Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TAIPEI413
2007-02-23 08:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:  

CODEL CHABOT TAIWAN VISIT: MEETINGS WITH

Tags:  PGOV PREL EAIR CH TW 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6396
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000413 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAIR CH TW
SUBJECT: CODEL CHABOT TAIWAN VISIT: MEETINGS WITH
PRESIDENT CHEN, PREMIER SU, AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS COUNCIL

REF: A. TAIPEI 0271


B. TAIPEI 0257

Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young. Reason(s):
1.4 (B/D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000413

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAIR CH TW
SUBJECT: CODEL CHABOT TAIWAN VISIT: MEETINGS WITH
PRESIDENT CHEN, PREMIER SU, AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS COUNCIL

REF: A. TAIPEI 0271


B. TAIPEI 0257

Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young. Reason(s):
1.4 (B/D)


1. (SBU) Summary. In his meetings with Taiwan leaders on
February 21, Congressman Steve Chabot urged Taiwan to approve
its 2007 defense budget as soon as possible and pledged the
U.S. will continue to be a strong friend of Taiwan.
President Chen Shui-bian, Premier Su Tseng-chang, and
Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu expressed
appreciation for U.S. congressional support of Taiwan and
complained of PRC efforts to isolate Taiwan internationally.
Su and Wu urged U.S. support for a bilateral FTA. Wu
expressed his hope that tourism and direct cross-Strait
charter flight agreements would be completed in the next few
weeks. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) visited Taiwan
February 20-21, 2007, and held a full day of meetings with
senior Taiwan leaders on February 21. In addition to the
three substantive meetings discussed below, Vice Foreign
Minister Catherine Chang (Hsiao-yueh) hosted a luncheon for
the Congressman on behalf of Foreign Minister James Huang
(Chih-fang),who was unavailable.

President Chen on Defense and Surprises
--------------


3. (C) In his very relaxed and congenial meeting with
Congressman Chabot and the AIT Director, President Chen
Shui-bian's expressed appreciation for the support of the
Congressman, as well as other members of the Congressional
Taiwan Caucus. He particularly stressed Congressman Chabot's
support for closer ties with Taiwan's leaders and his
questioning of the U.S. one-China policy. Congressman
Chabot, in turn, clarified that while he personally was
unhappy with the one-China policy, it was the
administration's policy, and was unlikely to change anytime
soon.


4. (C) Congressman Chabot expressed the concern widespread
among Taiwan's friends in the U.S. over Taiwan's continued
failure to pass a defense budget, including procurement of
new weapons systems. Chen responded that his government will

continue to push the defense budget when the Legislative Yuan
(LY) reconvenes next Tuesday, February 27. He opined that
legislators worried about reelection will realize that voting
for the island's defense is smart politics if they want to
make the tough cut for the December LY elections.


5. (C) At one point Chen gently chided the Director for his
concern "that I would somehow surprise him during my New
Year's Eve remarks, but I told him he should not be worried.
In fact, there was nothing in my New Year's remarks that
should concern the U.S." After the meeting, the Director in
a light mood asked President Chen if the U.S. could be
equally relaxed about the President's upcoming remarks at
next week's commemoration of the sixtieth anniversay of the
1947 February 28 event. Chen laughed, but appeared to get
the point.

Premier Su on Defense, LY Elections, PRC Pressure
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Premier Su Tseng-chang welcomed Congressman Chabot
as Taiwan's "best friend" and expressed appreciation for the
Congressman's years of support for Taiwan. The Congressman
conveyed greetings from Congressional Taiwan Caucus members,
and urged Taiwan to pass its stalled defense budget. Premier
Su nodded agreement, stating that the Chen administration had
proposed increasing the defense budget to 2.85 percent of GDP
this year and 3.0 percent next year. Unfortunately, he said,
the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in the
Legislative Yuan (LY) minority, which enabled the opposition
to block action on the defense budget. The Congressman
responded that he well understood, given the new Republican
minority in the U.S. Congress.


TAIPEI 00000413 002 OF 003



7. (SBU) Premier Su explained that a deep uncertainty grips
Taiwan's legislators, who must fight for nominations for
seats in the next LY, which will be half its current size --
113 instead of the present 225 seats. Because of this
change, Su explained, legislators are obsessed with the
upcoming elections in which he predicted as many as
two-thirds of the current legislators could lose their seats.



