Third round of cross-strait talks to open April 26 in Nanjing
ROC Central News Agency
2009/04/18 19:13:42
Taipei, April 18 (CNA) A third round of talks between the top negotiators of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) , is set to open April 26 in Nanjing, high-level officials from either side of the Taiwan Strait announced Saturday.
Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary-general of the quasi-official SEF, and ARATS Vice President Zheng Lizhong, made the announcement in separate press conferences at the conclusion of a day-long joint preparatory session in Taipei.
"We have reached consensus on many issues, which I believe will lay a great foundation for the third round of talks," Kao said.
According to Kao, the SEF delegation is scheduled to arrive in Nanjing April 25 aboard a direct charter flight and there will be another preparatory meeting that same afternoon to finalize the details of the talks.
He said the third round of talks between SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and ARATS President Chen Yunlin will officially open April 26 with four major topics on the agenda -- regularly scheduled cross-strait flights to augment the existing charter services, financial cooperation, tackling cross-strait crime and providing legal assistance, and opening Taiwan to investment from China.
Chiang and Chen are expected to sign agreements on the first three issues that afternoon, while a decision by both sides on what to do about the issue of opening Taiwan to Chinese capital should be revealed after the meeting, Kao added.
Chiang will later meet with Wang Yi, director of the China State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, and will visit Taiwanese businessmen based in Yangzhou, Suzhou, Kunshan and Shanghai before returning to Taiwan April 29, he said.
On the issue of launching regularly scheduled flights, the SEF vice chairman said the Chiang-Chen talks will discuss the launch of a new flight route that he said would be more convenient for travelers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but he did not elaborate.
As to the issue of cracking down on cross-strait crime and the provision of legal assistance, the agreement expected to be signed will include a clause concerning the repatriation of economic criminals, Kao went on, adding that this is a category that was missed out in the Kinmen Agreement signed in 1990 by the Red Cross Societies of Taiwan and China for extraditing criminals and suspects who flee across the strait to escape justice.
Asked whether the hotly discussed issue of Taiwan signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China will be touched upon in the third round of Chiang-Chen talks and be included formally on the agenda of a fourth round of talks scheduled for the end of the year, Kao did not answer directly, saying only that Taiwan and China should be able to start discussing the issue at some point in the future when the time is ripe but that at present, both sides can only make separate preparatory efforts.
Zheng said in an earlier press conference that signing a comprehensive trade pact with Taiwan will facilitate the establishment of a cross-strait economic cooperation mechanism beneficial to both economies.
"Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are adopting a proactive attitude on the issue and are trying to create (favorable) conditions for it step by step, " Zheng said, adding that "We should proceed to discuss the issue when conditions are ripe."
Taiwan has great interest in singing an ECFA with China, as the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou thinks such an economic pact would not only help normalize relations with China but would also prevent Taiwan's marginalization in the process of China's economic integration with other countries in the region. (By Rachel Chan) ENDITEM/J
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