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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Cross-strait ties
Pandas to woo Taiwan
Beijing yesterday unveiled a list of 11 pandas from among which it plans to pick two to send as a gift to Taiwan, hoping to boost Taiwanese public sentiment in favor of unification. The pandas, six males and five females, range in age from one to five and come from the Wulong Nature Reserve, according to reserve spokesman Zhang Hemin. Experts are letting the pandas spend time with each other to see which two interact the best. Beijing hopes to send a compatible male and female that will eventually breed in Taiwan.

■ Cross-strait ties
MAC working on air links
The opening of direct air links between Taiwan and China seems unlikely before next year, but the government will still do its best to eliminate hurdles to two-way talks on the issue, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. Wu, however, dismissed a newspaper report that cross-strait air links might be set up before the beginning of the next year. He said the report was groundless speculation, and that it is too early to talk about the matter when concrete results have yet to be worked out. Negotiations on direct charter cargo and passenger services and on allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan remained gridlocked, Wu said. He quoted sources as saying that Beijing is attempting to postpone the talks until after Taiwan's year-end elections. Beijing might be making a mistake, he said, since there are elections almost every year in Taiwan, and Beijing must not weigh bilateral negotiations from that viewpoint. "It is extremely unwise for Beijing to adopt that approach since it will not benefit the people in Taiwan -- something contrary to the Beijing leaders' repeated claims that they will do whatever they can to accomplish all tasks that are beneficial to the Taiwan people," he said.

■ Cross-strait ties
PRC officials to visit
A group of about 60 people, lead by Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉), director of China's National Tourism Administration, will visit Taiwan at the end of this month. The group's 10-day visit is seen as a step toward the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists. Li Weiyi (李維一), the spokesperson for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office the group will arrive on Oct. 28 and will visit scenic spots and learn about the transportation facilities in Taiwan. Lee said the trip is aimed at preparing to encourage Chinese people to visit Taiwan. The Mainland Affairs Council said it has yet to get an application from the group. "We haven't gotten the application from the Chinese authority, but we are happy to see their visit to Taiwan," council Vice Chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said.

■ Politics
Lien to go to China again
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) will make a second private trip to China, an aide said yesterday. Lien and his wife Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀) were scheduled to fly to the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang today and meet his mother's relatives there, said Lien's secretary. The couple will also visit Dalian, Qingdao, Yantai and Chengdu before returning to Taiwan on Oct. 28. Lien became the first KMT leader to visit China in 56 years during a trip last spring.

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