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WIKILEAKS: US rules
for contacting Taiwanese revealed
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
US diplomatic staff are required to abide by strict guidelines when making
contact with Taiwanese authorities and representative offices ¡§on all occasions
through the year¡¨ and ¡§especially in the weeks prior to the Oct. 10¡¨ anniversary
of the founding of the Republic of China (ROC), a cable released by WikiLeaks on
Tuesday said.
The cable, dated Sept. 5, 2008, showed that then-US secretary of state
Condoleezza Rice issued a directive to overseas diplomatic missions detailing
the guidelines, which the cable said did not apply to the American Institute in
Taiwan (AIT).
The cable was meant to ensure that the unofficial relations between the US and
Taiwan, which began in 1979 when the US recognized the People¡¦s Republic of
China as the sole legal government of China, were upheld.
Representatives from Taiwan ¡§should be treated with appropriate courtesy and
respect within the framework of the US¡¦ unofficial relations with the Island,¡¨
the cable said.
US government officials should conduct the same substantive range of business
with their Taiwanese counterparts as they would with representatives from
countries with which the US has diplomatic relations, it said.
The US Department of State allowed its embassy personnel to accept invitations
to private functions hosted by Taiwanese representatives either in restaurants
or in their homes, ¡§but not in residences of Taiwan¡¦s principal representatives
or ambassadors,¡¨ it said.
US embassy and consulate personnel could host Taiwanese representatives at
private functions in restaurants or in their homes, but not in US chief of
mission residences, while Taiwanese representatives could not be invited to US
functions of an official nature or to functions held on official US premises, it
said.
The cable said that ¡§any function on or around Oct. 10¡¨ should be considered an
official function regardless of its venue or stated nature.
US executive branch officials are permitted to attend a separate reception
sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US (TECRO)
specifically for US government officials that normally takes place in
mid-October, because it is distinct from the normal Double Ten National Day
function, it said.
US government representatives are not allowed to correspond directly with
authorities from Taiwan, but rather should send letters through AIT-TECRO
channels, it said.
The cable said that individuals from Taiwan contracted by US executive branch
officials are generally referred to by name, title and city, without use of an
international nomenclature.
All US executive branch personnel who plan to travel to Taiwan for work-related
reasons must have prior consent from the state department¡¦s Office of Taiwan
before requesting travel clearance from the AIT and Taipei, it said.
The state department said that the US government does not refer to Taiwan as
¡§Republic of China,¡¨ ¡§The Republic of China on Taiwan,¡¨ or a country. The US
government refers to Taiwan simply as ¡§Taiwan.¡¨
In keeping with the unofficial nature of the US¡¦ relations with Taiwan and the
fact that the US does not recognize Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state,
¡§military representatives of the authorities on Taiwan should not wear their
uniforms while in the US or on US premises overseas¡¨ and the ¡§ROC¡¨ flag should
not be displayed at US government premises, it said.
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