8. (SBU) Insisting that only the 23 million people of Taiwan
can determine the future of Taiwan, Premier Su detailed PRC
efforts to isolate Taiwan and block participation in WHO and
other international organizations. At the same time, he
argued, Taiwan is "a lighthouse" for China, a beacon of
democracy and human rights, which was a major reason for
Beijing's discomfort and hostility toward Taiwan. Su
expressed appreciation for Congressman Chabot's opposition to
the U.S. one-China policy and his support for upgrading
Taiwan leadership transits of the U.S. The Congressman
acknowledged his disagreement with U.S. Government policy on
transits, pointing to his bill calling for senior Taiwan
officials to be able to visit Washington and his and Senator
Sherrod Brown's bill to support Taiwan observer status in
WHO. The U.S., he reiterated, will continue to be a strong
friend of Taiwan and will always "be there for Taiwan." He
concurred with Su that the people of Taiwan must determine
Taiwan's future.

MAC Chairman on Cross-Strait Progress, PRC Pressure
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu
(Jau-shieh) told Congressman Chabot that cross-Strait
discussions are progressing "quite well." The two sides, he
said, are currently discussing tourism and direct charter
flights and should reach an agreement in the next few weeks
to permit 1,000 PRC tourists each day to visit Taiwan via
Hong Kong and Macau (see reftels). At the same time, he
said, the two sides continue to discuss direct charter
flights, initially on weekends, which would allow many of the
PRC tourists to fly directly to Taiwan. In response to the
Congressman's query, Wu said Taiwan authorities are not
concerned about security issues, as the agreement would
permit PRC tourists to visit Taiwan only in groups, which
would be easily monitored. These and the weekend charter
flight discussions would build cross-Strait trust, while the
agreements, in turn, would inform PRC people of the truth
about Taiwan.


10. (SBU) Some other cross-Strait issues, such as Taiwan's
40 percent cap on Taiwan investment in the PRC, Wu noted,
were too divisive to be addressed at this time. Congressman
Chabot asked why Taiwan authorities would want to limit
investment, stressing his belief that business should
generally be allowed to make its own investment decisions.
Wu responded that Taiwan authorities are concerned that
excessive Taiwan investment in the PRC would make Taiwan too
dependent on, and vulnerable to, the PRC. It was to counter
this pressure, Wu argued, that Taiwan hopes for a Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. Congressman Chabot emphasized
his belief that unrestricted investment is the best policy
for Taiwan, and argued that Taiwan investment would actually
increase Taiwan influence in China. While he personally
favors a U.S.-Taiwan FTA, the Congressman continued, this
would be more difficult to accomplish with the new Democratic
Congress, since Democrats tend to be less supportive of free
trade.


11. (SBU) Chairman Wu told Congressman Chabot that he is
concerned the U.S. is preoccupied with Iraq and the DPRK and
unable to focus on East Asian issues. This, he feared, would
allow the PRC to expand its influence in East Asia. At the
same time, he continued, the PRC is working worldwide to
limit and isolate Taiwan. Wu hoped U.S. criticism of Taiwan,
such as the "harsh" February 9 statement on Taiwan's name
changes, would not be the price for PRC cooperation on the
DPRK nuclear issue. Congressman Chabot responded that the
U.S. is committed to Taiwan and there was no reason to be
concerned the U.S. would "sacrifice Taiwan." However, the
U.S., Chabot continued, is concerned that Taiwan has not

TAIPEI 00000413 003 OF 003


passed its 2007 defense budget, including funding for defense
procurement. Even Taiwan's friends in Congress, he
explained, are frustrated, and his own constituents were
asking why the U.S. should be help defend Taiwan if Taiwan is
not willing to defend itself. Wu responded that he fully
agreed, but argued that it is the opposition LY majority
that has blocked passage of the defense budget and U.S.
weapons procurement.


12. (SBU) Sought meetings with KMT leaders Wang Jin-pyng and
Ma Ying-jeou were not possble given the Lunar New Year
holiday.


13. (SBU) Congressman Chabot was not able to review this
message due to his brief time in Taipei.
YOUNG