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Cross-strait agreements offer little protection to Taiwan: DPP

ROC Central News Agency

2010/12/20 18:48:37

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Ongoing talks with China have been of little benefit to Taiwan, and agreements reached to protect Taiwan's interests have gone mostly ignored, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) charged on Monday ahead of the latest round of cross-Taiwan Strait negotiations.

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said that after five rounds of talks between the heads of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) that began in June 2008, little has been done to protect China-based Taiwanese investors or the general welfare of Taiwanese citizens.

"Out of the 14 agreements signed, many were merely empty contracts because they have not been properly implemented. It is even more regrettable that several key issues have not been discussed at all," Cheng said.

One example he cited was the agreement on direct cross-strait flights. Though the pact mentioned "beyond rights" of Taiwanese and Chinese airlines -- the right to carry passengers from a second country on to other countries -- the issue had yet to be explored further, he said.

Cheng said "beyond rights" should be treated as high priority because they are closely linked to the profitability of Taiwan's airline industry and the convenience of the public.

Another unfulfilled promise was Beijing's inaction on compensating the victims of China-produced tainted milk powder, he added.

Cheng also said that during the last cross-strait talks held in Taiwan -- in Taichung City in December 2009 -- the sides failed to sign an agreement on investment protection, a crucial issue for China-based Taiwanese businessmen and investors, and it was unlikely that the agreement would be forged this time as well.

According to Cheng, the agreement has yet to be concluded because China refuses to negotiate further on the issue unless Taiwan agrees to offer the concession of widening its market to Chinese investment.

"Clearly, the Beijing government is setting up a trap by using the investment protection agreement as a bargaining chip. It is a pity that President Ma Ying-jeou's government does not have a counter-strategy against China's ploy," he said.

ARATS head Chen Yunlin arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport around noon on Monday for a three-day visit that will include the sixth round of talks with his Taiwanese counterpart Chiang Pin-kung.

Many pro-independence groups have vowed to protest Chen's visit around the clock by setting up various demonstrations in Taipei in the next 72 hours.

A group of over 70 protesters gathered at the National Palace Museum Monday afternoon to oppose Chen's visit and called on Beijing to release Chinese social activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

Compared however to the violent street clashes that took place in November 2008 when Chen arrived in Taiwan for the first time, the protests have been relatively level-headed so far. (By Jenny W. Hsu) enditem/ls