AIT CHAIRMAN BURGHARDT AND FM OU DISCUSS BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000320

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2019
TAGS: ASEC PHUM PTER SNAR PREL PARM PGOV KCRM KJUS
SUBJECT: AIT CHAIRMAN BURGHARDT AND FM OU DISCUSS BILATERAL
RELATIONS, TRANSITS, WHO, AND MRLS

REF: TAIPEI 301

Classified By: AIT Deputy Director Robert Wang,
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (SBU) Summary: Extradition, an FTA and visa waiver are
Taiwan's top bilateral priorities, FM Ou told AIT Chairman
Burghardt during their March 18 meeting. Although the
leadership in Beijing has tacitly accepted Taiwan's
diplomatic truce and mutual non-denial, this is not the case
at lower levels, Ou said, underlining specifically the need
for technical, working-level talks on WHA observership.
Although it appears Beijing is discouraging Taiwan's
diplomatic partners' inquiries about switching diplomatic
recognition, MOFA is recommending Taiwan President Ma attend
both the June 1 presidential inauguration in San Salvador and
the July 1 inauguration in Panama City. On trade, Chairman
Burghardt and the Deputy Director made clear that Taiwan
needs to address U.S. concerns on beef, apples and Minimum
Residue Levels (MRLs). End Summary.

Strong U.S.-Taiwan Relations Important to Cross-Strait Efforts
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2. (C) The U.S.-Taiwan relationship needs to be strong, so
that Taiwan can negotiate with the PRC from a position of
confidence, FM Ou told the Chairman during their March 18
meeting. Ou added that, of Taiwan's three current goals for
the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, an extradition agreement would
take priority, followed by visa waiver, and a free trade
agreement. Extradition is more urgent, Ou said, because
recent cases have drawn attention to the need for a means of
returning criminal suspects wanted in Taiwan and spurred
public calls for an improved mechanism for law enforcement
cooperation. (Note: Ou is probably referring to press
surrounding the recent return of an Amcit accused of
molesting children in California. One editorial called for
the exchange of this Amcit for Wang You-theng, currently in
the United States and wanted in Taiwan for white-collar
financial crimes. End note.) While noting some present
difficulties regarding an FTA and visa waiver, Burghardt
noted these three issues were important and that movement on
all three would be judged on their individual merits.


3. (C) Burghardt commented that technical issues with
passport security - particularly the lack of a requirement
for personal appearance when applying for a Taiwan travel
document - would need to be addressed before visa waiver
could be discussed. The Foreign Minister advised Burghardt
that new measures would require an identity card for children
eight to fourteen years of age. North American Affairs
Director General Harry Tseng added that these new measures
would go into effect within the next six months and that
information from the identity card, including photos, will be
linked to the MOFA passport database. The Chairman noted
that, in addition to passport security, legislation
permitting the waiver of the three percent visa refusal rate
requirement for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) would expire
June 30. Taiwan's current visa refusal rate did not meet
this three percent refusal rate requirement. There is good
will to make this happen, Burghardt commented, but the U.S.
is wrestling with various issues and hopes that Taiwan will
help address some of these obstacles as well.


4. (C) Burghardt ruled out discussions of an FTA in the short
term, noting that the Executive Branch does not even have
fast track negotiating authority. Instead, he urged working
toward progess on the building blocks of an agreement under
the TIFA. First, though, we need to make progress on issues
such as beef, MRLs, and apples. The DDIR emphasized that
many bilateral economic issues, such as pharmaceuticals,
could be discussed under a TIFA but beef, apples, and MRLs
would need to be resolved first.

Presidential Transits
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5. (C) MOFA has recommended that President Ma attend both the
June 1 presidential inauguration in San Salvador and the July
1 presidential inauguration in Panama City, Ou said. Taiwan
has only a small number of diplomatic allies and both El
Salvador and Panama are key among them, explained Ou. (Note:
In a separate meeting with the Chairman, President Ma and his
National Security Advisor confirmed that the President is
considering the trips, but said Beijing has so far rebuffed
Panama's attempts to discuss recognizing the PRC and appears
to be doing the same with El Salvador's new president-elect.
See reftel. End note.) Burghardt reassured Ou that the U.S.
is ready to discuss transit arrangements once a decision has
been made.

Diplomatic Truce Still Holds
--------------


6. (C) Despite some concerns new Salvadoran president-elect
Mauricio Funes could attempt to switch diplomatic recognition
to Beijing, Ou believed Funes would be cautious in taking any
decisions affecting the bilateral relationship, especially
given existing economic cooperation. Interactions between
Taiwan and PRC counterparts abroad were inconsistent. In
some places, PRC diplomats were very friendly to their Taiwan
counterparts - going as far as to invite them to lunch. In
other places, PRC officials continued to protest Taiwan's
diplomatic efforts and participation in various
organizations. It is clear, said Ou, that Beijing's Foreign
Ministry has not issued clear instructions relating to a
"diplomatic truce" to its missions abroad, leaving each
mission to interpret for itself Beijing's public statements
on the issue.


7. (C) Regardless, looking at Beijing's actions - i.e. its
refusal to accept Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and
Panama's requests to switch diplomatic ties, it is clear that
the PRC does not want anything to negatively affect warming
cross-Strait relations. In fact, Ou continued, he himself
had issued no instructions on the subject. "(W)e are still
observing," Ou explained, "(but) personally, I hope our
diplomats would interpret the ceasefire in a broader way."

WHO Observership - Need Technical Level Talks
--------------


8. (C) Participation in international organizations, however,
will be more complicated than the issue of diplomatic allies
and should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, Ou added.
Although Taiwan has seen signs of the PRC's good will, the
two sides still need to establish a technical channel to
discuss the details, he said. This matter is being handled
directly by the NSC.

Regional Relations Improving
--------------


9. (C) Burghardt expressed his appreciation for Ma's pledge
of no surprises in the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relationship as
well as his emphasis on substance over show. He recounted
three examples Ma had given him to demonstrate this
commitment: Taiwan would not ask for a certain kind of
transit just to show that the U.S. would grant it; Taiwan
would not ask for certain weapons systems just to show the
U.S. would sell them; and Taiwan would not insist on certain
names just for domestic political considerations. Ou assured
Burghardt that the Ma administration is different from the
Chen administration. The Ma government is working hard to
rebuild trust with many countries. Even now, Taiwan's
relations with Japan, the EU, and Singapore are improving, he
said, noting that there is still more to be done with Korea.

Publication of New MRL List Serves as Notification
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Before Ou arrived, DG Tseng told Burghardt and the

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Deputy Director that the Ministry of Health (MOH) had
published a new list showing which MRLs had been increased.
It was MOH's view that publication of this new list met the
notification requirement under the U.S.-Taiwan Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on MRLs. DDIR replied that the MOU
requires coordination and consultation prior to public
dissemination of any new list, something that clearly had not
been done. Tseng said he would convey this view to MOH.

Participants
--------------


11. (U) Participants in the meeting were Foreign Minister Ou,
North American Affairs Division (NAAD) Director-General Harry
Tseng, NAAD First Section Chief Douglas Hsu, NAAD Officer
Stacey Lin, AIT Chairman Burghardt, AIT Deputy Director Wang,
EAP/TC Director Ted Mann, and AIT Poloff Deanna Kim.


12. (U) Chairman Burghardt did not have an opportunity to
clear this message.
YOUNG