ARATS chairman says the mainland side is working hard toward the same goal

June would be a good time for the two sides of the Taiwan Straits to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), if the negotiations on the pact can be completed in April or May, Taiwan's top negotiator with the mainland said yesterday.

Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung expressed hope that the two sides can sign three agreements - including the ECFA, an agreement on the protection of intellectual property rights and another on the avoidance of double taxation - in the upcoming fifth round of talks between himself and his mainland counterpart, Chen Yunlin, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

The talks are scheduled to take place on the mainland in May or June, with the exact date and location yet to be decided.

Chiang explained that the negotiations on where and when the talks will take place cannot begin until the government has issued instructions in this regard.

"The negotiations have not begun because the Mainland Affairs Council (under the Executive Yuan) has not given its authorization," he noted.

In Beijing, meanwhile, ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin told the press on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress annual session that preparations for signing the ECFA are in full swing.

He confirmed that the SEF hopes to wrap up discussions about the details of the ECFA in May so that it can be inked in June, during the fifth meeting between the ARATS and SEF.

Chen said the mainland side believes the ECFA is very important, as it is key to deepening the all-round development of cooperation across the Taiwan Straits, to how well the two sides will deal with the challenges from regional economic integration, as well as to the interests of numerous enterprises, industries and the general public on both sides of the Straits.

He also said President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, while going through plans for the fifth round of ARATS-SEF (Chen-Chiang) talks earlier this year, made it clear the mainland side will focus on pushing the ECFA discussions toward an early consensus on the content of the ECFA and the "early harvest list", which specifies the industries that will enjoy tariff-free treatment in cross-Straits trade first after the pact is sealed.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/10/2010 page4)