Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) held a press conference yesterday on the eve of his scheduled departure for China, confirming that a bilateral investment protection pact would not be signed in the upcoming round of cross-strait talks.
“Negotiations on an investment protection pact have made important progress and consensus on critical points of the pact has been reached, but because of differences in the legal systems between both sides, we need more time to reach a deal,” Chiang said.
Chiang said he hoped the investment protection pact could be signed at the next round of cross-strait talks.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) said the failure to seal the investment protection pact this time was not the result of political factors, but only because there was not enough time before the scheduled talks — the seventh round since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008 — begin.
Chiang said a nuclear safety cooperation pact was expected to be signed during the talks in Tianjin, where the SEF chief and his negotiation team are scheduled to arrive this morning.
Kao and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中), will hold a preliminary meeting in the afternoon, Chiang said.
Chiang said tomorrow morning he and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) will lead each side in the negotiations and both sides are scheduled to sign the nuclear safety cooperation pact in the afternoon, before holding an international press conference.
Chiang said his team was scheduled to join a banquet hosted by Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Wang Yi (王毅) tomorrow evening.
Chiang said the SEF delegation was scheduled to have a tea gathering with Taiwanese businesspeople in Tianjin on Friday morning before returning to Taipei in the afternoon.
Regarding the investment protection negotiations, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said last week that representatives from Taiwan and China had agreed on most parts of the agreement, but added that some issues remained to be resolved.
The unresolved parts include sections related to personal safety protection and a mechanism to settle investment disputes between governments and individuals or businesses, he said.
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