Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TAIPEI570
2009-05-12 09:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Cable title:  

TAIWAN HOPES CROSS-STRAIT LEGAL COOPERATION

Tags:  PREL KCRIM KJUS PGOV CH TW 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1556
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9171
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0150
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0683
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3093
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0240
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0603
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 2548
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 7041
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFISS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 000570 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL KCRIM KJUS PGOV CH TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN HOPES CROSS-STRAIT LEGAL COOPERATION
AGREEMENT WILL LEAD TO RETURN OF FINANCIAL FUGITIVES

REF: A. TAIPEI 480

B. OSC CPP20090426072004

Classified By: Director Stephen M. Young,
For Reasons 1.4(B) and (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 000570

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL KCRIM KJUS PGOV CH TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN HOPES CROSS-STRAIT LEGAL COOPERATION
AGREEMENT WILL LEAD TO RETURN OF FINANCIAL FUGITIVES

REF: A. TAIPEI 480

B. OSC CPP20090426072004

Classified By: Director Stephen M. Young,
For Reasons 1.4(B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: The Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and
Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement (cross-Strait MLAA) signed
in Nanjing on April 26 (See ref B for text of agreement),is
intended to expand and regularize the judicial cooperation
already enjoyed on a case-by-case basis under the 1990 Kinmen
Accord. A key priority for Taiwan is establishing a
mechanism for the return of Taiwan's criminal fugitives from
the mainland, particularly those charged with white-collar
economic crimes. Officials have expressed hope Taiwan will
be able to negotiate similar agreements with Japan and the EU
and an extradition agreement with the U.S. End Summary.

In Pursuit of Economic Criminal Fugitives
--------------


2. (C) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chair Lai Shin-yuan
underlined the broad domestic consensus in Taiwan for
cross-Strait joint crime-fighting efforts, particularly the
return of economic criminals, in her press conference
following the third round of cross-Strait talks between the
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China's Association for
Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). MAC public
survey results announced on April 23, just three days before
the signing of the agreements in Nanjing, indicated 79.6
percent of respondents supported an agreement on joint
cross-strait crime prevention, and survey results announced
by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on April
25 indicated that 88.4 percent of respondents supported
including provisions for the repatriation of economic
criminals within a cross-Strait joint crime fighting
agreement.


3. (C) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) took out a half-page
newspaper ad outlining the five areas of cooperation in the
cross-Strait MLAA, and featuring a cartoon figure lounging
under two palm trees, with "The Other Side of the Strait is
no longer a heaven for criminals," written beneath.
According to the MOJ's Investigation Bureau (MJIB),at least
84 Taiwan fugitives are currently hiding out in China, most

of whom are white-collar criminals convicted of
economic-related crimes. One prominent example, former
Legislative Yuan Speaker Liu Sung-pan, was convicted in 2004
of breach of trust for accepting a NTD 150 million bribe in
return for help brokering a NTD 1.5 billion loan to the
Kuangsan Group. SEF Legal Services Director Ho Wu-liang said
Taiwan is already drawing up a list of fugitives to submit to
the mainland for help in repatriation to Taiwan.

Taiwan Hopes for U.S.-Taiwan Extradition Agreement
-------------- --------------


4. (C) According to Taiwan data, there are currently 137
Taiwan criminal fugitives in the U.S., and President Ma
Ying-jeou has repeatedly expressed his hope to negotiate an
extradition agreement with the U.S. Officials at MOJ, the
Judicial Yuan (JY) and MAC have made clear their hope that
the new cross-Strait MLAA will encourage the U.S. and others
to begin negotiations on similar agreements with Taiwan.
Media commentators and others have pointed to the similarity
between the new cross-Strait agreement and the 2002
U.S.-Taiwan MLAA, but with provisions added for joint
crime-fighting and the return of fugitives. According to
National Chengchi University (NCCU) Law Professor Bruce Liao,
the Ma administration probably hopes the agreement with
Beijing will help assuage concerns the U.S. or others may
have about PRC objections to their own extradition agreements
with Taiwan. MAC Legal Affairs Department officials asked
AIT whether cross-Strait agreements would make it easier for
the U.S. to negotiate extradition and other agreements with
Taiwan.


TAIPEI 00000570 002 OF 004


Practical Cooperation and Good-will Gesture
--------------


5. (C) Speaking shortly before the talks in Nanjing, MAC
Chair Lai Shin-yuan told AIT that discussions on anti-crime
cooperation had gone more smoothly than expected and that the
resulting agreement would give Taiwan and the PRC greater
scope to repatriate financial criminals and cooperate in
criminal investigations (ref A). MOJ and JY officials
believe Beijing concluded the agreement not only to establish
a regularized mechanism for judicial assistance, but also as
an expression of China's good will toward Taiwan under the Ma
administration. Prof. Liao suggested that Beijing at this
point is looking for ways to convince the Taiwan public that
closer ties with the mainland will serve their interests. An
MLAA that provided for the return of financial fugitives
would enjoy broad-based public support in Taiwan and is
practical enough in nature not to raise significant
sovereignty issues, he observed.

Will China Repatriate Taiwan's Economic Fugitives?
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Liao suggested the new agreement will lead PRC central
government officials to press local governments to comply
with repatriation requests. Previously, said Liao, PRC local
officials were the main stumbling block to securing the
return of financial fugitives. Now, Beijing must prove its
sincerity by sending back fugitives or else risk undermining
cross-Strait detente. According to other sources, there
could be several test cases already in the pipeline. One
case involves a Taiwan financial fugitive in Shanghai, who is
currently applying for a U.S. visa. Already, Taiwan police
are working with Shanghai authorities to apprehend the
subject and prevent the flight of another Taiwan financial
fugitive to the United States.


