TAIWAN NOTIFIED OF IMPENDING U.S. SATELLITE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 000218 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2033 TAGS: PARM PNAT KTIA PINS TSPA TPHY ESA CDG PREL PGOV, CH, TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN NOTIFIED OF IMPENDING U.S. SATELLITE INTERCEPT ATTEMPT REF: STATE 15164 Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young. Reason(s): 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (C) AIT Acting Director Robert Wang delivered reftel notification to Taiwan Acting Foreign Minister Yang Tzu-pao at 1000 February 15 (2300 EST, February 14). Yang was accompanied by North American Affairs Director-General Leo Lee, who told ADIR before the meeting that FM James Huang is travelling abroad but his whereabouts are "confidential." (Note: Privately, Lee told AIT that Huang is in Africa trying to shore up Taiwan's four remaining diplomatic partnerships in the aftermath of Malawi's shift in relations to the PRC.) ¶2. (C) ADIR handed AFM Yang a white paper entitled "For Official Use Only," repeating reftel para 5 verbatim. He explained that the U.S. is conveying this notification to many countries around the world, demonstrating U.S. commitment to transparency and its humanitarian intentions and determination to minimize damage and avoid loss of life. ¶3. (C) AFM Yang thanked ADIR for the information, promising to pass it on to other government departments. He told ADIR that TECRO/Washington had informed MOFA several hours earlier (mid-afternoon EST, February 14) that it had received a notification that was apparently the same document, although MOFA had not yet received a copy of the document. Director-General Lee asked ADIR if China had received the notification and, when told yes, asked what the PRC response had been. ADIR responded that the U.S. and China had discussed the issue. Lee then asked if the Taiwan authorities could inform the Taiwan people of the notification, expressing the hope that the U.S. would provide more precise information on the trajectory of the satellite and on what protective measures could be taken. ADIR responded that the U.S. Government had already made a general announcement and that he would convey any specific questions to Washington for response. WANG