
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2287
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5049
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1510
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 0147
RUEHSTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0122
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0014
UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000450 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MARR MG UZ CH RU IR
SUBJECT: Foreign Policy Advisor on Shanghai Cooperation
Organization

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000450

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MARR MG UZ CH RU IR
SUBJECT: Foreign Policy Advisor on Shanghai Cooperation
Organization

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor
Tsogtbaatar, on his own initiative, met with DCM and

SIPDIS
Ppoloff to brief on Mongolia's position at the
forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
summit in Shanghai. Tsogtbaatar said President
Enkhbayar would depart on June 14 for the summit, but
would spend the minimum amount of time there because of
the need to return for the visit of Dutch Crown Prince.
He said Enkhbayar would have time only for bilaterals
with Presidents Putin, Hu Jintao, and Nazarbayev.


2. (SBU) Tsogtbaatar said Enkhbayar would use his
five5-minute speaking opportunity to describe
Mongolia's desire to establish a nuclear free zone, and
describe the dangers of proliferation of WMD and of
violations of the NPT. Enkhbayar will not use the
words "Iran" or "North Korea," but it will be clear
that his words are directed at their nuclear quests,
Tsogtbaatar said.

SIPDIS


3. (SBU) DCM noted our desire to avoid a repetition of
last year's SCO resolution aimed at the Coalition
military presence in Central Asia. Tsogtbaatar replied
that Mongolia had not picked up indications of such a
resolution. Tsogtbaatar opined that Mongolia sees SCO
issues mostly as does the U.S. However, he said,
Mongolia sometimes need to consider how it reflects
these views. Mongolia has no desire to become an SCO
member, he said, and wants to be careful not to give
any basis for appeals to become a member, given its
apparent interest in security issues. Mongolia's main
interest in the SCO would remain economic, he added.


4. (SBU) Tsogtbaatar said Mongolia would complain at
the summit about the level of information given to
observers, which it found insufficient and not really
aided by the recent SCO moves to more clearly define
the status of "members" and "observers." While
Mongolia could often find out relevant information from
members, "observer" should entail some better level of
information than for SCO nonparticipants, he said.
The SCO should not be allowed to just cite the growing
number of observers as evidence of SCO's success; there
had to be some meaning to observer status. Tsogtbaatar
commented that requests to the SCO Secretariat in
Beijing for information too often are rebuffed with the
statement that the staff is unsure whether this
information is releasable to observers. He opined
that, to some extent, such replies reflect genuine
staff confusion in the Secretariat, but said they also
can involve subtle SCO pressure on Mongolia and others
to become members.


5. (SBU) Tsogtbaatar averred that there is pressure on
Mongolia by Russia to become a member over the long-
term, with appeals sometimes funneled through Central
Asian states. There is also pressure from China, he
said, but more indirect. Tsogtbaatar commented that
Mongolia was reassured during the recent visit of the
Indian Foreign Secretary to hear that India also had no
interest in becoming a member, since this would help
avoid a sense of momentum for observer-to-member
conversions.

SLUTZ