7. (C) MAC Legal Affairs Department Director Wu Mei-hung, a
member of the SEF delegation in Nanjing, noted that mainland
officials cited Chen You-hao as an example of how dual
nationality could complicate efforts to repatriate certain
high-profile fugitives. According to Wu, PRC officials
claimed Chen You-hao's "U.S. citizenship" (Note: Our
understanding is that Chen You-hao only has a pending LPR
application with USCIS. End note.) could cause the U.S. to
protest his return by China to Taiwan. Moreover, Wu said,
Chinese officials pointed out that some high-profile economic
fugitives have large enterprises on the mainland that employ
many people. Therefore, the potential economic impact of a
factory-owner's forced return to Taiwan could give local
officials pause. In the end, both sides agreed that dealing
with corruption, embezzlement, and other crimes is a larger
concern, though Beijing's view seems to be that legal
cooperation will expand gradually as cross-Strait links
increase over time.

Provisions of Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement
-------------- --


8. (SBU) The cross-Strait MLAA provides for cooperation in
"joint crime fighting," the exchange and delivery of judicial
documents, investigation and collection of evidence,
recognition and enforcement of civil judgments and
arbitration awards, and the apprehension and return of
convicted criminals and criminal suspects. The agreement
also permits the repatriation of Taiwan nationals serving
sentences on the mainland (and vice versa),provided
officials from both sides and the subject agree to the
transfer. Cross-Strait crime prevention efforts will focus
on major crimes such as manslaughter, kidnapping, human
trafficking, cross-border organized crime, etc; economic
crimes such as embezzlement, fraud, money-laundering, etc;
crimes involving corruption; crimes involving terrorist
activities; and other criminal acts. MAC Legal Affairs
Director Wu noted that mainland officials preferred a
court-to-court implementing mechanism, similar to their
arrangement with Hong Kong. Taiwan, however, could not agree

TAIPEI 00000570 003 OF 004


to an arrangement modeled on a mainland-Hong Kong precedent,
said Wu, a point understood by the Chinese officials.
Therefore, MOJ will serve as Taiwan's implementing authority
for the agreement. While Beijing has not yet identified its
corresponding implementing authority, Taiwan's MOJ will
coordinate with those mainland agencies involved in the
judicial process, specifically the Public Security Bureau,
the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's
Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Justice.


9. (C) Following the Kinmen Accord precedent, DG Liu noted,
the new agreement uses the term "repatriation" rather than
"extradition" in order to avoid the sensitive sovereignty
issue. The new agreement does not permit the extradition of
Taiwan nationals to China, which is prohibited by Taiwan's
Extradition Law unless otherwise provided, said Director
Chen. Taiwan officials told their mainland counterparts that
this prohibition would even extend to people from the
mainland who later became Taiwan passport-holders, e.g.
mainland spouses of Taiwan nationals, said MAC Legal Affairs
Director Wu. Mainland officials accepted Taiwan's position
but did not raise concerns about transferring PRC criminals
to Taiwan, Wu added, since Beijing views Taiwan as part of
China. In addition, Article 6 of the agreement states that
should the party which receives a repatriation request have
important concerns or interests, these concerns or interests
must be considered (See ref B for full text of the
agreement). Wu clarified that both sides explicitly agreed
that Article 6 would preclude the repatriation of political,
military, and religious fugitives/dissidents. SEF Legal
Service Department Director, Ho Wu-liang, also a member of
the Taiwan delegation at the talks, added that the PRC
indicated it would include concerns about the economic impact
on employment when deciding whether to grant repatriation
requests.


10. (SBU) The Executive Yuan (EY) approved the cross-Strait
MLAA and several other agreements on April 30 and these
agreements were submitted to the LY last week. The
cross-Strait MLAA should take effect by June 25, 60 days
after its signing.

Cross-Strait MLAA Expands on Kinmen Accord
--------------


11. (C) According to both MOJ and the JY, the MLAA expands on
the Kinmen Accord, but does not supplant it. The new
agreement does not cover illegal immigrants, who will still
be repatriated under the Kinmen Accord. The new MLAA
systematizes cross-Strait cooperation and provides practical
guidelines for working level implementation of a variety of
issues from the recognition and exchange of official
documents to returning assets acquired or used in criminal
offenses. It also increases the venues available for
returning and receiving criminal fugitives beyond Matsu/Mawei
and Kinmen/Xiamen to include all direct air and sea links.
Following the signing of the new agreement, China has already
repatriated one fugitive to Taiwan via Macau.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) Domestic support for the new agreement is high, based
on the expectation that Taiwan will finally be able to bring
to justice some high-profile economic fugitives who have been
living on the mainland. That some of the these individuals
have large investments in China could be a complicating
factor. After Taiwan submits requests for well-known
fugitives, the public and media here will be watching closely
to see whether Beijing will actually follow through by
returning them to Taiwan. At the same time, Taiwan
authorities are clearly sensitive to the issue of political
dissidents being repatriated to the mainland, and have
incorporated measures to prevent such cases. Taiwan is
hopeful that the new cross-Strait agreement will be a
positive step helping its quest to sign an extradition
agreement with the U.S., where even more Taiwan fugitives

TAIPEI 00000570 004 OF 004


have sought refuge in recent years.
YOUNG