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Mainland hopes for "smooth" visit of chief negotiator to Taiwan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-29 15:12

BEIJING - A Chinese mainland official said here Wednesday that the mainland hopes its chief negotiator's upcoming visit to Taiwan will be safe and smooth.

The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) chairman Chen Yunlin will head a delegation to Taiwan from November 3 to 7.

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Leaders of the ARATS and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) will meet to discuss cross-Strait shipping, air transport, postal services, food safety and financial cooperation.

"Arrangements for the upcoming meeting should follow routines so that they are acceptable and convenient to both sides," State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi said.

The two organizations had already agreed on the locations and titles for meetings, he said.

Yang said the mainland believes that cross-strait negotiation should tackle economic problems first.

"As for the issues left over from the past and political issues, we believe the two sides should work together to create conditions and gradually solve them through negotiation," he said.

Yang did not disclose whether Chen would accompany the two pandas that mainland had promised to donate to Taiwan.

"Departments concerned are making active preparations and we hope Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan can meet Taiwan compatriots soon," he said.

The 4-year-old pandas, one of China's most endangered animal species, are at a panda breeding base in Ya'an, western Sichuan Province.

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