MAC refuses Beijing offer to allow official talks

Beijing recently offered to give tariff-exemptions to 15 kinds of Taiwan fruits, such as lychees and mangoes in the wake of outgoing Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan’s landmark trip to China.

Taiwan has insisted on government involvement in the talks, appointing the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to handle the issue.

But it still rejected an offer quoted in Chinese state media from a Beijing official, Cross-Strait Association on Trade Exchanges President Li Linshui, for talks on the fruit imports with civic organizations appointed by the “relevant Taiwan government agencies” — an indirect reference to TAITRA.

The sticking point appeared to be the involvement of the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association. The association has already travelled to Beijing for talks on this issue and Li’s invitation for the talks scheduled for Wednesday was directed at the association along with civic groups appointed by the Taiwan government.

“Beijing is still designating who it wants to talk to (in Taiwan) and has fallen short of our expectations,” a China policy making Mainland Affairs Council official said on condition of anonymity.

“We will not send officials to China for talks July 27 and we will continue to watch the situation to see if China shows any improvement,” the official said.

The official said China first said it wanted to talk to the opposition Kuomintang about the matter, then changed and said it wanted to talk to the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association.

“Whatever the case, appointing (our) civic organizations to be our chosen representatives for talks is extremely wrong and highly impolite,” the official said.

“Every country in the world has the right to appoint its own representatives for talks with other countries.”

The official said Taipei would have accepted an offer for direct talks between TAITRA and the relevant Chinese government agencies.

Please see MAC on page

But it seemed as if China saw the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association as most important and the civic groups appointed by TAITRA were merely viewed as an accompanying delegation. This was hollowing out the government’s authority in the matter.

The official also said as the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association was favored by Beijing, he suspected the association would represent Chinese interests rather than Taiwanese ones.

The official reminded the public that any private groups making unauthorized agreements with the Beijing authorities were breaking the law and would face punishment.

The MAC official said the council would wait for a KMT working group on cross-strait affairs to make a trip to China on Tuesday July 26. He said the council would watch China’s interactions with the KMT delegation to see if there were any improvements.

Meanwhile TAITRA Secretary-General Chao Yung-chuan said his agency could not decide on its own if it would attend the July 27 talks, saying it was up to the Mainland Affairs Council.

The invitation was only reported in China’s state media and no Chinese agency has contacted TAITRA or any Taiwan government organization directly.

The hard line pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union lashed out at China’s offer, saying the issue of Taiwan agricultural exports to China had become China’s most important weapon in its “united front” strategy of dividing the island.

TSU legislative council convener Huang Shih-cho urged the public to think cautiously about China’s latest offer and treat any “so-called goodwill gestures” with suspicion.

But KMT legislative whip Chen Chieh urged the government to be more open to China’s latest offer.

Chen, who will lead the delegation to China on Tuesday, said the government should be helping with exports of agricultural produce to China to give farmers more revenues.

He said his delegation would talk with the Beijing authorities on this matter, along with issues relating to Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan and setting up direct non-stop transport links.

Chen said according to information he obtained from China, Beijing preferred to negotiate with the Taiwan Provincial Farmers Association. He said the association already had experience selling farm produce in China and had connections with farmers groups across Taiwan.

“The government should drop its defenses ... and not have too many political considerations — the rights of farmers are most important,” he said.

Chen said his group would aim to reduce misunderstandings between Taipei and Beijing and it would also talk with China-based Taiwan business executives to understand their needs.

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