Ruling Kuomintang Vice Chairman John Chiang met Thursday in the Chinese city of Xian with a Chinese elementary school girl who sent 20 Chinese yuan (NT$96) to help people in southern Taiwan who were affected by Typhoon Morakot in early August, a news agency in China reported that day.

President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday that the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) won't be put into practice if the contents of the pact fails to clear the legislative floor.

A scholar urged Taiwan yesterday to co-sponsor the Confucius Institutes with China in a bid to increase its cultural influence in the Chinese mainland and around the world.

A judicial aid agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has contributed greatly to Taiwan's fight against crime since it came into effect June 25, a senior official said yesterday.

President Ma Ying-jeou has ruled out the possibility of Taiwan entering into political discussions with China soon, despite growing ties between the two sides.

Taiwan's education authorities say they are looking to recognize degrees conferred by 41 major Chinese universities, although the plan has yet to be finalized, an official said yesterday.

In yet another sign of increasing exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's tourism chief departed for China yesterday at the head of a large delegation to attend an international travel fair.

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen voiced opposition Wednesday to a Ministry of Education plan to open Taiwan to Chinese students, citing concern over a possible impact on the local job market.

The pace for the negotiations on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) across the Taiwan Strait will accelerate after the two sides formally inked the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in financial supervision and two-way investments on Monday.

China's qualified domestic institutional investors (QDIIs) will be allowed to invest in Taiwan's stock market after a memorandum of understanding on financial regulatory cooperation between the two countries takes effect.