SEF cleared for resuming talks

MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan delivered the written three-point authorization in person that afternoon, a few minutes after Chiang Pin-kung, a vice chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, was installed as the new SEF chairman.

"On behalf of the government, we at the (MAC) hereby authorize the (SEF) to commence talks on administrative affairs (with mainland China)...," said Lai.

The MAC is a Cabinet-level body responsible for coordinating and executing Taiwan's policy on cross-strait affairs, while the SEF is a semi-private organization commissioned by the government to handle relations between Taiwan and China. Its Chinese counterpart is the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

"Hopefully the plans to start direct charter flights and bring more mainland tourists to Taiwan will be realized in July," she added.

Noting that Taiwan is entering a new era in cross-strait relations, Lai expressed confidence that sound interactions between Taiwan and the mainland would result from closer collaboration between the MAC and the SEF.

"We will seek the greatest interest of all people (of Taiwan)," she stressed, while congratulating Chiang on his "outstanding leadership."

Beijing abruptly shut down communication channels between the SEF and the ARATS in 1999, in protest of then president Lee Teng-hui's definition of cross-strait relations as "state-to-state."

The general mood of cross-strait relations under the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party was cast in the same mold, until the election of President Ma Ying-jeou on March 22, 2008.

"I hope that the SEF will devote itself to cross-strait development with its professionalism, enthusiasm, and wisdom," she noted, without providing detail on the specifics and time schedule of the planned negotiations.

Further, the SEF immediately sent an official letter to the ARATS stating the installation of P. K. Chiang and an appeal for discussion on opening direct charter flights and the arrival of Chinese tourists in Taiwan. No mention was made of negotiations regarding the opening of cargo flights.

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