MOU signals new phase in cross-strait dialogue

Nobody except Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leaders is against the conclusion of the MOU, which will go into force in two months after a simultaneous exchange of its two signed official copies. They oppose the signing, labeling it as an act of selling out Taiwan. Of course, no clear-thinking people would believe them, while entrepreneurs in Taiwan and abroad welcome the new mutual financial supervisory regime, which will be improved by the addition of more deregulation measures after an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) is concluded early next year. As a matter of fact, the news helped the weighted Taiwan shares price index surge 127.05 points or 1.66 percent to close at 7,792.68, the highest level so far this year.

When the long expected signing would be signed had been kept in the dark simply because the Kuomintang (KMT) administration was afraid of being called a perpetuator of the sellout of Taiwan. Moreover, the government had to take extreme caution so that the Republic of China on Taiwan was on an equal footing in concluding the MOU. That's why “Taiwan side” and “China side” were used to identify the “plenipotentiaries” of the two parties to the “agreement.”

That's totally unnecessary, however. The administration had to do what it could for the nation despite all the opposition the opposition may raise for opposition's sake. Then, what's really in the name? Negotiators for the MOU spent much of their precious time for negotiation on how the signatories should be identified. Both parties weren't pragmatic enough.

Well, whatever they called themselves doesn't add or take away anything from the MOU, which is in effect an agreement between Taiwan and China, and its successful negotiation and conclusion has started a new phase in dialogue between Taiwan and China to improve relations across the Strait. The days of proxies, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taipei and its Chinese opposite number, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), are coming to an end. Both may cease to exist after the ECFA is concluded and signed.

It's a giant step forward to bring a lasting peace between the two sides of the Strait.

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