GOH OFFICIALS: DO NOT WORRY ABOUT MANDATE RENEWAL;

1. (C) Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Jean Raynald
Clerisme January 9 (the day President Rene Preval departed
for Nicaragua) to discuss the Haiti/Taiwan/China issue, which
threatens to affect the renewal of MINUSTAH's UNSC mandate in
February. Citing her previous conversations with Chinese and
Haitian government officials (ref A), she stressed the
importance of MINUSTAH in Haiti's political and economic
future. Security is key to anything the Haitians wish to
do, and without MINUSTAH, that security is seriously in
jeopardy. FM Clerisme told the Ambassador not to worry. Per
his contacts in New York and representatives from the Chinese
commercial office in Port-au-Prince, everything would be
fine. He said that he advised President Preval to keep a low
profile in Nicaragua and to be discreet ("the key word, the
president's word") about Haiti's relationship with Taiwan in
general.



2. (C) FM Clerisme said that five other Caribbean nations
recognize Taiwan. The Ambassador reminded him, however, that
of the five, only Haiti has a UN-mandated peace-keeping
force. He also told the Ambassador that recent MINUSTAH
actions have been remarkable (ref A and B) and that Haitians
need to realize the important role MINUSTAH plays in Haiti's
security. To assuage the Ambassador's concern, Clerisme told
her that the Chinese message is clear and that it resonates
with the GoH. The Ambassador shared her impression that some
Haitian officials seemed to think that the U.S. will "fix"
this problem but that, absent a concrete gesture from the
government, it would be hard for any of Haiti's friends to be
helpful. FM Clerisme again stressed that the GoH knew what
it was doing, and that the Ambassador should not be worried.



3. (C) Subsequent to this conversation, Ambassador called
on the Presidency's Secretary General Fritiz Longchamps.
(Note. Longchamps, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, has
a demonstrably more sophisticated view of Haiti's foreign
policy and its international relations than the incumbent.
End note.) He stressed that Preval fully understands that
MINUSTAH is essential to Haiti's future, to the point that
the president praised it in his latest speech before
Parliament. Haiti has no ability as of yet to protect
itself, Longhcamps averred, quoting the president, and
MINUSTAH, at this point at least, is irreplacable.
Longchamps assured the Ambassador that Preval, although "no
diplomat", recognizes the need to deal with the situation and
"find some way" to address China's concerns when he returns
from Ortega's inauguration. Longchamps did agree with the
Ambassador's statement that it is indeed time to exercise
discretion on this matter.



4. (C) That being said, Longchamps opined that Beijing
had badly overreacted to what was really a techical
discussion in the First Committee and not a policy issue.
Haiti highly valued its relationship with Bejing -- as it
does with Taiwan. In its effort to resolve this matter,
however, Haiti will not be dictated to. Longchamps said that
Beijing's representative here had even demanded that Preval
snub Taiwanese president Chen, who will attend the Ortega
inauguration. This is, Longchamps stressed, a country with
whom Hait has diplomatic relations. You can not expect that
Haiti's president will turn his back on a fellow leader, he
observed and he rhetorically asked why Beijing would push on
this point.



5. (C) Comment. Dealing with Haiti's "China problem" has
become almost a full time job here. Certainly it consumes
our UN counterparts. UNSRSG Mulet is convinced that China
will indeed veto the MINUSTAH mandate renewal "without a
qualm" if Preval does not sign a formal letter of apology.
He flits from one Haitian official to the next in attempt to

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impress upn Preval the importance of the matter. Mulet has a
meeting with Preval's fiancee/counselor Elizabeth Delatour
today to discuss the matter but sees little give on the
issue. Preval seems, in Mulet's view, to be dismissive of
his concerns about China, to the extent that Preval attempted
to bring the Taiwanese Ambassador along on a MINUSTAH
helicopter ferrying the president to his national day
celebrations.



6. (C) Comment continued. Although he has agreed to meet the
Ambassador to discuss China on Thursday, Preval's staff has
let it be known that the president is finding the subject
increasingly tedious. Our Brazilian counterparts (who have
also demarched senior GOH officials on the issue) report that
the Cuban ambassador, who accompanied Preval to Cuba for his
medical test last week, told them that he spent the plane
ride back trying to persuade Preval to meet the Chinese
demands. The President's reaction, according to the report,
"it's not our problem."

SANDERSON