THE DIRECTOR'S INTRODUCTORY CALL ON DEFENSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001201

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2019
TAGS: MARR PREL MASS TW CH
SUBJECT: THE DIRECTOR'S INTRODUCTORY CALL ON DEFENSE
MINISTER KAO HUA-CHU

Classified By: the Director for reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (U) SUMMARY: In an introductory meeting with Director on
October 5, Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu reiterated that F-16
C/Ds, submarines, utility helicopters and the two remaining
batteries of PAC-3 air defense missiles were Taiwan's most
pressing priorities. Minister Kao also noted the continued
importance of training and exchange programs with the U.S.
military and the challenge of moving to an all-volunteer
force. The Defense Minister observed that moving forward
with CBMs with the PRC would be difficult absent domestic
consensus in Taiwan. End Summary.

U.S.-Taiwan Relations
--------------


2. (U) The Director congratulated Kao on his recent
appointment, extended his condolences to the families of
victims of Typhoon Morakot, and expressed appreciation for
Taiwan,s assistance after Hurricane Katrina and the recent
tsunami in American Samoa. Kao in turn thanked the Director
for U.S. assistance to recovery operations after Typhoon
Morakot and urged further cooperation in Humanitarian
Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations. The Taiwan
military, Kao said, like others around the world, had been
tasked to deal with HA/DR as "a new kind of war." In the
wake of Typhoon Morakot, President Ma identified HA/DR as one
of MND's core missions. Noting that another typhoon was
approaching Taiwan, Kao said MND had begun preparations two
weeks earlier, including military unit deployment drills and
communications tests.


3. (C) The Director informed Minister Kao that he would
travel to Honolulu later this week for meetings with other
U.S. Chiefs of Mission from the region, as well as with EAP
A/S Campbell and PACOM leaders. The United States was aware
of the PRC's growing military strength, the Director said,
noting that one of his mandates was to ensure Taiwan had the
ability to defend itself. Although there were other issues
in the bilateral relationship, such as extradition and trade,
military cooperation was the most sensitive. The Minister
responded that the PRC had showcased a number of
domestically-produced weapons systems at the October 1
National Day parade. While some of these weapons were
intended for use against Taiwan, some were clearly intended
for use against U.S. forces, he said.


4. (C) Kao extended an invitation to USPACOM Commander,
Admiral Keating, to visit Taiwan following his retirement
later this month.

All Voluntary Force Transition
--------------


5. (C) One of the major challenges facing the Taiwan armed
forces was its transition to an all-volunteer force (AVF),
Kao told the Director. Particularly since the conscription
period had been shortened in recent years, he said, an all
volunteer force system was required to ensure a qualified and
trained active duty force. Taiwan would approach this
transition in a progressive manner and would also draw on the
lessons learned from the U.S. experience in shifting to an
AVF system. Implementing the costlier AVF would affect other
parts of the defense budget, the Minister acknowledged.

Arms Acquisition Priorities
--------------


6. (C) Minister Kao highlighted the importance of weapons
requested by Taiwan and continued training and exchange
programs with the U.S. military. It was essential that
Taiwan be able to defend its airspace, he emphasized, noting
that PRC ballistic missiles and its electronic warfare
capability were particularly threatening. Kao identified
F-16 C/D fighters, submarines, utility helicopters, and the
two remaining batteries of PAC-3 air defense missiles as
Taiwan's most pressing priorities, stressing the defensive
nature of these systems. The Director assured the Minister
he would relay this information to A/S Campbell and the
USPACOM leadership.

Cross-Strait Confidence Building Measures
--------------


7. (C) The Director asked if MND had plans to discuss
confidence-building measures (CBMs) with the PLA, noting that

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other senior Taiwan officials in previous meetings had
expressed some reluctance to do so. The Minister noted that
in meetings with his Deputy Minister at the recent
U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Charlottesville,
U.S. officials had said they would welcome the establishment
of cross-Strait CBMs. Kao said, however, that any discussion
of military CBMs needed to be initiated at the highest level
of the government. This would be difficult, he suggested,
given the need for consensus among Taiwan's citizens. For
now, the government would wait until the cross-Strait
conditions were right. In the meantime, MND, working with
think tanks, had established an internal task force to plan
and prepare for CBM options.

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


8. (U) Other Taiwan attendees included Deputy Minister for
Armament GEN Chaou Shih-chang, Vice Minister (AF) LtGen Lin
Yu-pao, Minister,s Office Director LTG Shen Chueh-hsin,
Director of the Strategic Planning Department VADM Lee
Hsi-ming, and Joint Intelligence Analysis Center Director MG
Liu Te-chin. COL Tony Chow, Chief of LAS Section, Mr. Tony
Hu, Deputy Chief of TECH Section, and Mr. Dave Rank, Chief of
POL Section attended from AIT/T.
STANTON