Beijing ready to negotiate ECFA before year's end

Altogether nine agreements have been signed between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), in the past year. One joint statement was also issued.

The accords made possible regular direct shipping across the Strait. Regular flights are scheduled to start next month. Chinese tourists are visiting Taiwan. China is ready to make foreign direct investment in Taiwan.

To satisfy the increasing demand for flights, Wu said, the CCP secretary-general promised to consider favorably an increase of weekly flights in July.

Currently, 270 weekly flights are available.

Wu arrived in Beijing on Monday. He is being accompanied by the KMT vice chairman.

They will leave for Chongqing today for a two-day stay. While in Chongqing, they will attend a "Taiwan Week" celebration by Taiwan businesses in China.

From Chongqing Wu and his delegation will proceed to Hangzhou, where they will visit the Manau Buddhist Temple, where a museum in memory of Lien Heng is located.

Lien, a grandfather of Lien Chan, wrote Taiwan's first comprehensive history in the 1920s.

After a two-day stay in Hangzhou, the Wu delegation will arrive in Nanjing on May 31. On June 1, Wu will pay homage to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China, at his Nanjing mausoleum.

In Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, said the people of Taiwan have the right to decide on whether to conclude the ECFA.

She warned President Ma of the risk involved in the conclusion of the accord.

"The people of Taiwan alone," Tsai said, "have the say on whether such an agreement should be concluded."

Tsai stopped shy of calling for a referendum before the negotiation gets under way.

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