CHONGQING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung arrived in Chongqing in southwest China Monday morning to attend talks with the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) President Chen Yunlin.
This is the fifth round of talks between the two leaders since the two sides resumed talks in June 2008.
Founded in 1991 and 1990 respectively, the ARATS and the SEF are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Strait affairs.
The following are the key talks between the two organizations in the past:
In November 1992, the ARATS and the SEF held talks in Hong Kong. The organizations reached what's called the "1992 Consensus." It states that both sides adhere to the "one China" principle.
In April 1993, ARATS President Wang Daohan and SEF Chairman Koo Chen-fu held a historic "Wang-Koo meeting" in Singapore. It was the first public meeting between leaders of the two organizations. They signed four agreements on economic and trade cooperation.
From 1993 to 1998, the two organizations held more than 20 rounds of talks including one between Wang and Koo in Shanghai in 1998.
In 1999, negotiations between the two organizations were suspended. That's when former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui began to pursue "Taiwan Independence."
As of March 2008, cross-Strait relations began to change. The ARATS and SEF agreed to resume talks based on the "1992 Consensus."
On May 28, 2008, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao met with Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung in Beijing.
From June 12-14, 2008, the ARATS and the SEF leaders held their first talks since 1999 in Beijing. The two signed agreements on weekend charter flights and tourism.
On Nov. 3, 2008, Chen Yunlin led a delegation to Taiwan for a five-day historic visit, and signed four agreements on direct shipping, air transport, postal services and food safety.
On April 26, 2009, Chen Yunlin and Chiang Pin-kung signed three agreements on opening regular flights, boosting cooperation in finance and cracking down on crime during their third talks in Nanjing, capital of the east China's Jiangsu Province. The two sides also reached a consensus to boost investment by mainland companies in the island.
On Dec. 22, 2009, mainland and Taiwan negotiators agreed to cooperate in farm produce quarantine and cross-Strait employment of fishermen, as well as to deal with different product quality standards, at the fourth talks between the ARATS and SEF.
On June 24, 2010, the two organizations held a preliminary consultation in Taipei. They agreed that the fifth round of talks would be held in Chongqing on June 29, during which the much-anticipated Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and an agreement on intellectual property rights protection would be signed. |
