The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) admitted yesterday that Taipei and Beijing have “touched” on political issues, but said all cross-strait agreements signed over the past two years have been economic in nature.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun’s (劉德勳) admission came in response to reporters’ questions about a remark by the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Wang Yi (王毅), in New York on Wednesday.
Wang was quoted as saying that both sides had agreed to tackle the easier, economic issues first, but that this was not absolute, because some seemingly easy issues were difficult and some economic issues were political.
Liu said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait may have in “some isolated cases” touched on issues concerning Taiwan’s wish to participate in international organizations or activities that required both sides to jointly deal with the issues.
However, the 14 cross-strait agreements inked so far, including the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), were not political in nature, Liu said.
The government would continue to honor President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pledge to tackle the economic and easier issues first and then move toward political and more difficult ones, Liu said, adding that China had not pressured Taiwan for political negotiations.
As for Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung’s (陳武雄) telling a legislative committee yesterday that the issue of protecting Taiwanese fishermen would be put on the agenda for high-level talks scheduled for the first half of next year, Liu said both sides have wanted to address the issue since former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) met Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵) in Singapore in 1993.
“There are calls for signing an agreement on fishing disputes, but part of the problems can be dealt with by the cross-strait agreement on combating crimes,” he said.
Whether the issue would be on the agenda for next year’s talks would depend on whether a consensus could be reached when SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) meets ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) later this year, Liu said.
Meanwhile, Liu was evasive when asked if Chinese procurement delegations making big purchase plans during their visits here were part of Beijing’s “united front” tactics.
The “united front” refers to tactics and efforts employed by Beijing to extend its influence in Taiwan to promote unification.
National Security Bureau Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee on Wednesday that his agency should consider the delegations’ purchase pledges part of Beijing’s “united front” strategy. Tsai said 62 Chinese delegations visited Taiwan last year and 14 have visited so far this year, making promises to buy more than US$16.2 billion worth of Taiwanese products. However, it was “widely known” that these pledges were “empty” promises, Tsai said.
Liu said the government hoped the purchase promises would be kept and that it was keeping an eye on the situation.
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