Negotiations that would allow Chinese tourists to enter Taiwan are proceeding, an official confirmed yesterday.
The unofficial talks have proceeded smoothly, but have yet to reach the concluding stage, a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official was responding to a recent report by China's state-run Xinhua news agency that quasi-official intermediary bodies from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are holding a fourth round of technical talks on Taiwan's planned opening to Chinese tourists.
The MAC official said that executives from Taipei's Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and the Beijing-based Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association had indeed met recently to discuss the planned tourism opening measure.
"While the talks have been proceeding smoothly, the two sides have not yet reached consensus on certain critical points," the official said, adding that the MAC -- Taiwan's top China policy planning agency -- would brief the press whenever a major breakthrough or concrete results were achieved.
The official would not reveal what issues the two sides remain at odds over.
Meanwhile, MAC commissioners met on Monday to review China's internal situation and its policy and strategies toward Taiwan. They concluded that China's basic policy tone toward the Taiwanese government remained unchanged, while it continued to step up its efforts to court favor with Taiwanese.
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