Cablegate: Chinese Taipei Supports U.S. Position On Unesco Cdc

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS TAIPEI 003517

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC, IO/UNESCO COWLEY, EB/TPP/MPA NISSEN,
STATE PASS USTR AND AIT/W, USTR FOR WINELAND, WINTERS AND
BALASSA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD TW
SUBJECT: CHINESE TAIPEI SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON UNESCO CDC

REF: SECSTATE 149077

1. Econoff met with Deputy Director of the Multilateral
Trade Affairs Division, Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade
(BOFT), Amelia Dai, August 22 to deliver reftel points. Dai
said Chinese Taipei shares U.S. concerns regarding the
possibility that the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Convention
(CDC) could encourage economies to seek special treatment
within the WTO framework for so-called "cultural goods."
Counselor Jenny Yang, of the Chinese Taipei mission in Geneva
will attend the August 25 meeting called by WTO Secretary
General Supachai to discuss the potential trade implications
of the CDC.

2. Dai informed AIT that Chinese Taipei is currently
preparing a letter to SG Supachai listing its three major
concerns with the CDC provisions. First, Chinese Taipei
believes the scope of the Convention is too broad and is
ill-defined. This lack of clear definition could be
interpreted to allow an economy to claim virtually any good
or service has cultural significance. Second, the Convention
would seem to allow for trade distorting measures in an
effort to protect these ill-defined cultural goods in
violation of WTO rules. Third, Chinese Taipei is concerned
that the relationship between the CDC and WTO commitments is
unclear, potentially leading some to assume that the CDC is
an exception to the WTO agreement.

3. While Chinese Taipei recognizes the importance of
cultural diversity, it believes protectionist measures that
impact trade should be avoided. Chinese Taipei will support
efforts to encourage UNESCO not to adopt this Convention
during the General Conference in October 2005 and volunteered
to contact its diplomatic partners who are also UNESCO
members to urge them not to support the adoption of the CDC
without further negotiations.
KEEGAN

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