Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation together with its mainland counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, made the announcement in the morning of Jan. 24.
The first round of talks will focus on procedural issues, officials with the Mainland Affairs Council said.
Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary-general of the SEF, will lead a 12-member delegation to Beijing, including Huang Chih-peng, director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Lee Li-jane, director of MAC’s Department of Economic Affairs.
On the mainland side, Zheng Lizhong, vice president of ARATS, will lead the discussion. He will be joined by Tang Wei, director-general of the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Department under mainland China’s Ministry of Commerce.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun told reporters the major topic of the first ECFA talks will be on the structure of the talks as well as the division of tasks.
“The first round of talks will not touch on substantive issues, thus representatives from other government agencies will not be involved until later, when specific topics are to be discussed,” Liu explained.
He added that Huang has come to know the ARATS representatives through previous encounters, when both sides were conducting research on ECFA. “Our delegates are very familiar with their ARATS counterparts,” Liu stressed.
In related news, during an interview with the media Jan. 24, Premier Wu Den-yih pointed out that there is an urgent need to begin ECFA negotiations. Ever since the free trade agreement between mainland China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took effect Jan. 1, 2010, Taiwan’s exports to Southeast Asia have been faced with grave challenges, Wu noted. He emphasized that “export goods facing dire conditions must be included in the ECFA's ‘early harvest list.’”
According to an MOEA official, administrative issues will remain the center of tomorrow’s talks. The “early harvest list” will not be a formal part of the agenda.
“The principles for the ‘early harvest list’ will be once again clarified. Meanwhile, the delegation will reiterate the government’s position of not opening Taiwan’s market to mainland agricultural products, and not allowing mainland laborers to work in Taiwan,” the official said.
The ROC government has compiled a priority list of items to be covered in the “early harvest list.” These include petrochemical products, the upper and middle stream suppliers of the textile industry, machinery and parts, auto parts and liquid crystal displays. Some of these products require tariff reductions, now that the mainland China-ASEAN FTA has been put into effect. Other products are made by manufacturers still seeking to enter the mainland market. (LC-HZW)