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Resumption of cross-strait talks meaningful: MAC chairwoman

ROC Central News Agency

2008-05-29 19:44:30

    Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan reaffirmed Thursday the significance of resuming talks across the Taiwan Strait, saying that President Ma Ying- jeou would be "very pleased to see such interaction."

    Lai made the remarks at a press conference following news that China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) agreed earlier in the day for the first time in 10 years to restart negotiations on the basis of the so-called "1992 consensus" and invited representatives of Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to visit Beijing June 11-14.

    Commending the resumption of talks as "meaningful," Lai expressed hope that this opportunity to improve cross-strait relations "will create a win-win situation for both Taiwan and China."

    She said Taiwan's China policies -- aimed at safeguarding stability across the Taiwan Strait, creating regional peace and maintaining Taiwan's interests -- have never changed, adding that the government will deal with China affairs "on the basis of Taiwan and in the interests of all Taiwanese people." "The MAC will continue playing the role of a coordinator to boost exchanges and negotiations among government departments in order to create a peaceful and prosperous new era across the Taiwan Strait, " she went on.

    Asked if Taiwan will be belittled as a result of the meeting being held in Beijing, Lai said all the venues for talks are decided following bilateral discussions, adding that "this time" the talks will be held in Beijing, but next time they can be held in Taipei.

    Lai further welcomed Chen Yunlin, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, who is expected to be sworn in as chairman of ARATS next week, to visit Taiwan.

    The re-opening of semi-official talks almost immediately after Ma took office bodes well for the realization of his promise to launch direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait on weekends and to admit more Chinese tourists to Taiwan starting in early July.

    According to Lai, although direct charter flights, opening to Chinese tourists and direct cargo flights are priorities for the June talks, issues on a proposed gift from China of two giant pandas, will not be discussed until some future date.

    In response to the intention expressed by Chinese President Hu Jintao to give Taiwan more international space, Lai said that "it has always been a wish of all Taiwanese people... China should respect the expectations of the Taiwanese people."

    Hu expressed his intention in his capacity as general secretary of the Communist Party of China at a Wednesday meeting with ruling Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, who is making a six-day visit to China at Hu's invitation.

    Lai, however, did not give a timeline for when a peace agreement between Taiwan and China will be signed.

    The SEF received the ARATS response three days after Chiang Pin- kung, chairman of the SEF, wrote to ARATS asking that talks be resumed within the framework of the "1992 consensus, " which allows both sides to agree that there is only one China, but leaves open the interpretations of the term "one China."

    This means that sovereignty disputes could be set aside in cross- strait negotiations, which were suspended in 1999 when then-President Lee Teng-hui defined relations between Taiwan and China as a "special state-to-state" relationship.

(By Howard Lin)

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