High hopes for cross-strait talks

A MAINLAND official on Taiwan affairs said yesterday that he hoped Taiwan would take "earnest measures" to ensure the safety of negotiators who will visit the island next month.

Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular press conference that he also hoped Taiwan would make sure the talks between the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation go smoothly.

Yang's comments came when he was asked whether the talks would be postponed after Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party reportedly threatened to stage protests during the meetings.

The ARATS and the SEF are authorized by authorities on the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-strait issues. The two organizations are scheduled to meet in Taiwan in December for the fourth round of talks since they resumed negotiations in June last year following a 10-year suspension.

The new round of talks is expected to cover labor cooperation in the fishing industry and the elimination of double taxation between the two sides of the strait.

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