• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Taiwan, China to resume semi-official talks in mid June

ROC Central News Agency

2008-05-29 14:49:11

    Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Talks between Taiwan and China will reopen June 11 for the first time in 10 years, Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the quasi-official Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) , announced Thursday.

    Chiang said the SEF had received a letter earlier in the day from its Chinese counterpart the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), agreeing to restart cross-Taiwan Strait negotiations on the basis of the "1992 Consensus" and inviting the SEF to visit Beijing.

    The response was received three days after Chiang wrote to the 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 interpretation 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.

    The reopening of semi-official talks almost immediately after President Ma Ying-jeou took office bodes well for the realization of his promise to launch nonstop charter flights across the Taiwan Straits on weekends and to admit more Chinese tourists to Taiwan, starting in early July.

    In its letter, the ARATS congratulated Chiang and Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and the secretary general of the SEF, who both took office Monday, on the assumption of their new posts.

    It further stated ARATS' agreement to the SEF's request for the resumption of cross-strait talks based on the "1992 Consensus, " and invited Chiang and Kao to visit Beijing between June 11 and 14 to negotiate on the direct charter flights proposal and the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists. "We hope that positive results will be achieved to satisfy the expectations of the people of both sides," the letter stated.

    In response to the invitation, Chiang said at a press conference that he hopes the cross-strait talks will help to accelerate the launch of nonstop flights between Taiwan and the mainland and allow more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan as soon as possible. "This (resumption of talks) is a fresh starting point after 1999... and we at the SEF will assemble a delegation to handle the negotiations," Chiang said.

    Chiang confirmed that the delegation, comprised of SEF officials, officials from relevant governmental agencies, and some businessmen, will travel to Beijing June 11 and will hold talks with the ARATS at the vice secretary general level on the morning June 12.

    Chiang said he hopes that the heads of the SEF and ARATS will be able to sign a draft agreement by the afternoon of June 12, and that a final agreement will be completed by June 13.

    Chiang welcomed the ARATS's prompt response, saying it was "really meaningful" and that it had come at an "appropriate" time.

    Ma's election victory on March 22 created new optimism in many quarters for better relations with China, and raised expectations for a quick resumption of semi-formal cross-strait negotiations, particularly on issues of economic importance.

    The SEF's request was sent to the ARATS immediately after Taiwan's top China policy coordinator, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), authorized the SEF Monday to resume contact with China.

    The MAC had been waiting until Chiang, the ruling Kuomintang's vice chairman, formally assumed his position as SEF chairman before giving the semi-official foundation the green light to proceed with the overture to China.

(By Howard Lin)

ENDITEM /pc