NETHERLANDS/CHINA: FM VERHAGEN'S MAY 16 VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 000971

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2017
TAGS: PREL AORG EAGR ETRD EUN PHUM CH SU TW NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CHINA: FM VERHAGEN'S MAY 16 VISIT TO
BEIJING

REF: THE HAGUE 964

Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer; reasons 1.4 (b and d
).


1. (C) Summary: Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen visited
Beijing May 16 and met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress Wu Bangguo, and others. According to the
Dutch MFA, discussions focused on Taiwan, Sudan and human
rights. Verhagen reaffirmed Dutch support for the EU arms
embargo, China argued against Sudan sanctions, and the
respective foreign ministers issued a communique calling for
continued talks. The Dutch say they expect China to ramp up
efforts this year to force an EU split on China policy. End
summary.

Taiwan and China: Maintaining the status quo
--------------


2. (C) Emboffs met May 22 with Adriaan Palm, Head of the MFA
East Asia Division and Pim van Gemeren, China Policy Officer
whose portfolio includes the China arms embargo. According
to Palm, Foreign Minister Verhagen's substantive discussions
during his May 16 visit to Beijing focused on three issues:
Taiwan, Sudan, and human rights. Palm, who accompanied
Verhagen, noted that China continues to push the boundaries
of the status quo, as evidenced by its move to obstruct
Taiwanese participation at the Organization for Animal Health
(OIE, reftel). He expects the Chinese to continue to mount
pressure on European Union member states through the summer
and fall and sees the OIE resolution as just one move in a
larger play to split the EU.


3. (C) Palm noted that both China and Taiwan can be expected
to continue pushing the envelope on One-China, each trying to
alter the status quo to its advantage. He said the
Netherlands views any change in the status quo as
destabilizing. For this reason, he said, the Dutch will
resist any efforts within the EU to support such changes.

Sudan: China argues against sanctions
--------------


4. (C) On Sudan, Palm said the newly appointed Chinese
representative for Africa argued against sanctions, saying
these would reduce trust and would therefore prove
ineffective. (Comment: The Netherlands is one of our closest
partners on Sudan and is a major contributor to AMIS and
UNMIS. End comment.)

Human rights and the arms embargo
--------------


5. (C) Chinese press quoted Verhagen as saying the time was
not right to discuss lifting the EU arms embargo. Palm and
van Gemeren emphasized to emboffs that the GONL has no
intention of agreeing to lift the embargo unless and until
real progress is made on human rights. Neither thought the
issue would resurface in Brussels in the near future, largely
because of French intransigence on the EU's code of conduct
for arms sales. Van Gemeren cautioned, though, that this
should not be taken for granted. The dynamics could shift,
as evidenced by a recent report of semi-autonomous Dutch
think tank AIV, arguing against the embargo's human rights
rationale.

Communique calls for continued Dutch-Chinese dialogue
-------------- --------------


6. (U) According to Palm, Verhagen and Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang agreed on a joint communique - the first
between the two countries since 1972. The communique
addresses a host of issues, from market access, to
international security, to human rights, and calls for
continued high-level talks. Verhagen's call on Chairman Wu
of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
was brief and was not substantive, Palm said.
ARNALL