Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TAIPEI1283
2007-06-07 10:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:  

TAIWAN REACTS TO COSTA RICA BREAK

Tags:  PREL TW CR 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5554
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6882
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 0134
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0162
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0117
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RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 0254
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RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA 0149
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RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1937
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0317
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8137
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1144
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5905
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001283 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/04/2032
TAGS: PREL TW CR
SUBJECT: TAIWAN REACTS TO COSTA RICA BREAK

Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reason 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001283

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/04/2032
TAGS: PREL TW CR
SUBJECT: TAIWAN REACTS TO COSTA RICA BREAK

Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reason 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: In a June 7 press briefing, FM James Huang
announced Taiwan was severing relations and ceasing
cooperation projects with Costa Rica after having confirmed
that San Jose was switching diplomatic recognition to the
PRC. Huang blamed Beijing for unrelenting "suppression" of
Taiwan in the international arena and offered his resignation
to take "political responsibility" for the loss. President
Chen rejected the resignation, saying Huang was not at fault,
and accused Beijing of "buying" Costa Rica with a total
assistance and debt relief package valued at USD 430 million.
The loss of this long-standing ally will heighten concerns
over the possibility of a cascading "domino effect"
throughout Central America and the Caribbean, which hold half
of Taiwan's remaining 24 diplomatic partners. End Summary.

Damage Control
--------------


2. (SBU) In a press briefing at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday June
7, Foreign Minister James Huang announced that Taiwan was
severing diplomatic relations with Costa Rica after having
confirmed that San Jose had decided to switch recognition to
the PRC. Expressing regret over President Arias' decision,
and claiming it had resulted from "financial promises and
pressure" from Beijing, Huang stated that Taipei would cease
all cooperation projects with San Jose. Huang detailed the
Foreign Ministry's sustained efforts to monitor the situation
and hold on to this formerly close ally in Central America.


3. (SBU) Huang pointed out that prior to becoming president
last year, Arias had already expressed interest in switching
recognition to Beijing. Taipei had noted with "great
concern" Arias' meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing at the UN last September and Costa Rica's vote
against Taipei's bid to join the WHO this May. Huang
insisted that Costa Rica's plan to change recognition to
Beijing was long-term and not a reaction to recent
developments, such as Taiwan's application to join WHO or its
recent success in persuading St. Lucia to switch from Beijing
to Taipei.


4. (SBU) Taiwan had sought by all possible means to shore up
relations with Costa Rica and convince Arias, a Nobel Peace

Prize winner, that his country's best interests lay with
continuing its 60-plus year relationship with a democratic,
free Taiwan rather than an autocratic Communist China, Huang
said. Nevertheless, he acknowledged, his ministry's efforts
were not enough to counteract Beijing's unrelenting
"suppression," and Huang offered his resignation to take
"political responsibility" for the loss. President Chen
Shui-bian later in the day declined to accept Huang's
resignation, saying the loss was not Huang's fault and
accusing Beijing of "buying up" Costa Rica with a total
package valued at USD 430 million.


5. (C) FM Huang told the Director that he still might
insist on resigning to allow President Chen a free hand to
manage this latest crisis, but by end of day the absence of
Taiwan media coverage on this side show suggests Huang will
stay on, at least for now. Comment: That said, a primary
responsibility of Taiwan's foreign minister is to protect its
diplomatic stable, so Huang will continue to face some
pressure to step down, particularly if other alliances falter
in the coming days. End Comment.

Domestic Fallout
--------------


6. (C) President Chen and Foreign Minister Huang have
strongly criticized Beijing for promising an "astronomical
amount" of money to pick off one of Taipei's longest-held,

TAIPEI 00001283 002 OF 003


staunchest allies--since 1944--in the region. President Chen
argued that Beijing would continue to "suppress" Taiwan and
keep up its diplomatic offensive even if the opposition
Kuomintang were in power. He pointed out that PRC-controlled
Hong Kong had denied Ma Ying-jeou a visa in 2005. In an
indirect reference to Ma and the KMT, Chen also asserted that
policies of "appeasement" would fail to deter Beijing.


7. (C) Opposition KMT legislators predictably rushed to
attribute this latest diplomatic setback to inept diplomacy
by the Chen administration, stressing the root cause was
President Chen's confrontational approach to Beijing and
cross-strait relations. Legislator and former FM John Chiang
(Hsiao-yen),grandson of former President Chiang Kai-shek,
charged that Chen had pursued a "mistaken" foreign policy
strategy that "enflames" Beijing, such as pushing for entry
into international organizations like the WHO under the name
"Taiwan." Chiang also criticized the Taiwan Foreign Ministry
for incompetence, predicting that another 4-5 diplomatic
partners might defect to Beijing by the time Chen steps down
in May 2008.

The First Domino?
--------------


8. (C) With the loss of Costa Rica, Taiwan now has 24
diplomatic partners, down from 29 when President Chen took
office in 2000. MOFA officials have previously expressed to
AIT concern that the loss of an important ally like Costa
Rica in a region like Central America, where Taiwan held
solid diplomatic sway, could prompt other partners there and
in the Caribbean to bolt. Nicaragua and Panama are commonly
mentioned as most vulnerable. So far Taiwan has managed to
retain Nicaragua despite leftist Daniel Ortega's election to
the presidency last November, in part because of Taipei's
large investment in textiles and foreign assistance programs
there. To shore up relations in the region, Vice President
Annette Lu is planning a trip next month. President Chen is
also planning a summit with Central American heads-of-state
in the region later this summer.


9. (C) National Chengchi University Professor Yen Chen-shen
told AIT that countries which seek a more prominent role for
themselves in international or regional forums have "no
choice" but to recognize the PRC. Yen pointed to the example
of Senegal, which switched relations to Beijing in 2005 as it
sought to become a leader in Francophone Africa. Tamkang
University Professor Kung Kwo-wei recently told AIT that each
country in Central America has its own particular interests
in maintaining relations with Taiwan. If a key partner such
as Cost Rica or Panama switched recognition to Beijing,
however, it could encourage other Central American states to
begin reassessing their relationship with Taipei, though they
would be unlikely to break relations immediately, Kung
predicted.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) In damage control mode, the Foreign Ministry and
President Chen hope the public will buy their argument that
Beijing and not the DPP administration is to blame for this
latest diplomatic reversal. Criticizing Beijing is good
politics in an election year because it allows the DPP to
score points against the opposition KMT for naivite in its
rush to cozy up to the PRC. By detailing MOFA's diplomatic
efforts, Huang sought to undermine the KMT argument of
administration ineptness and also to protect his own
position. Other than a possible shift down the road by
Nicaragua, Taiwan expects to hold on in Central America for
the near term. Nonetheless, the longer term prospects do not
look good because the larger countries that recognize Taiwan
will be vulnerable to the lure of a "rising China."

TAIPEI 00001283 003 OF 003


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