US embassy cable - 04TAIPEI3051

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/TC AND NP/ECC 
STATE PASS USTR/KI 
STATE PASS AIT/W/RUZICKA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2014 
TAGS: ETTC, KSTC, PARM, TW 
SUBJECT: NEW INFO ON TAIWAN'S EXPORT CONTROLS 
 
REF: A. A) TAIPEI 3001 
 
     B. B) TAIPEI 3019 
 
Classified By: AIT Economic Chief Daniel Moore; REASONS 1.4 (B,D) 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Following-up the AIT-BOFT meeting 
reported ref A, on October 1 BOFT faxed to AIT additional 
documents related to Taiwan's export control system and 
correspondence regarding the Ching Hwee International Trading 
Company.  These documents have been relayed via fax to EAP/TC 
and are translated informally below.  Separately, AIT has 
accepted a BOFT invitation to visit two machine tool 
companies near Taichung and learned the inter-agency debate 
over technology transfer legislation continues.  End summary. 
 
 
AIT Informal Translation of BOFT Letter to Customs 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
2. (SBU) Board of Foreign Trade letter to the Directorate 
General of Customs, dated September 15, 2004: 
 
(Begin text of letter) 
 
Subject: To meet BOFT's need to strengthen sensitive high 
technology commodities (SHTC) export control, the Directorate 
General of Customs is advised to enroll the company "Ching 
Hwee International Trading Company, Ltd" (registration 
number: 23003535) in the Customs' "manufacturers high-risk 
management list", and to closely monitor the machine tools 
exported from the subject company to the controlled areas 
including North Korea. 
 
Explanations: 
 
I.  This action is based on MOFA's August 2, 2004 letter 
responding to the written request from TECRO/W dated July 30, 
2004. 
 
II.  Mr. Randy Schriver from the State Department conveyed 
the message to TECRO/W Representative Mr. David Lee that 
showed one Taiwan company "Ching Hwee International Trading 
Co., Ltd" has been involved in exporting machine tools to 
North Korea and that these commodities will likely be used in 
nuclear development projects.  In response, Mr. Lee 
reiterated that Taiwan is willing to comply with U.S. 
requests on antiterrorism and anti-WMD, and he would ask 
Taiwan's related agencies to work together on this case. 
Senior Advisor Mr. David Asher from the State Department also 
brought up this issue in the meeting with MOJ on August 30, 
2004. 
 
III.  BOFT has collected the export statistics of the subject 
company on machine tools from 2001-May 2004 and has requested 
the company to quickly provide detailed information related 
to these exports including descriptions of the machines, 
ordering and shipping information, and importer addresses. 
After receiving the information, the Industrial Technology 
Research Institute (ITRI) will determine whether these 
commodities were SHTC. 
 
IV.  According to BOFT,s December 31, 2003 circular entitled 
"SHTC Categories, Special SHTC Categories and Exporting 
Control Areas," North Korea is one of the SHTC export 
controlled areas.  The circular references the Wassenaar 
Arrangement, which includes machine tools among controlled 
commodities.  Moreover, the circular states that commodities 
not on controlled lists, but which could possibly be used to 
produce or develop nuclear or biochemical weapons or missiles 
would be categorized as SHTC.  Exporters of such commodities 
must apply for a SHTC export permit from BOFT in advance. 
 
V.  BOFT requests all Customs offices to strengthen 
inspections of Ching Hwee's machine-tool exports (Customs 
Commodity Codes 8456-8466) to any controlled areas including 
Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and China, and immediately 
inform BOFT of any finding that Ching Hwee has violated 
regulations. 
 
(End text of letter) 
 
AIT Informal Translation of Customs' Reply 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3.  (SBU) Directorate General Customs letter to BOFT dated 
September 23, 2004. 
 
(Begin text of letter) 
 
Subject: Customs will keep a close watch on the machine tool 
exports of Ching Hwee to controlled areas, and, acting 
according to the regulations, will only allow these exports 
when accompanied by SHTC export permits. 
 
Explanations: 
I.  This action is based on BOFT's September 15 letter. 
 
II.  To prevent Ching Hwee from exporting SHTC commodities 
without approval, all customs bureaus shall tighten 
inspections of machine tools exported to Iran, Iraq, Libya, 
North Korea, China, Cuba, Sudan, and Syria.  Please report 
any findings of illegal exports of SHTC commodities. 
 
(End text of letter) 
 
Increased Number of Export Licenses 
----------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) A separate document received via fax from BOFT on 
October 1 shows the number of export licenses granted in 2002 
was 5,636; in 2003 was 8090; in the first quarter of 2004 was 
2363; and in the second quarter of 2004 was 2442.  The number 
of licenses granted in first two quarters of 2004 represented 
year-on-year increases of 41.9 and 32.6 percent respectively. 
 BOFT suggested the numbers were up partly because of 
increased awareness among businesses of the need for export 
licenses. 
 
Invitation to Join BOFT/Customs Training Excursion 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
5.  (SBU) AIT has accepted an invitation from BOFT to join a 
BOFT-organized training program for Taiwan Customs officers. 
The training will involve visits on October 22 to two machine 
tool companies in the Taichung area (Victor Taichung 
Machinery Works Company, Ltd., and Yeong Chin Machinery 
Industries Company, Ltd.).  The purpose of these visits is to 
give Customs officers a better understanding of the different 
types and technologies of machine tools. 
 
Technology Transfer Legislation 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) BOFT informed AIT in a telephone conversation on 
October 1 that it is trying hard to persuade Taiwan's NSC to 
permit it to provide AIT with a draft of the pending 
legislation on technology transfer.  AIT asked BOFT for 
additional infomation on commodity types and destinations of 
the exports which have received SHTC permits in recent 
months, as well as for information on Ching Hwee's exports of 
machine tools to non-restricted countries. 
 
PAAL 
PAAL