The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will send another delegation to China late this month to promote cross-strait exchanges, including agricultural exports to China and Chinese tourists' visits to Taiwan, a senior KMT official said yesterday.
Chen Chieh (
He said when the visit does take place, members of the KMT delegation hope to meet with Chinese officials over sales of Taiwanese fruit to China, sightseeing visits by Chinese citizens to Taiwan, and the proposed direct three links between Taiwan and China in trade, post and transportation, to achieve consensus on these issues.
Chen urged the Democratic Progressive Party government to lay aside inter-party bickering and put Taiwan farmers' interests first. He said that since Beijing prefers to let the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association coordinate Taiwan's fruit exports, because the organization is more experienced in this respect, the DPP government should give the association its blessing.
The DPP government has already designated the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) as the organization responsible for dealing with fruit exports to China. While Beijing has indicated that it favors the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association, it has not ruled out TAITRA as a possible choice.
Meanwhile, PFP Legislators Chen Chao-jung (陳朝容) and Kao Szu-po (高思博), who visited China with Chen Chieh and other KMT legislators last week to discuss fruit exports to China, said that the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council seems to have doubts over whether TAITRA has the expertise to do the job and whether the government's choice of TAITRA is politically motivated.
They said that some technical issues for the proposed fruit sales to China have yet to be resolved, including certification of points of origin and quarantine.
Lai Ching-te (賴清德), legislative caucus whip of the DPP, criticized members of the KMT-PFP delegation who visited China last week for not insisting that TAITRA be Taiwan's sole organization responsible for fruit exports to China. He also expressed doubts as to whether China is a good market for Taiwanese fruits, because Taiwan's production costs are higher than those in China.
Tseng Yung-chuan (
Also, commenting on the issue of fruit sales to China, the Council of Agriculture reiterated that unauthorized private organizations should not sign any agreements with Beijing on agricultural tariffs, quarantines and inspections for farm produce from Taiwan. Otherwise, they would be in violation of Taiwan's law governing the relationship of its people with China.
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