US embassy cable - 04TAIPEI3465

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003465 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND EAP/EP, STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2014 
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, TW 
SUBJECT: CHINESE TAIPEI'S APEC AGENDA: LOW-KEY MEETINGS 
 
Classified By: AIT Director Douglas Paal, Reason 1.4 b/d 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh 
will once again represent Chinese Taipei at the APEC Leaders' 
Meeting in November in Santiago, Chile.  Academia Sinica's 
Michael Hsiao and National Security Council's Connie Yang 
believe the Chinese Taipei delegation will try to avoid any 
controversial moves at the APEC Summit but will seek to play 
an active role in discussion of health and high tech issues. 
Hsiao and Yang promised that Chinese Taipei would support 
U.S. initiatives on transparency and anti-corruption, but 
would not be active on security related issues.  Chinese 
Taipei will seek a handful of official and unofficial 
bilateral meetings, but is not planning for any detailed 
discussions at the Leaders' Meeting.  Chinese Taipei 
representatives to the Ministers' Meeting are more likely to 
engage on substantive discussions on the margins, possibly 
including cross-Strait transportation.  End Summary. 
 
Chinese-Taipei Picking its Spots in APEC 
======================================== 
 
2.  (SBU) President Chen announced September 21 that Academia 
Sinica President Dr. Lee Yuan-tseh would once again represent 
him at the APEC Leaders' Meeting November 20-21 in Santiago, 
Chile.  This will be the third straight year Lee, a 1986 
Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, has represented Chen at 
the annual meeting.  Academia Sinica researcher Michael 
Hsiao, Lee's aide de camp in previous meetings and a member 
of the National Security Council-led group discussing 
Taiwan's goals for the APEC Summit characterized Chinese 
Taipei's objectives for the 2004 Leaders' Meeting as the same 
as last year: trying to secure as many formal and informal 
bilateral meetings with other APEC leaders as practical, 
actively participating in those areas where Taiwan has 
specific interests or expertise, and avoiding controversial 
situations that might damage Taiwan's standing within APEC. 
 
3.  (SBU) He saw particular opportunities for Chinese Taipei 
to play a role in discussions on health and the utilization 
of high technology to facilitate trade and bridge the digital 
divide.   The SARS crisis in 2003 spurred the creation of a 
Health Task Force to analyze health consequences of trade 
policies, support regional health preparedness policies and 
to develop strategic priorities for cooperation.  The recent 
outbreaks of Avian Flu in Asia suggest to Hsiao that it might 
be useful to expand this task force to allow it to better 
share information, review best practices, and coordinate 
responses.  Chinese Taipei would support a call for Health 
Ministers to expand the scope of the Heath Task Force for 
this purpose.  Hsiao said Chinese Taipei would also support 
efforts to establish an APEC-supported AIDS Center in 
Thailand and establishment of a clearinghouse for information 
on vaccines. 
 
4.  (SBU) In high-tech areas Taiwan has expertise that it is 
eager to share with other economies in APEC.  Hsiao noted the 
recent report issued by the APEC Secretariat lauding Chinese 
Taipei's use of technology to facilitate trade by increasing 
transparency and efficiency.  Chinese Taipei has been active 
in efforts to bridge the digital divide within APEC, for 
example, by promoting telecenters for computer and digital 
training, and will seek to continue and expand that role, 
including through allocation of resources, including funding, 
to appropriate projects. 
 
5.  (SBU) NSC Senior Economic Advisor Connie Yang echoed 
Hsiao's comments that Taiwan would focus its efforts in areas 
where it felt it could contribute most to APEC initiatives. 
She highlighted in particular the issue of Avian Flu and 
suggested that Taiwan was well-placed to play a significant 
role in the development of the Health Task Force into an 
entity that could better support regional health preparedness 
activities and information sharing.  Yang also noted Chinese 
Taipei's efforts to help other member economies develop their 
digital technology capabilities. 
 
Support for U.S. Initiatives, But Security Takes Backseat 
============================================= ============ 
 
6.  (C) Hsiao said that Chinese Taipei will support U.S. led 
anti-corruption initiatives.  Although Chinese Taipei cannot 
sign the UN Convention against Corruption, the government is 
planning to incorporate the principles of the convention in 
Taiwan law.  Chinese Taipei will also support proposals for 
APEC reforms.  Chinese Taipei will not seek a prominent role 
in discussion of security related issues, but will support 
APEC consensus.  Although supporting U.S. calls for 
counter-terrorism activities within APEC, including 
nonproliferation, restrictions on MANPADS, and attention to 
economic security issues, Hsiao was concerned that an active 
approach in security related discussions would be 
counterproductive.  Yang later agreed that the NSC also 
believes any intervention by Chinese Taipei on these issues 
would be more damaging than helpful.  She said the NSC 
clearly understands that it is best for Taiwan to remain 
silent in these discussions. 
 
Seeking Bilateral Meetings... 
============================= 
 
7.  (C) As in past years, Chinese Taipei will try to take 
advantage of the APEC Leaders' Meeting to schedule official 
and informal bilateral meetings with regional leaders.  Hsiao 
suggested Chinese Taipei would attempt to schedule four or 
five official meetings, listing Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, 
and Papua New Guinea as potential partners.  Topics of 
discussion might include trade issues, development assistance 
for PNG, and Taiwan's security relationship with Japan. 
Taiwan is likely to again request a meeting with a high-level 
U.S. official (not the President) during the Summit. 
 
But No Substantive Cross-Strait Dialogue 
======================================== 
 
8.  (C) Hsiao was hopeful that Lee would have the opportunity 
to have an informal discussion with Chinese President Hu 
Jintao, but insisted there were no plans for Lee to pass any 
detailed message from President Chen regarding the 
possibility of expanding dialogue between the two sides of 
the Strait.  Lee said to the press November 2 that he felt he 
was not the right envoy for a cross-strait dialogue and 
declared the most effective way to conduct cross-strait 
communication is for Hu and Chen to meet face to face. Lee 
said he will make this suggestion directly to Hu Jintao at 
APEC if he has a chance to meet him.   Hsiao said Chinese 
Taipei was optimistic that detailed discussions regarding 
cross-Strait ties, including direct flights for Chinese New 
Year, might occur during the Joint Ministerial Meetings, 
November 17-18. 
 
9. (SBU) Comment: Taiwan's leadership has traditionally used 
APEC, one of the few prominent international organizations of 
which Taiwan is a full member, primarily as a forum in which 
to interact on an equal basis with regional partners.  This 
has paid dividends in areas where Taiwan is strong, such as 
telecommunications and high technology discussions, and 
Chinese Taipei's representatives have been valuable 
contributors to APEC's activities on these topics.  In the 
health care field, Taiwan clearly sees APEC's Health Task 
Force as an opportunity to demonstrate its value in 
international health cooperation.  The Taiwan government 
appears to be reluctant to risk its standing in APEC by 
courting the controversy that would invariably surround an 
attempt to support actively discussion of security issues. 
Although supportive of including security discussions within 
APEC, Taiwan policy-makers believe Taiwan's interests are 
best served by taking a low-profile approach at the upcoming 
Leaders' Meeting and benefiting from any positive outcomes. 
End Comment. 
PAAL