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MAC official to join negotiation team

Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) will be part of the 19-member negotiation team heading to Beijing on Wednesday to negotiate direct cross-strait flights and opening the nation to Chinese tourists, making Fu the most senior Taiwanese official to ever participate directly in cross-strait negotiations.

Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) yesterday declined to confirm whether SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) would meet during the trip.

SEF deputy secretary-general-designate Pan Chien-kuo (龐建國) told reporters, however, that “the most important event would not take place until after the signing of the deal,” possibly hinting that Chiang and Hu are scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon.

“It will be up to the hosts whether they want to meet the guests,” Kao said.

Beijing has not released the names of its negotiators.

The SEF delegation is scheduled to depart on Wednesday morning, with a 50-minute transit at Macau, arriving in Beijing at 3:10pm.

Chiang, while leading the delegation, will not participate in the negotiations directly. Chiang and his counterpart, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), the head of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), are scheduled to meet on Wednesday night at a reception banquet hosted by ARATS and again on Friday night at a banquet hosted by the SEF.

Kao said the formal talks would commence on Thursday morning. The specific format of the negotiations will be hammered out tonight by an advance team.

Aside from inking a deal on tourism and charter flights, the two sides will not issue a joint communique, Kao said. Instead, ARATS and the SEF will issue separate press releases.

“It would be pointless to sign a joint declaration if the content is exactly the same as the signed documents,” he said.

Kao said the SEF and ARATS would not sign a deal on direct cargo flights during this round of negotiations but would definitely discuss the issue.

The Democratic Progressive Party caucus has criticized the administration for not prioritizing direct cargo flights, which it argues would bring significant economic benefits.

Former MAC chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said on Friday that the two sides had largely agreed on details of direct cargo flights in August, but that Beijing was very reluctant to give the green light.

The SEF team will include officials from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the National Immigration Agency and the Tourism Bureau.



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