MTAG: TAIWAN EXCON UPDATE

S E C R E T TAIPEI 000270 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/TC AND ISN/MTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2027 TAGS: ETTC PARM KNNP NK TW SN SUBJECT: MTAG: TAIWAN EXCON UPDATE REF: A. STATE 12361 ¶B. STATE 11222 ¶C. SINGAPORE 227 Classified By: AIT Econ Chief Daniel K. Moore, 1.4 B/C ¶1. (S) Summary: AIT Econ delivered Ref A demarche and Ref B recommendations to Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) export control task force head Wally Su (Shi-hwa) on January 31 and February 1. Su's preliminary investigation into Ref A revealed that Roundtop has not made any exports to either Iran or the UAE so far this year. Su provided additional documentation on the Ref B end-users which AIT has forwarded to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR. Action request para 5. End summary. ¶2. (S) In response to Ref A demarche on an imminent shipment of machine tools from Taiwan to Iran via the UAE, BOFT immediately contacted the company manager at Roundtop to request that any such shipment be stopped. However, according to the manager, Roundtop has not made any export to either the UAE or Iran in 2007 and had no such exports pending or planned. BOFT said it would continue to investigate this case and monitor the company. ¶3. (S) Su questioned the ref B recommendation that the two export license applications (WA061222105558002 and WA061226131151002) be return to applicants without action "because there is no evidence of the existence of the end-user." Su immediately confirmed with the exporters that the name and street address of the end-users as given on the application was correct. He wondered why Washington agencies would question their existence, and what evidence would be required to prove their existence. He thought the best solution might be to provide telephone and email contact information for the two companies so that Washington agencies could contact them directly. ¶4. (S) On February 2, Su provided scanned copies of various documents and photos related to the two Iranian companies. These include the business license, inter-company correspondence, narrative business history, passport datapages of company officials, schematic drawings and photos of factories, and fax, telephone, and email contact information. AIT has forwarded these documents via unclass email to EAP/TC and ISN/MTR. ¶5. (S) Action request: Please advise on whether the emailed documents are deemed sufficient proof that the Iranian end-users exist and the export licenses can be approved, or, alternatively, what evidence is required to prove the existence of these companies. WANG