MAC vows to improve government-to-government dialogue with Beijing
ROC Central News Agency
2016/08/11 21:25:56
Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) The government's top priority at present is to improve government-to-government communication with Beijing to maintain existing mechanisms in cross-Taiwan Strait relations, a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official said Thursday.
In particular, issues involving government authority need to be addressed via official dialogue and negotiations in order to better protect national interests and safeguard the rights and well-being of the people, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
He was speaking during a regular news briefing, in response to a question on whether the Prospect Foundation and Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies -- two private think tanks that have served as a "track-two" channel of communication with China, the United States and Japan -- will take on a more important role now that the government has yet to decide on the leadership of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).
"Track two" communication is a non-official or semi-official dialogue when official contacts are severed due to various reasons.
The SEF is an intermediary body set up by the government to conduct negotiations with China and handle cross-strait affairs in the absence of official ties between the two sides.
The SEF chairmanship was left vacant after Lin Join-sane (林中森) stepped down on May 13. President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration that took office May 20 has not named a successor.
Chinese officials said in June that Beijing has suspended official dialogue with Taipei since Tsai was sworn in, accusing the new government of refusing to recognize the "1992 Consensus."
(By Mou Tzung-han and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM/ke
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
