Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday expressed hope that he will be allowed to visit China to pay tribute to China's top Taiwan negotiator Wang Daohan (汪道涵), who died at the age of 90 in Shanghai yesterday.
Wang died almost exactly a year after the passing of Taiwan's former SEF chairman, Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), Wang's old friend and his counterpart in Taiwan.
Wang, the president of China's Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and Koo, the former SEF chairman, held the first high-level talks between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in Singapore in 1993. Those meetings, which became known as the Koo-Wang talks, were a milestone in cross-strait relations.
Politicians across party lines expressed their condolences in Taiwan yesterday, praising Wang's role in building friendly cross-strait communications.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency announced the death of Wang at 10:30am yesterday morning and sent a message to the SEF, ARATS' counterpart, at about the same time.
You Ying-lung (游盈隆), secretary-general of the SEF, said, "Chang has sent a letter of consolation to Wang Yu (汪雨), Wang Daohan's son, saying that he would like to attend his father's funeral and accompany him during his last journey in this world."
Chang said he has no political motive for the visit, but only wishes to pay tribute to Wang personally.
"I will respect the Wang family's decision as I don't want to cause them any extra inconvenience," he said.
Xinhua didn't publish details of the cause of Wang's death and the Chinese government, as of press time, hadn't replied to Chang's request to attend the funeral.
Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲), wife of Koo Chen-fu, told reporters that Koo's family was upset at news of Wang's death and expressed their condolences to Wang's family.
"While Koo and Wang only met a few times during their lives, they were close friends as they had the same concerns over cross-strait relations," she said.
Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said he would send a representative to Wang's funeral, while aides of People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said Soong is considering making the trip himself.
Citing a friend of Wang's, a Central News Agency report said Wang's funeral will be held on Friday.
The Mainland Affairs Council released a press statement yesterday expressing its condolences over Wang's death and urging China to resume cross-strait negotiations.
"The death of Wang, coming almost exactly one year after Koo, is a loss for both sides of the Strait," said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the council chairman.
Wu said Koo and Wang made cross-strait history by establishing an institutional negotiation channel between ARATS and SEF in 1993, and that their second meeting in 1998 laid a solid foundation for reconciliation between the two sides of the strait.
"While mourning for Wang, we hope the legacy left by Koo and Wang can be cherished by both sides and that negotiations can be resumed soon," Wu said.
ARATS and the SEF are quasi-governmental entities handling cross-strait disputes and negotiations in the absence of official contact between the two sides.
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