US embassy cable - 04TAIPEI3402

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003402 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR CA/OCS/CI, G/TIP, G, INL, PRM, IWI, AND 
EAP/RSP/TC 
STATE PASS AIW/W 
AMCONSUL HONG KONG PASS DHS HK 
AMEMBASSY BEIJING PASS DHS BEIJING 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, CASC, SMIG, ASEC, KFRD, ELAB, KCRM, PREF, TW 
SUBJECT: A FRIGHTENING PROSPECT: PRC INFANTS ADOPTED 
FROM TAIWAN 
 
REF: BALLIF-BROWN UNCLASS E-MAIL 22 OCT 04 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On 23 October, AIT Taipei received the 
referenced e-mail regarding the possibility of the Frank 
Foundation, a US-based international adoption 
organization facilitating the adoption of the infant 
children of illegal PRC mothers currently in immigration 
detention in Taiwan. Based on visits by an AIT officer 
to this detention facility and information obtained from 
local NGOs, it appears that the current situation and 
the future faced by both the mothers and infants in 
detention is considerably more positive than described 
by the Foundation. AIT is strongly opposed to the 
adoption of these infants in Taiwan, for administrative, 
legal, and humanitarian reasons.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) On 23 October, AIT received the referenced e- 
mail concerning the situation of PRC mothers and infants 
being held in immigration detention centers in Taiwan 
and the possibility of assisting private U.S. groups in 
the placement (i.e. adoption) of the children.  This 
possibility was raised by the Frank Foundation, an 
international adoption advocacy organization.  The 
Foundation's website includes a section dedicated to the 
mothers and children in a Taiwan detention center, where 
it claimed that the female inmates were prostitutes who 
were "broken physically, psychologically, and 
spiritually," that their babies were unwanted, and 
advocated the "rescue" (i.e. adoption) of these infants 
to save them from a "terrifying and tragic" fate, 
suggesting that many of the women might kill their 
children upon their return to China. 
 
3.  (SBU) As part of the research for last year's 
Trafficking in Persons report, an AIT officer visited 
the immigration detention center in Hsin Chu, in all 
probability the specific center referred to on the Frank 
Foundation website, and conducted private, unmonitored 
interviews with some of the female detainees.  The 
officer found that the conditions at the Hsin Chu 
facility were neat and clean, the inmates described 
their treatment as fair, there was no sign of widespread 
psychological trauma among the detainees, and the 
Taiwanese authorities were going out of their way to 
make sure the women with infants are particularly well 
cared for. This conclusion corresponds with reports from 
local NGOs and other foreign representative offices that 
have visited the detention center as well. 
 
4. (SBU) While it is certain that some of the female 
detainees practiced prostitution prior to their 
detention by the Taiwan authorities, it is not at all 
clear that even a majority were engaged in prostitution 
or any aspect of the sex industry.  There are no 
statistics available and none of the detainees admitted 
to working in the sex trade.  However, based on 
information from a variety of sources, we know that most 
PRC illegals in Taiwan work in industries other than sex 
and prostitution, including working as cooks, 
dishwashers, janitors, manual laborers, domestic 
helpers, etc. 
 
5. (SBU) The Taiwan authorities have the right to detain 
PRC nationals found working in Taiwan as illegal aliens 
pending their return to the PRC, but they have sought to 
return these aliens to their place of origin as quickly 
as possible.  However, the PRC government's reluctance 
to accept their nationals back en masse has resulted in 
a long and slow repatriation process. For example, from 
January through March 2004 five groups of illegal PRC 
nationals were repatriated. According to Taiwan's Bureau 
of Immigration, repatriations stopped from March to 
August, and since August 424 PRC nationals have been 
repatriated, including 232 females and 19 infants. 
According to Chang Hsu-ti from the Taiwan Mainland 
Affairs Council, as of 28 October there were 2197 female 
and 406 male PRC nationals, including 12 children, 
remaining in detention centers in Taiwan. It should be 
noted that children born in Taiwan to PRC national 
mothers have no right of abode in Taiwan because, by 
law, birth in Taiwan does not confer automatic 
citizenship. Additionally, the Taiwan authorities will 
not issue these children travel documents. 
6. (SBU) The possibility that U.S. families might wish 
to adopt these children from Taiwan also raises serious 
U.S. immigration, consular and fraud issues. Attempting 
to verify the bonafides of a PRC orphan in Taiwan, when 
AIT has no access to PRC government offices or documents 
and has no means to fact-check, would make the approval 
of an I-600 petition and orphan investigation nearly 
impossible.  There is also the possibility that children 
would be smuggled from the PRC to Taiwan to take 
advantage of the situation, were we begin processing 
these adoptions.  For the protection of these children 
and to maintain the integrity of the 
adoption/immigration process, any adoptions of PRC 
children should continue to be handled by the U.S. 
Consulate in Guangzhou, not at AIT Taipei. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment: There is no evidence to support the 
allegations made by the Frank Foundation concerning the 
hardships faced by PRC detainees in Taiwan or the fate 
of their children.  Suggesting that PRC mothers, many of 
whom are not well-educated, give their children up for 
adoption while still detained in Taiwan would set a 
dangerous precedent fraught with legal, humanitarian and 
fraud concerns. Any intervention or pressure by the USG 
or AIT, real or perceived, even with the best of 
intentions, risks further complicating what is already a 
very sensitive issue. 
 
PAAL