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MAC calls for early passage of cross-strait agreement oversight bill

ROC Central News Agency

2016/09/06 21:21:55

Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) The head of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Tuesday that she hoped a bill to monitor cross-Taiwan Strait pacts will clear the legislative floor as soon as possible and that negotiations between Taiwan and China can resume soon.

Chang Hsiao-yueh (張小月) made the remarks after calling on Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers earlier in the day to seek support for the MAC's budget for next year.

The budget will be reviewed by the Legislature, which will start a new session on Sept. 13.

In response to reporters' questions after the meeting, Chang said the draft bill on oversight of cross-strait agreements is very important and she hopes it will be given priority in the new legislative session.

The passage of the bill will be conducive to the resumption of negotiations between Taiwan and China, Chang told reporters.

The draft bill provides guidelines for Taiwan to conduct negotiations with China, she said, calling for the resumption of such negotiations as soon as possible.

Based on the bill, Taiwan's trade and economic officials will be able to resume talks with their Chinese counterparts on a trade-in-goods pact that has been stalled since late November 2015 after 12 rounds of negotiations.

Meanwhile, a trade-in-services pact signed in 2013 between Taiwan and China is still awaiting legislative ratification and is seen as a key factor in the resumption of cross-strait talks on a number of trade issues, including the stalled trade-in-goods agreement.

In light of these factors, the DPP government reportedly is seeking to have the oversight bill passed in the upcoming legislative session.

Cross-strait communications have slowed amid cooler relations between the two sides since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office May 20.

This is mainly due to China's insistence that the "1992 consensus" remain the political foundation for the development of cross-strait exchanges, and the Tsai administration's reluctance to accept that.

The "1992 consensus" refers to a tacit understanding reached between Taiwan -- then under a Kuomintang government -- and China in 1992 that there is only one China, with both sides free to interpret what that means.

(By Justin Su and Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/pc