US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI4310

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 004310 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS AIT/W 
DEPT FOR EAP/TC 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/ASIA MBMORGAN CABLE BOX 4431 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2015 
TAGS: ECON, EAIR, PREL, CH, TW, Cross Straits 
SUBJECT: MAC OFFICIAL WELCOMES PRC HIGH-LEVEL VISIT 
 
REF: TAIPEI 4210 
 
Classified By: Acting AIT Director David J. Keegan, Reason 1.4 d 
 
1. (C) Summary: Mainland Affairs Council Economics Division 
Director Fu Don-cheng called the scheduled October 28 
arrival of the PRC's China National Tourism Administration 
(CNTA) Director General Shao Qiwei "ministerial level," and 
the highest level visit of a PRC official to Taiwan.  MAC 
has publicly welcomed the visit.  Fu pointed out that there 
would be no scheduled meetings with Taiwan government 
officials during the trip, but members of the PRC 
delegation might bump into Taiwan officials at some events. 
End summary. 
 
2. (C) In an October 20 meeting with AIT/T Economic Section 
Chief, MAC Economics Division Director Fu Don-cheng 
confirmed reports that the PRC would send a delegation 
under the CNTA to visit Taiwan (ref A).  Fu said that CNTA 
Director General Shao Qiwei will lead the visit, and thus 
it will be "ministerial level."  He claimed that Shao would 
be the highest ranking PRC official to visit Taiwan.  The 
group will arrive October 28 and stay for 10 days, but its 
itinerary had not yet been set.  He said Taiwan welcomed 
the visit, the purpose of which was to give PRC officials 
the chance to view Taiwan's tourist infrastructure.  In an 
October 21 press release, MAC publicly welcomed the visit. 
MAC Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu told the press that this 
kind of assessment tour was standard procedure for the PRC 
before approving a new territory for tourist travel. 
 
3. (C) The delegation was invited by the Taiwan Visitors 
Association (TVA).  Fu called TVA a private organization 
but commented that it was controlled by the Ministry of 
Transportation Affairs.  Fu pointed out that no formal 
consultations with government or industry organizations 
would take place during the visit on the proposal to open 
up Taiwan to Mainland tourism.  He commented that the PRC 
would never agree to formal consultations held in Taiwan. 
In a subsequent conversation, Fu added that no meetings 
with Taiwan government officials would be scheduled for the 
PRC delegation.  He noted that this had been a condition 
set by the PRC for the visit.  However, Fu told us that the 
Taiwan side would not rule out the possibility that members 
of the PRC delegation would bump into Taiwan government 
officials at one or more dinner event scheduled for the 
delegation. 
 
4. (C) Fu concurred with industry executives who had told 
AIT/T that more substantial progress toward agreements on 
the tourism initiative and cross-Strait charter flights is 
unlikely before Taiwan's December 3 local elections (ref 
A).  However, Fu said that he believed there would be 
charter flights for the 2006 Lunar New Year.  He added that 
the restrictions on who is allowed to use the flights might 
be relaxed to include Taiwan students in the PRC. 
KEEGAN