Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), bade farewell to Taiwan yesterday after a five-day visit, saying he hoped both sides of the Taiwan Strait would walk down a “wider road of peaceful development.”
During his visit, Chen signed three trade pacts on fishing crews, quality checks for agricultural products and standardizing inspections and certifications.
Calling Taiwan “a beautiful land,” Chen yesterday said there were many people to thank and many things that touched his heart.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
“There are thousands of words I’d like to say, but to sum up, I’d like to express my most heartfelt gratitude to the 23 million Taiwanese compatriots for their understanding, support and care,” he said.
While Chen did not comment at length about an incident in which a police officer was injured during a scuffle with protesters, Chen said he wished the officer a speedy recovery. Chen led ARATS officials in a deep bow for the hard work of law enforcement officers, whom he called his “brothers and sisters.”
Chen described this year as “the most difficult year” this century in terms of the economy and said next year would be a year full of hope and challenges.
He wished his “blood compatriots” and “elders and brothers” in Taiwan a happy new year and said he hoped that cross-strait relations would travel on a “wider road of peaceful development.”
Chen’s Taiwanese counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), said they had accomplished another “historic mission” over the past few days.
Chen said that although the result was satisfactory, he wanted to apologize for the failure to sign an agreement on avoiding double taxation and because Chen could not travel around or visit friends as he pleased.
The two sides had planned to sign the accord on double taxation but dropped it after last-minute negotiations broke down over “technical problems.”
Chiang yesterday also apologized to the media for any inconvenience caused by the secrecy of Chen’s itinerary, saying it happened that way because of security concerns.
The three agreements signed this time around, along with nine others and one consensus signed over the past 19 months, all aimed to improve Taiwan’s economic growth and people’s well-being, he said, adding that they benefited the public rather than certain individuals or industries.
After seeing Chen off at the Taichung Airport in Cingcyuangang (清泉崗), Chiang returned to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to brief MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) on his meeting with Chen.
Chiang told Lai that he succeeded in carrying out the assignment, which he described as “satisfactory.” He said all 12 of the agreements and one consensus point were negotiated on the basis of equality and dignity and under the principle that Taiwan is always the focus and the people’s interest comes first.
Lai said Chiang’s meeting with Chen indicated that the negotiation mechanism is becoming more mature and a norm.
The three agreements signed this time demonstrated that the negotiation team negotiates the best deal possible for Taiwan, she said.
She said the negotiation system aimed to resolve the “real problems” of the two sides and reflected that both sides were “equal and did not deny each other’s existence.”
“Over the past 18 or 19 months, the sovereignty of the Republic of China was not at all compromised but instead was further enhanced,” she said.
Chiang meanwhile denied rumors that he intends to retire.
At a separate setting, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday said the DPP supports cross-strait dialogue, but that the talks should be done with greater transparency, adding that the signed agreements should not become effective automatically, but rather should be validated after “going through a review based on the democratic system.”
Meanwhile, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said the issue that deserved attention was that the Chinese Communist Party had effectively driven a wedge between Taiwan’s pan-blue and pan-green camps.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was the one who was “damaged the most” by Chen’s visit, she said, because a number of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweights, including former KMT chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), all met Chen in defiance of Ma’s wishes.
“There have been some chemical changes in the relationships between KMT heavyweights and Ma,” Lu said.
“No damage caused by [Chen’s visit] was more serious than that caused to President Ma,” she said.
Lu also described KMT heavyweights being “crazy about” Chen as “the most terrible phenomenon.”
“Chen is not [even] a high-level official in China … If it was [Chinese President] Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) coming to Taiwan, would the KMT officials greet him on bended knee?” Lu said.
With regard to the pan-green camp, Lu said it would take some time for the DPP to amend its relationship with pro-independence groups.
Lu said the rally held by the DPP on Sunday ahead of the cross-strait talks did not meet the expectations of anti-Chen groups who thought the DPP’s protest was too weak.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
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