CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): U.S.- CHINA

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 002000 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/ACV, IO/S, SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) NSC FOR SMITH WINPAC FOR KRON E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2017 TAGS: CH PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): U.S.- CHINA BILATERAL MEETING ON THE MARGINS OF THE TWELFTH CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES Classified By: Permanent Representative Eric M. Javits for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). This is CWC-89-07. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A/S DeSutter requested a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador on November 6, on the margins of the Conference of the States Parties in The Hague, to discuss separating the CWC Article IX compliance dialogue and the CWC implementation dialogue that includes assistance on abandoned chemical weapons and U.S. chemical industry practices. A/S DeSutter was accompanied by Ambassador Javits and U.S. compliance technical experts Lewis and Parker. The Chinese side was represented by Ambassador Xue Hanqin, Chen Kai, Li Hong and representatives from the Chinese delegation. Ambassador Xue listened to A/S DeSutter,s request for the separation of the issues and agreed to convey the message to her government. Xue stated that Chen Kai who is from Beijing is the key interlocutor on Chinese CWC compliance and would be responsible for addressing this issue. Both sides agreed that U.S. and Chinese CW experts should work together to resolve any CWC compliance concerns. End Summary. ¶2. (C) BACKGROUND: A/S DeSutter requested the meeting to continue the on-going exchange between the U.S. and China on compliance issues since 1998 and the request for U.S. assistance on abandoned chemical weapons and U.S. chemical industry practices. China had proposed that it host the next bilateral dialogue on CWC-related issues in Beijing in November 2007. As part of the dialogue China has offered a visit to its ACW site in Nanjing and a visit to a declared and inspected chemical industry facility in Shanghai. The U.S. CWC interagency agreed to accept the proposed visit to the ACW site, but was unable to agree to an alternative compliance-related site visit as part of the on-going dialogue. The Chinese had also agreed to two days of consultation for the wide range of issues contained in China,s September 2007 proposal. The November meeting was postponed by the U.S. side. ¶3. (C) On November 6, DeSutter referred to the Verification, Compliance and Implementation Bureau,s role in examining verification and compliance issues for a wide range of arms control and nonproliferation agreements. She also emphasized that the U.S. has had positive results in addressing compliance concerns with countries using the provisions of Article IX of the CWC to conduct consultations and site visits. DeSutter further clarified that the group of technical experts that focus primarily on verification and compliance issues are a separate group from the experts that address CW demilitarization and U.S. chemical industry issues. A/S DeSutter and Ambassador Javits told Xue that they wanted to explain Washington,s request to the Chinese delegation in advance of proceeding to Beijing with the U.S. recommendations. ¶4. (C) In a sidebar conversation, Chen Kai told U.S. compliance experts that China had expected to discuss compliance questions with the U.S. during the November visit. This position differs from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arms Control and Disarmament Department Chemical and Biological Weapons Division Deputy Director Dai Huaicheng, who had clarified through Embassy Beijing in September 2007 that a discussion on compliance was not included in China,s proposal. U.S. compliance experts also inquired of Chen Kai whether China was open to a larger delegation than the five experts that the U.S. allowed during a joint Chinese/Japanese demilitarization visit to the U.S. in July 2007. Chen said that he would be open to accepting a larger delegation from the U.S. and stated that he would also be flexible in separating out the group of experts who were not interested in the ACW site visit. U.S. compliance experts agreed to follow-up on this discussion with a proposal to Beijing on how to approach the Article IX compliance discussions. ¶5. (U) This message has been cleared by A/S DeSutter. ¶6. (U) JAVITS SENDS. Gallagher