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Updated Friday, September 9, 2011 0:04 am TWN, CNA

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Official hints at 7th high-level cross-strait talks

TAIPEI--The seventh institutionalized high-level conference between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait may take place in the Chinese city of Tianjin Sept.28 or Sept. 29 at the earliest, an official familiar with cross-strait affairs said yesterday.

Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), was scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart — Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) — in August to sign two agreements on nuclear safety cooperation and investment protection, on behalf of their respective governments.

However, the meeting was postponed because the two sides failed to come to terms in time on some critical points regarding the investment protection pact, especially the provisions on trade dispute arbitration and personal safety of Taiwanese investors in China.

According to the official, the negotiations are now in the final stages and the two sides plan to hold a final round of preliminary talks in Beijing soon.

“If the discussions proceed smoothly, the relevant agencies will immediately make arrangements for the seventh Chiang-Chen meeting to seal the two agreements,” the official said.

If all goes well, he said, the Chiang-Chen conference may open either on Sept. 28 or Sept. 29 in Tianjin.

It had been reported earlier that the problematic issues had to do with the investment protection agreement, particularly points related to investors' personal safety, and a mechanism for settling trade disputes.

Chiang said late last month that there were not many areas of conflict, but the finishing touches were not yet complete.

Given the sensitivity and uniqueness of cross strait relations, Chiang said, broader discussions were needed to finalize the wording of the investment protection accord, including that on personal safety protection, person-to government, and person-to-person relations.

Some sources said recently that after a strong lobby by Taiwan, China has finally agreed that in the event any individual Taiwanese investors are detained in China on suspected involvement in crime, their families or corporations should be informed within 24 hours.

The sources further said Taiwan would benefit substantially from the two agreements, but some of the benefits may not be formally stated in the text of the pacts. Instead, they could be documented in the form of press statements, the sources said.

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