Since President Chen Shui-bian's (
Tsai Ing-wen (
In the past two weeks, tycoons -- most notably Formosa Plastics Chairman Wang Yung-ching (
On May 21, Chen Yunlin (
The following day, as Tsai was reporting on the MAC's current cross-strait policy to the Legislative Yuan's Home and Nations Committee, KMT lawmaker and former foreign minister John Chang (
Also in the legislature that day, DPP Legislator Chang Chin-fang (
He later told the Taipei Times that the reason for such optimism was that people believe that China "favors private bodies" for holding negotiations.
That may be the government's reasoning too. A senior MAC official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times, that "the government is eager to make a breakthrough in cross-strait relations." He said that, since China had made it perfectly clear that it would not talk to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF,
Chang stressed that, while this situation may appear embarrassing for the SEF -- which is, after all, the sole private body authorized to represent Taiwan in negotiations with China -- "the lion's share of responsibility for its failure [to make progress over the past few years] rests with China."
China and Taiwan have not engaged in dialogue since the last Koo-Wang talks (
Re-emphasizing his own pessimism that captains of industry might succeed where the SEF has failed, Chang said, "It is an unrealistic expectation."
During the Koo-Wang talks of 1993 and 1998, the SEF and ARATS reached agreements on mutual recognition of notarized documents, procedures for the return of illegal immigrants, and postal inspection. Each agreement stipulates the basic rights of the people of the two sides.
"The Chinese authorities, however, do not always abide by their agreements," Chang noted.
According to SEF Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow (
"If the Chinese authorities can unilaterally refuse to abide by agreements that they have signed with the SEF, they may very well do so with any other private body," said SEF Deputy Secretary-General Jan Jyh-horng (
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
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