SENIOR KMT OFFICIALS DISCUSS KMT-CCP CROSS-STRAIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001778 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/24/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON WHO AORC TW CH SUBJECT: SENIOR KMT OFFICIALS DISCUSS KMT-CCP CROSS-STRAIT ECONOMIC FORUM, WHO ISSUE REF: MANN-AIT TAIPEI 12/23 E-MAIL Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reasons 1.4(b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary. PRC Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) head Wang Yi offered encouraging words about the prospects for Taiwan's participation in the May 2009 World Health Assembly (WHA) in informal meetings on the margins of the December 20-21 KMT-CCP cross-Strait economic forum in Shanghai, according to KMT Vice Chairman John Chiang. Chiang said he stressed the need for Taiwan to have more meaningful participation in WHO during his discussion with Wang, adding that Beijing appeared genuinely interested in finding a solution. KMT Deputy Secretary Chang Jung-kung told AIT the forum had been highly successful, with Beijing announcing important new economic initiatives, which will benefit Taiwan and Taiwan businesspeople in the mainland. In addition, the forum had provided Taiwan officials a rare opportunity to visit the mainland and hold discussions with PRC counterparts. Chang expected the next major cross-Strait meeting, the SEF-ARATS talks, to be held in China in the spring, to be followed by the next round of the KMT-CCP forum, perhaps in June. End Summary. KMT Vice Chairman on WHO -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On December 23, KMT Vice Chairman and LY member John Chiang (who has previously served as TECRO Representative and as Foreign Minister) offered AIT Pol chief a read-out of the December 20-21 cross-Strait forum in Shanghai. Chiang took pains to note that, despite the fact that the event had come to be known as the &KMT-CCP Forum,8 the event,s formal title did not mention the parties and many of the nearly 300 Taiwan participants were not KMT members. The forum,s formal sessions dealt with what Chiang described as a very useful set of panel discussions of a variety of economic and financial issues. He noted the significance of the $19 billion in assistance the PRC offered Taiwan investors in response to the recent financial crisis, adding that SEF and ARATS would need to work out the details of a formal agreement. ¶3. (C) More sensitive issues were discussed on the margins of the forum, Chiang said, noting that he discussed Taiwan,s effort to expand its participation in the WHO/WHA directly with TAO head Wang Yi. Chiang expressed confidence that a Taiwan delegation would be able to attend the May 2009 WHA meeting in Geneva in some mutually-acceptable status and said his conversation with Wang focused instead on the ambitious goal of securing more meaningful participation in the WHO. The PRC appeared genuinely interested in finding a solution, despite the WHO charter,s explicit reference to observer status only in the context of non-member states. Nevertheless, Taiwan would continue to push for flexibility, primarily through a channel used by NSC Secretary General Su Chi, and would seek U.S. assistance as necessary. Chiang confirmed, though, that Taiwan did not intend to push to include the issue on the agenda of the January 19-27 WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva. ¶4. (C) In a separate meeting on December 24, KMT Deputy Secretary General Chang Jung-kung told AIT that KMT leaders believed the forum in Shanghai had been highly successful. In line with its practice at the three previous rounds of the economic forum, Beijing laid out ten policies aimed at benefiting Taiwan. Especially noteworthy were initiatives to help mainland-based Taiwan entrepreneurs, who have been experiencing difficult times, to purchase commodities from Taiwan, and proposals for PRC investment in Taiwan. Some of these policies, including loans to Taiwan businesses, may require further work, Chang suggested, explaining that PRC banking practices have made it difficult for Taiwan businesses to obtain similar loans in the past. ¶5. (C) Chang noted that forum also provided some Taiwan officials a rare opportunity to visit the mainland and interact with their PRC counterparts. According to Chang, the inclusion of officials in the forum was at the request of President Ma Ying-jeou. Chang noted that the TAO had hoped the KMT could include some DPP members in its delegation, adding that he had contacted former SEF Chairman Hong Chi-chang, who was in China, and former NSC official Chen Chung-hsin, but both had turned down the offer because they were certain the DPP would strongly disapprove. TAIPEI 00001778 002 OF 002 Chang on WHO -------------- ¶6. (C) Chang said he had not participated in the high-level private meetings at the forum and therefore was not familiar with possible discussion of WHO. Chang noted that Honorary Chairman Lien Chan had raised the WHO issue in his meeting with PRC Hu Jintao at APEC in November. Hu had reponded by pointing to the KMT-CCP forum and suggesting Taiwan should send someone to talk to PRC officials about WHO. Subsequently, Taiwan considered sending the health minister, who would need to coordinate with the Foreign Ministry as he was not very familiar with the WHO issue. In the end, however, NSC Secretary General Su Chi had not approved this proposed trip to discuss WHO with Beijing. Upcoming Cross-Strait Agenda -------------- ¶7. (C) Although specific times have not yet been pinned down, Chang said, the next high-level meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and ARATS may take place in China approximately in March, while the next round of the KMT-CCP forum may take place around June. (Note: SEF-ARATS talks take place twice a year while the KMT-CCP economic forum is held once per year.) Chang explained that the KMT expects to send a high-level representative to ceremonies in China on June 1 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Sun Yatsen's reburial in Nanjing. Chang said ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin talked to him privately during the forum about timing for his next visit to Taiwan in the second half of 2009 for SEF-ARATS talks. Chang said Chen did not mention the protests he encountered during his trip to Taiwan in early November and made clear that he wants to visit Taiwan again. Chang said he believes the best time for Chen to visit would be next December 2009, after the local elections which will be held at the beginning of the month. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Despite some objections to the KMT's prominent role in cross-Strait relations by the opposition and even by some government officials, the actual results of the forum in Shanghai have not attracted a great deal of negative criticism. How Taiwan is treated at the May 2009 WHA meeting will be seen here as an important litmus test of Beijing's willingness to respond positively to Taiwan's quest for increased international space. SYOUNG