US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO1366

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 001366 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB/TPP/BTA, EB/IFD/OMA, AND 
EAP; NSC FOR SHANNON; 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD; 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2010 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, EINV, DR, CH, TW, HA 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS 
 
REF: SANTO DOMINGO 579 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: ECOPOL Counselor Michael Meigs.Reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Taiwan Foreign Minister Tan-Sun Chen 
visited the Dominican Republic February 24-25 to shore up 
bilateral relations in response to several recent visits by 
PRC officials.  President Fernandez announced that he would 
visit Taiwan in April, signalling that he intends to maintain 
relations with Taipei for the time being.  Dominican Foreign 
Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso decorated Chen, and the two 
signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations on a free 
trade agreement before the end of 2005.  Taiwan also donated 
US $7.5 million to a high-tech industrial park being promoted 
by the Fernandez administration.  The Taiwan ambassador here 
continues his efforts to attract investment to the Dominican 
Republic, which he characterizes as a "serious venue" for 
Taiwan's relations with the Caribbean region.  End summary. 
 
 
2. (C) Taiwan,s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, John 
Feng, says that recent visits to the Dominican Republic have 
added to Taipei,s concern about its receding diplomatic 
relations in the Caribbean.   In the past six months, three 
Chinese commercial delegations and senior Chinese Communist 
Party officials visited Santo Domingo, and 10 Dominican 
senators (mostly from the opposition PRD) toured China at the 
invitation of PRC authorities. 
 
3. (U) Taiwan,s Foreign Minister Tan-Sun Chen countered 
these Chinese initiatives with a trip to the region last 
month to visit Haiti and, on February 24-25, the Dominican 
Republic.  Chen and his party called on President Fernndez, 
Vice President Rafael Albuquerque, legislative leaders and 
Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso. 
 
4. (SBU) The results in Santo Domingo: 
 
- - Fernandez accepted an invitation for himself, First Lady 
Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, and Morales Troncoso to visit 
Taiwan.  The president plans a two-day stopover on a trip in 
mid-April that will include an international financial 
meeting in Okinawa and stops in Singapore and Tokyo. 
Dominican MFA Asia director Miriam Nadal says this visit will 
reaffirm Dominican ties to the Taiwan government, which date 
back to 1947. 
 
- - Chen and Morales Troncoso signed a letter of intent to 
begin negotiating a free trade agreement before the end of 
the year.  "We,ve been trying to do this for many years, but 
until now the Dominicans were unreceptive," Ambassador Feng 
said. 
 
- - Taiwan donated US $7.5 million to a government-planned 
"Instituto Tecnologico de las Americas," a  project designed 
to attract private investment in information processing and 
related activities.  The grant will help pay for 
infrastructure such as buildings, computer servers, and 
emergency power. 
 
- - Chen received a decoration from the Dominican Government. 
 Both sides affirmed their goal of increasing political, 
cultural, and economic exchanges. 
 
Two-Way Trade and Investment 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
5. (SBU) Feng said the Dominican Republic imports about USS 
100 million worth of goods and services from Taiwan annually 
and exports only about USD 6 million; trade figures for the 
PRC are almost identical.  Taiwan private investments here 
total about USD 100 million, while China has virtually none. 
Feng noted the difficulty his embassy had had in attracting 
Taiwan investors here.  He said State Investment Council 
chair Eddy Martinez and Agriculture Secretary Amilcar Romero 
had just returned from a trip to Taiwan, accompanied by 
Dominican entrepreneurs, to seek foreign investors. 
 
6. (U) There are some 500 Chinese from Taiwan and 60 Taiwan 
businesses in the Dominican Republic.  In contrast, Feng 
said, Haiti has only 7 or 8 persons from Taiwan, representing 
2 families and 2 businesses. 
 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
7. (C) The announcement of Fernandez,s upcoming visit to 
Taipei lends weight to the MFA,s oft-repeated line to us 
that "there is no change in the position of the Dominican 
Republic." 
HERTELL