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Beijing responds positively to Taiwan's proposal on nuke safety

Central News Agency

2011/04/13 21:56:24

By Charles Kang and Flor Wang

Beijing, April 13 (CNA) Mainland China has responded positively to Taiwan's proposal for establishing a bilateral collaboration mechanism on nuclear power safety, saying it is willing to step up information and technology exchanges in this regard with Taiwan.

Yang Yi, a spokesman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular news conference Wednesday that the two sides will discuss the proposal in a cross-Taiwan Strait culture and trade forum that is scheduled to be held next month in Chengdu, the capital of the mainland's Sichuan province.

"We are willing to actively consider the proposal and exchange views with Taiwan in this field, " he said." Experts from the two sides could kick off discussions when they are both fully ready for that to happen."

However, he stopped short of specifying a concrete timeframe for when the mainland might reach such an accord with Taiwan.

The spokesman said that "all the nuclear power facilities operating in the mainland are safe."

His statements came after Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan called for the establishment of cross-strait nuclear power safety mechanism in view of the crisis that erupted in Japan after its Fukushima nuclear power plant was damaged on March 11 by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Lai urged the mainland to start talks on the issue with Taiwan immediately and sign a pact in the next round of institutionalized cross-strait negotiations.

In response to Yang's comments, Shieh Der-jhy, vice minister of Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council, said later Wednesday, "I discussed this issue with mainland officials two years ago on a visit to the mainland, but no progress was made."

He stressed the need for the two sides to collaborate on nuclear safety, but said he had no idea when cross-strait talks on the issue could begin.

"Both sides should first publish and exchange nuclear power information in a transparent way before entering into substantive negotiations, " he suggested.