Beijing officials in Taiwan to pay respects to Koo

Two senior Chinese officials arrived in Taiwan yesterday to attend the funeral of Taiwan’s late top negotiator with China, Koo Chen-fu, in a sign political tensions could be easing.

The visit by Sun Yafu, the vice president of Beijing’s agency for negotiating with Taiwan, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and Li Yafei, its secretary general, was the first since 1999 by high level Chinese officials to the island.

Although Beijing says the trip is a private one, calling the officials personal envoys of ARATS chief Wang Daohan, Sun said he hoped it would improve his understanding of Taiwan’s people.

“I haven’t visited Taiwan for nearly 11 years and I really want to visit there again so I can better understand the people who live there,” he told Taiwan reporters aboard his plane.

Taiwan and China have been enemies for over 50 years since the Kuomintang relocated the Republic of China to Taiwan after losing a Chinese civil war to the Communists. Dialogue between the two sides has been stalled since 1999.

Beijing played down the visit, saying Sun and Li would not discus cross-strait issues during their 24-hour stay.

ARATS and its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) handle bilateral ties in the absence of official relations.

Koo, who died of cancer in early January at the age of 87, formerly headed the SEF.

“We will pass on Mr Wang Daohan’s respect for Mr Koo Chen-fu and express our respect for the Taiwan people,” Sun said after Taiwan officials greeted him at the airport.

“We miss Mr Koo Chen-fu a lot. He made contributions to opening dialogue and negotiations between the two sides.”

The pair went to see Koo’s widow, Cecilia Koo, at her home, who thanked them for delivering a letter from Wang.

“Koo Chen-fu regretted he could not meet the elder Wang again. He regretted he didn’t do a good job in handling cross-strait issues,” she told Sun and Li, overcome with tears. She also told them she wished Wang good health.

Wang mentioned in his letter that he was too old to travel to Taiwan.

The pair also passed on condolences from the director of China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Yunlin.

Sun and Li also went to Koo’s memorial hall in downtown Taipei. They told reporters afterwards that they bowed in front of an image of Koo.

Sun told reporters that their visit was a private one and purely to pass on Wang’s condolences. However, they said they hoped cross-strait relations would move in a positive direction.

He said they would leave Taiwan for Beijing this afternoon.

It was not immediately clear if the two will attend Koo’s funeral at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall this morning.

A spokesman for the group in charge of Koo’s memorial service told the AFP that Sun and Li had not decided if they would attend the funeral service. But the government-funded Central News Agency (CNA) said they would.

The possibility of the pair bumping into independence-minded President Chen Shui-bian at the service became a focus of local media attention. Some local newspapers said the Chinese delegates may pay their respects after the service to avoid meeting with President Chen.

Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san said Sun and Li’s visit was being handled by the group in charge of Koo’s memorial service. The group was respecting the two Beijing officials’ wishes and would make appropriate arrangements at the funeral service, he said.

President Chen has called for reconciliation with China since his independence-minded party failed in December elections to win a majority in parliament.

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