 Taiwan, China to hold fresh round of talks next weekTaipei (AFP) Dec 14, 2010 - Taiwan and China agreed on Tuesday to hold a fresh round of negotiations next week focusing on medical and health cooperation, officials said. Top Taiwanese envoy Kao Koong-lian arranged the talks with Chinese counterpart Zheng Lizhong in Shanghai, said Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation which handles civil exchanges with the mainland in the absence of official contacts. China's chief negotiator Chen Yunlin is scheduled to fly to Taipei on Monday and hold talks with his Taiwanese counterpart Chiang Pin-kung the following day, it said. At the centre of the talks -- the sixth round since June 2008 -- will be epidemic control measures and research and development of medicines, herbal medicines and emergency cures. Chen will also meet Lai Shin-yuan, the chairman of the island's major China policy decision-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council. But a much-anticipated deal to protect both sides' cross-Strait investments will not be signed due to a lack of consensus "as the agreement involves complicated problems, and more discussions will be needed before it can be signed", the Foundation said. Taiwanese businesses are among the biggest overseas players in mainland China, with at least 80 billion dollars invested, and there has been some clamour for a deal to be struck. Taipei and Beijing forged a comprehensive trade pact in June, known as the "Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement" (ECFA), that marked the culmination of the China-friendly policies of Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou. Ties have improved markedly since Ma took office in 2008, with the two sides resuming routine high-level direct talks and adopting various measures to boost trade and tourism. |
The announcement also signals lingering military tension between Taiwan and China despite a thawing in political and economic ties in recent years.
Military analysts suggest the announcement marked a major break in Taiwan's long-standing strategy of preparing to thwart possible Chinese military attacks across the Taiwan Straits, developing, instead, a retaliatory capability as far-reaching as mainland China.
China and Taiwan split at the end of a civil war in 1949. Beijing, however, considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must be brought back into the fold. It has used a number of means, diplomatic and military, to deter other nations from officially recognizing Taiwan as an independent state.
Even so, relations between both sides have increasingly thawed, allowing Taiwan to pursue trade deals with other countries that have long been reluctant to antagonize Beijing.
Speaking to legislators, Chao said that "mass production" was "going smoothly." He refused to elaborate.
A senior official quoted by the Defense News Web site said that "a few [missiles] have been fielded and could be fielded in a case of war."
China continues to retain more than 1,000 ballistic missiles pointed at Taiwan and while Beijing traditionally accuses Washington of aiding Taipei, it hasn't issued a response to Taiwan's cruise missile production.
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