VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHIN #1248 2931000
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201000Z OCT 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2518
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT GEORGE G MEADE MD
UNCLAS AIT TAIPEI 001248
STATE FOR EAP/TC, PM/DTCC AND ISN/MTR
STATE PASS TO AIT/W
PM/DTCC FOR BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR RACHAEL-THERESE JOUBERT-LIN
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN: RESULTS OF BLUE LANTERN BROKER INQUIRY CHECK ON
CASE NO. K-0812
REF: SECSTATE 99479
1. (SBU) Per reftel request, AIT Econ Officer and FN visited Golden
Orient Ltd. in Kaohsiung City and interviewed the company's
President, Mr. James Yu, and Sales Manager, Ms. Silvia Sun, at the
company's new office located at 589, Zhengde Road, Tsoying District,
Kaohsiung City.
2. (SBU) Ms. Sun told AIT personnel that the company was relocated
to the new location on March 28, 2009 as part of the business's
expansion plans. Sun said that Golden Orient received approval from
the Kaohsiung City Government on 5 May 1997 to conduct trading on
commodities, including electronics-related products, diving
equipment, aviation and navigation instruments, and computer
software. The company currently has twelve employees. President Yu
can be reached at the office telephone number 886-7-343-4196. The
fax number is 886-7-343-0113. His e-mail address is
golden98@ms17.hinet.net.
3. (SBU) President Yu told us that Taiwan's military institutes and
the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) of
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense are his target customers, whom
he has been serving for over a decade. Yu stated that he did not do
business outside of Taiwan, nor did he operate offices overseas.
Both Yu and Sun said that they were very familiar with U.S.
restrictions on the procurement of U.S. Munitions List commodities.
Yu mentioned that he recently failed to procure from the US a small
quantity of connectors for a local end user, Taiwan's Naval Combat
System Shipyard, because his U.S. suppliers were unable to obtain an
export license for this commodity.
4. (SBU) Golden Orient's office consists of a three-story building
located within the Kaohsiung Indigenous Plant Garden. President Yu
and the staff work in the offices located on the second and the
third floors. The first floor is a garage-style storeroom with
access from the front, street side of the building as well as a
smaller entry way in the back of the building. This storeroom is
accessible by all the company employees. In addition, there is a
storage room on the second floor where the company stores smaller
commodities. This room is kept locked and only accessible by Mr. Yu
and Ms. Sun. The office appears to be secure, with Taiwan Chung
Hsing Security Co., Ltd providing round-the-clock monitoring
services. Both Yu and Sun appeared well versed in their business
and the needs of their customer base. They were cooperative and
willing to answer AIT's questions and provided written documentation
to support their statements.
5. (SBU) Post has no derogatory information in its files concerning
Golden Orient, Ltd. or its owner. Post learned through our Taiwan
law-enforcement sources, however, that Mr. Yu was charged with a
violation of the regulation "Governing Guns and Knives" in 2002 but
was not indicted.
6. Comment: Accusations of fraud, forgery, and other
business-related crimes are very common in Taiwan, and because this
broker was not indicted of any crime, Post believes this information
does not call info question the bona fides of the broker. End
Comment.
Stanton