On Dec. 22, the sixth round of talks between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and its mainland Chinese counterpart the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait concluded in Taipei City. The three-day event, significant in that the two sides signed the Cross-Strait Medical Cooperation Agreement, was lauded by the ROC government as a glittering success.
In addition to concluding the pact, SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin decided to lift the daily quota for mainland Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan as part of a group from 3,000 to 4,000 beginning 2011. They also pledged to continue working to allow individual trips by mainland Chinese tourists to Taiwan. This arrangement, expected to be in place by the first half of next year, will gradually be implemented and only available at first to residents in major mainland Chinese cities.
Of equal importance, but with much less fanfare, were closed-door discussions between SEF and ARATS officials on the economic cooperation committee and the proposed cross-strait investment protection agreement. Understandably, these matters were hardly touched upon at the daily news conferences but reading between the lines, both sides appeared content with the progress that was made.
For the people of Taiwan, finding out what “progress” at these cross-strait talks entails is harder than getting a sphinx to talk. Officials participating in SEF-ARATS news conferences have made an art form out of speaking without actually saying anything. And the press releases are no better, filled with grandiose statements eerily reminiscent of the nonsense streaming forth ad nauseum from North Korea.
In the past, the SEF has deflected criticism over this lack of transparency by arguing that it is a private organization not subject to the same standards of disclosure as public institutions. But this position is untenable given its mandate to conduct cross-strait negotiations on behalf of the government and 23 million people of Taiwan. The SEF must remember it is beholden to the people, not the other way around.
The shroud of mystery hanging over SEF-ARATS talks reached new heights prior to the Taipei meeting. In September, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun was forced to play down cryptic comments made by Wang Yi, director of mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, concerning the economic cooperation committee. Wang set alarm bells ringing in Taiwan when he said the committee should have “distinctive Taipei-Beijing characteristics.” Liu attempted to defuse this remark, reassuring the Taiwanese public that Taipei and Beijing were on the same page concerning the matter. He also stressed that the committee will have no power to sign agreements, nor will it have permanent members.
Although it is comforting to know that Taipei and Beijing are in agreement over the committee, something must have got lost in translation because its highly anticipated launch at the SEF-ARATS talks failed to materialize. The fact remains that the committee’s exact function and raison d’etre are yet to be satisfactorily explained. This needs to change post-haste otherwise the government risks further undermining its claim to be acting in the best interests of Taiwan when it comes to cross-strait negotiations.
Increasing public dissatisfaction with the SEF-ARATS talks has not gone unnoticed by the government. On Dec. 29, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou—never one to miss an opportunity to capitalize on populist sentiment—called for greater flexibility in cross-strait dialogue, suggesting that the two sides should not be locked into meeting twice a year. “Negotiations should take place when the time is ripe or be postponed until preparations are completed,” he said, adding that knotty issues will have to be put off.
Ma’s position is hardly surprising given the SEF’s failure to deliver on issues of real importance such as protecting Taiwanese investments in mainland China. The people are fast realizing that the only cross-strait agreements being fully implemented are the ones that benefit Beijing.
In calling for a cooling off of sorts between the SEF and ARATS, Ma is trying to buy time and send mainland China a message that he needs a little something to sweeten the electorate before the 2012 legislative and presidential elections. But if he believes that a “star chamber” committee and toothless investment protection agreement only recognized by Taipei and when the mood suits, Beijing, are enough to win the hearts and minds of local voters, then he is sorely mistaken.
The only way forward for the government is to remedy the lack of transparency surrounding SEF-ARATS talks and abandon the pointless scheduling of meetings for appearance’s sake. Explaining what is going on in an open and honest manner is far preferable to pursuing a self-defeating policy of disseminating information on a need-to-know basis.
The public is no fool. It recognizes that prosperity exists outside the world of statistics and wants issues impacting upon everyday life and the nation’s future dealt with in an above board manner. The ROC government must accept that when it comes to cross-strait dialogue, the time for games and sleights of hand is over. To think otherwise represents a threat to Taiwan’s hard-won democracy.
—Marc A. Tiberius is a freelance writer based in Shepherd’s Bush, U.K. These views are the author’s and not necessarily those of Taiwan Today. Copyright © 2010 by Marc A. Tiberius
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