The agreements are expected to cover the regularization of cross-strait civil aviation links, financial cooperation, joint efforts to promote law enforcement and judicial cooperation and permitting mainland Chinese individuals and businesses to invest in Taiwan.
While each of these proposed cross-strait agreements has already been negotiated at lower levels, the final and most sensitive details still need to be worked out at the Nanjing talks.
We are confident that Chiang and Chen will be able to overcome any remaining difficulties and get all four agreements signed.
Ironically, most of the public attention being lavished on cross-strait relations is directed at the proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that our government wishes to reach with Beijing before year's end.
While there are controversial elements about the ECFA, which would be tantamount to signing a free trade agreement with the mainland, and while the ECFA is indeed very important to our economic development, the fact is that ECFA issues have very little relation to the current round of talks going on in Nanjing.
Chiang and Chen will certainly only briefly discuss technical issues, most likely the timing for the proposed ECFA-related negotiations, since they are not authorized by Taipei or Beijing to do otherwise.
After all, SEF and ARATS are still "private"� organizations that can only act upon receiving authorization from their respective governments.
It is a shame that so much attention and criticism is being focused upon ECFA issues when the four proposed agreements about to be signed are so important by themselves.
If the aviation agreement can be signed, commercial flights between both sides will no longer be classified as "charter"� flights and schedules can become regular.
Our side is seeking to increase the number of flights operated by Taiwan airlines, while Beijing is reportedly eager to open more destinations, rather than increase the frequency of flights.
Reports have also said that Beijing has come under pressure from Hong Kong and Macau not to grant too many concessions to Taiwan airlines, since Hong Kong and Macau airlines are rapidly losing passengers who used to have to transit both territories.1|2|Next Page>>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a Comment>SharePrintEmailWrite a CommentRead Full Article »
