VZCZCXRO9830
OO RUEHCHI RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHPB
DE RUEHIN #4079/01 3420552
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 080552Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3376
INFO RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1789
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
STATE FOR EAP/TC, EAP/MLS, 
USTR FOR ALTBACH AND STRATFORD,USDOC FOR 
4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN/JDUTTON 
GENEVA FOR USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2031 
TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV APECO TW
SUBJECT: AUSTR VISIT:  TIFA, APEC, CHINESE GOODS, AND 
CONFUSION ON GPA 
 
REF: TAIPEI 3972 
 
Classified By: AIT Econ Chief Daniel K. Moore for reasons 1.4 (B/D) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) Director 
General Franco Huang told AIT Econ Chief that he would try to 
provide AIT with "acceptable footnote language" for Taiwan's 
WTO GPA accession.  It is not clear whether this signifies 
confusion or motion in Taiwan's position.  His comments 
contrast with Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen's statement to AIT 
DIR in late November (reftel) that no footnote language would 
be acceptable to Taiwan.  Huang and his staff told Econoffs 
they were frustrated with various snubs their foreign 
minister had to endure in Hanoi during APEC, but they were 
very pleased with U.S. and other members' support for a Free 
Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  On December 5, AIT Econ Chief hosted a lunch for 
BOFT Officials for a working-level readout on the Hanoi APEC 
meetings and an update of key trade issues in advance of 
Assistant USTR Tim Stratford and Deputy Assistant USTR Eric 
Altbach's planned visit December 18-19.  The lunch was 
attended by BOFT's Director General Franco Huang, BOFT staff 
responsible for WTO, APEC, and bilateral trade issues, as 
well as the Chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs APEC 
Task Force. 
 
Preparing for AUSTR Visit 
------------------------- 
¶3.  (C)  DG Huang called the Government Procurement Agreement 
(GPA) a difficult issue and noted that Chinese Taipei 
(Taiwan's official name within APEC and WTO) could not accede 
to the WTO GPA under the current proposed footnote language. 
He promised, however, to "ask his boss's boss," i.e. Minister 
for Economic Affairs Steve Chen, for footnote language 
acceptable to Chinese Taipei.  This contrasts sharply with 
Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen's statement to AIT DIR on November 
24 that Taiwan is "not ready to consider" having any footnote 
in its WTO GPA accession language. 
 
¶4.  (U)  DG Huang stated BOFT and the Ministry of Economic 
Affairs looked forward to discussing the TIFA agenda during 
the Stratford/Altbach visit.  He promised to urge the 
relevant offices to move more quickly in drafting Taiwan's 
comments on the model bilateral investment agreement that 
USTR passed to BOFT in August.  However, he also noted that 
the model agreement provided was done under an FTA framework. 
 
APEC 
---- 
¶5.  (C)  Turning to the APEC meetings in Hanoi, BOFT 
officials stated they were extremely pleased that the U.S. 
and some other member economies supported the goal of the 
FTAAP.  Although the Leaders' Declaration was rather weak on 
the issue, only calling for "further studies" on ways to 
implement a FTAAP over the long term, Chinese Taipei took it 
as a victory that the U.S. and several other developed member 
economies offered support for this goal.  Chinese Taipei was 
also pleased that the leaders' statement labeled the Doha 
Development Agenda as a top priority.  DG Huang stated that 
Ambassador Michalak was "our hero" at APEC for his tireless 
promotion of these goals.  Huang also noted Michalak 
personally told him China's Vice Minister of Commerce should 
not have spoken out in the APEC meeting to say that only 
sovereign countries can be party to free trade agreements. 
According to Huang, both Japanese and New Zealand reps echoed 
Michalak's comments. 
 
¶6.  (U) Hanoi was not without frustrations, however. BOFT and 
MOFA officials cited snubs that Taiwan's foreign minister had 
to endure such as being seated away from the other foreign 
ministers during a formal dinner, and having to wait to 
depart the event until all of the other foreign ministers had 
left.  The MOFA official stated that Chinese Taipei had to 
argue with the APEC Secretariat for complete inclusion of its 
APEC accomplishments in a final statement. According to the 
official, China objected that the report included six 
accomplishments of Chinese Taipei and only listed three from 
China.  China wanted to cut the number of Chinese Taipei's 
down to three as well.  After protests and middle-of-the 
night e-mails the original language was preserved.  These 
kinds of snubs were nothing new, Huang commented.  Even with 
these frustrations, Huang stated that Taiwan remained fully 
committed to APEC and would continue to participate as 
 
TAIPEI 00004079  002 OF 002 
 
 
actively as possible. He highlighted Taiwan's US$2 million 
contribution to the e-APEC initiative as one example of 
Chinese Taipei's commitment to APEC. 
 
Taiwan Bans on PRC Goods 
------------------------ 
¶7. (C)  During the WTO Trade Policy Review for Taiwan, held 
in May this year, China protested Taiwan's import ban on over 
2000 PRC products, stating such a position is contrary to WTO 
standards.  The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and 
the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) regularly 
complain to Taiwan officials about these same prohibitions, 
also citing them as WTO-incompatible.  DG Huang had told AIT 
in August China and Taiwan might hold bilateral consultations 
on this topic "after the summer" break and that he thought 
this would be a very important step in cross-Strait economic 
relations.  DG Huang confirmed today that no such talks have 
materialized to date, but indicated China and Taiwan continue 
to discuss such talks and have tentatively arranged to hold 
talks in January on Taiwan's bans on agricultural products. 
However, Huang added that the composition and leaders for the 
delegations have not yet been decided. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Comment:  AIT believes it unlikely that Taiwan has 
shifted its position on the WTO GPA footnote issue since the 
Director last spoke with the Vice Premier on November 24. 
Nonetheless, AIT will follow up with BOFT to see if Minister 
of Economic Affairs Steve Chen clears on acceptable footnote 
language for Chinese Taipei's accession to the WTO GPA. 
YOUNG