Sixth KMT-CPC forum opens in China

Addressing the opening of the sixth KMT-CPC forum, KMT Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung reiterated his party's determination to carry out the ECFA signed on June 29.

He said the KMT, the governing party in Taiwan, “is willing to face the severest tests of the people, letting more Taiwanese people know what we are doing,” referring to strong opposition to the deal from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

Wu said the deal cannot be put into effect without the approval of Taiwan's Legislature, but believed it would make it through the legislative process quickly, based on his impression that most Taiwanese people support the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.

In his speech, Wu also expressed hope for the two sides to enhance cooperation in the emerging new energy and environmental protection sectors.

“The green energy industry is an important sector in Taiwan,” he said, noting that in cooperation with Chinese businesses, the two sides could jointly make inroads into the international market.

Wu arrived in China Friday for the two-day forum, formally named “Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum.”

The KMT and Communist Party first opened the annual forum in 2005 to boost dialogue and exchanges between people of the two sides, which have been politically hostile toward each other since the end of the civil war in China in 1949.

Wu is heading the KMT's delegation that is composed of party representatives, scholars and experts, as well as businessmen from the technology, energy, cultural and education sectors.

During the opening of the latest forum, Jia Qinglin, a member of the CPC Political Bureau Standing Committee, underlined that after the signing of the ECFA, “the two sides will establish a cross-strait economic cooperation mechanism.”

They will then begin follow-up negotiations on further liberalization of goods and services, the promotion of investment and economic cooperation, he said.

In addition to Wu and Jia, Lien Chan, the KMT honorary chairman who initiated the interparty forum, sent a message to the event read by KMT Vice Chairman Lin Feng cheng.

Lien said that while the ECFA opened a new era in cross-strait economic and trade cooperation, the two sides should also discuss how they can both take part in regional economic cooperation to expand their room for economic development.

Meanwhile, KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Jung-kung said in Taipei that Wu will head to Beijing after the conclusion of the forum for a meeting with Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao on July 12.

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