BROAD PUBLIC, OPPOSITION SUPPORT FOR U.S.-TAIWAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001043 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS KCRIM TW SUBJECT: BROAD PUBLIC, OPPOSITION SUPPORT FOR U.S.-TAIWAN EXTRADITION AGREEMENT REF: A. TAIPEI 277 ¶B. TAIPEI 570 TAIPEI 00001043 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: AIT Acting Director Robert S. Wang, for Reasons 1.4(B) and (D). ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Officials, academics and other AIT contacts associated with the ruling KMT party, as well as Taiwan's opposition, voice support for an extradition agreement with the United States. Media and public opinion polling also suggests that pursuing an agreement will be relatively non-controversial. Top opposition party officials and reform advocates say such an agreement would strengthen judicial and law enforcement cooperation with the United States and could provide an impetus for judicial reforms on Taiwan. End summary. Consensus on Need for Extradition -------------- ¶2. (C) AIT canvassed a range of ruling party and opposition contacts to assess the extent of potential opposition to the possible negotiation of a U.S.-Taiwan extradition agreement (technically signed between AIT and TECRO). Perhaps not surprisingly, scholars, analysts and officials associated with the ruling KMT party uniformly endorsed President Ma's push to begin talks. While some emphasized the role an extradition agreement would have in deepening U.S.-Taiwan law enforcement cooperation, most focused squarely on the need for a reliable and regularized mechanism for returning the more than 130 indicted criminals who have fled to the United States. ¶3. (C) Even some of the Ma administration's most outspoken critics endorsed the need for an extradition agreement with the United States. Indeed, AIT found few voices who expressed reservations about the idea. In separate conversations with AIT officers, Bikhim Hsiao, the International Affairs Director of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and DPP Central Standing Committee member Tuan I-kang both welcomed an extradition agreement as a means to secure the return of the many high-profile, primarily white-collar, fugitives now at large in the United States. Hsiao, a close confidante of DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, said she had not heard anyone in the party express opposition to an agreement. In fact, she believed it would help strengthen judicial cooperation. ¶4. (C) Likewise, there has been little media or popular opposition to the Ma administration's well-publicized interest in concluding extradition agreements with the United States and others. Indeed, the most common media criticism leveled against the government is its willingness to return criminal suspects to the United States without demanding reciprocal treatment. Another useful barometer of public - and opposition party - views about extradition has been the response to the Taiwan-PRC Mutual Judicial Assistance Agreement, which includes extradition-type provisions, signed in April. Polling conducted by the DPP at the time, showed 88.4 percent of the public supported including the repatriation of economic criminals within the cross-Strait agreement. Since almost all cross-Strait interactions are controversial here, this high level of support suggests that a U.S.-Taiwan agreement will face little opposition. Opportunity to Advance Reform -------------- ¶5. (C) DPP Foreign Policy Advisor Joseph Wu noted that Taiwan's interest in an agreement predated the Ma administration, since he was involved in conversations about the possibility of pursuing talks when he served as the head of the TECRO Representative Office in Washington at the end of DPP President Chen Shui-bian's administration in 2008. Even now, he told AIT, an extradition agreement would advance law enforcement cooperation while also "shining a light" on areas of the judicial system needing reform. Judicial Reform Foundation President Remington Huang offered a similar assessment, noting that negotiating an extradition agreement TAIPEI 00001043 002.2 OF 002 with the United States could prompt the administration, and hopefully the public, to pay increased attention to judicial reforms. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) In our many meetings with government officials, opposition party members, academics, and reform advocates, we have yet to run across anyone who does not support an extradition agreement. The Taiwan public is also clearly supportive of any agreement that would facilitate the return from the U.S. of alleged embezzlers like Wang You-theng, who is accused of stealing funds in excess of one billion dollars. Although there are no polls of public attitudes toward an extradition agreement with Washington, surveys show overwhelming support for a similar agreement with Beijing, which is a distant second to the U.S. as a safehaven for Taiwan's fugitives. WANG