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Cross-strait ties have entered era of peace and prosperity: SEF

ROC Central News Agency

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) After almost six decades of political standoff, relations between Taiwan and China have entered a stage of peace and prosperity, Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman, Chiang Pin-kung, said Thursday.

Chiang made the remarks during his keynote speech at an academic conference concerning the significance of the two recent talks between Chiang and his Chinese counterpart -- Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). The talks were the first between SEF and ARATS in nearly 10 years.

Chiang said that the cross-strait ties can be divided into two separate periods.

"The first period fell between 1949 and 1987 when the two sides remained in a political and military standoff ready to go to war at any moment and when Taiwan developed its economy and China fortified its political structure," said Chiang.

According to Chiang, the second period of Taiwan-China ties emerged between 1988 and 2007, when the two sides cooperated economically but competed politically.

"During that period of time, China became a Taiwanese investors' paradise and Taiwan's biggest comercial partner," said Chiang.

The historical visit of ARATS President Chen to Taiwan in November marked the third period in bilateral relations, Chiang said.

"The signing of the four cooperation pacts, especially those concerning the expansion of direct weekend charter flights between the two sides into a daily service, and the launching of direct shipping and postal links marked a historical moment and a new era in the Taiwan-China bilateral ties, "noted Chiang.

In relation to the agenda of the next round of dialogues, Chiang said that both sides will give priority to the issues concerning joint efforts to combat crime, inspection and quarantine of plants and animals, financial and industrial cooperation, investment and intellectual property protection, fishery and cultural and educational cooperation.

"Our ultimate goal is to ink a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) with China," said Chiang, adding that such an agreement could avoid the marginalization of Taiwan in the international community.

Asked about the signing of a cross-strait peace agreement, Chiang said that in order to achieve such a goal, the two side must first establish a mechanism of mutual military trust and a framework of peaceful development.

Chiang and Chen held landmark talks in Beijing in June this year, reaching agreements on opening Taiwan wider to Chinese tourists and on launching direct weekend charter flights between the two sides.

In the second round of talks in November, the two sides signed accords on direct shipping and postal links and daily passenger flights, as well as setting up a food safety reporting mechanism.

President Ma Ying-jeou, since being elected as president in March, has invested enormous efforts in improving relations with Beijing, openly stating that he will not pursue reunification nor independence during his term, favoring instead the pursuit of a policy focused on economic ties, so as to revive Taiwan's lagging economy. (By Luis Yu) enditem/cs