With heavy security in place and plans for protests by the opposition, China’s top cross-strait negotiator is scheduled to arrive today for a five-day visit expected to cover four agreements on food safety, direct air and shipping links and direct postal services.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) yesterday said Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) was scheduled to arrive at the Grand Hotel around noon.
Chen was to make a short speech in the Grand Hotel lobby shortly after his arrival, where he would be welcomed by Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
Later today, Chen is scheduled to visit Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲), the widow of former SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), and to tour Taipei 101.
In the meantime, the SEF and ARATS vice chairmen will proceed with preparatory negotiations on the four agreements.
Chen is scheduled to meet Chiang at the Grand Hotel tomorrow morning, with the two expected to sign all four agreements in the afternoon.
The agreements address increasing direct passenger flights, opening direct cargo flights and shipping and shortening existing flight routes across the Taiwan Strait, officials said.
Also on the agenda are food safety issues after tainted Chinese products sickened at least three Taiwanese children and one woman and sparked a countrywide melamine scare.
Chen is also likely to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“I will probably meet him [Chen Yunlin],” Ma said in a recent television interview. “The meeting will provide an important basis to promote cross-strait peace.”
Although it was not originally on the agenda, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said on Friday that the government hoped to sign a memorandum of understanding on cross-strait financial supervision during Chen’s stay.
Chen’s visit has proven a contentious issue that has divided public opinion.
A recent survey by television station TVBS found that 33 percent of 901 people polled believed the nation would benefit from the talks. Another 22 percent disagreed, while 23 percent believed there would be no significant effect.
Analysts said this week’s talks could mark a significant step in cross-strait relations.
The talks will build on negotiations in June, when Chen and Chiang met in Beijing for the first direct dialogue between the two sides in a decade.
“I think China will emerge as the winner in the talks by pulling off a major propaganda coup with Taiwan,” said Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a political pundit at Soochow University in Taipei.
Wu Nengyuan (吳能遠) of China’s Fujian Academy of Social Science, whose research focuses on Taiwan, said: “Chen’s visit to Taiwan is a landmark development in cross-strait ties.”
“The agreements will give a major boost to Taiwan’s economy and trade,” he said.
Also See: CROSS-STRAIT TALKS: Activists form anti-communist corps
Also See: CROSS-STRAIT TALKS: Security ramped up for Chen trip
Also See: CROSS-STRAIT TALKS: FEATURE: Chen's visit stokes debate on Ma's media favoritism
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS