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Taiwan's top mainland negotiator resigns

By Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-07 07:56

Taiwan's chief negotiator with the mainland has tendered his resignation.

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Chiang Pin-kung, the 77-year-old chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Wednesday cited health reasons for the move, which is not expected to affect relations between the two sides.

He tendered his resignation to Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Monday.

"No matter who replaces Chiang, the positive tone of the cross-Straits relationship has been set, and won't change," said Li Jiaquan, former director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The file photo shows the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) President Chen Yunlin (R) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung during a signing ceremony in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, on April 26, 2009. [Xinhua]

Taiwan-based China Times reported yesterday that Ma "is trying hard to retain Chiang", but it said Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung was the most favored successor, citing insiders.

Li also believed Wu is very likely to succeed Chiang.

"Wu is friendly to the mainland and has contributed a lot to promoting cross-Straits relations. I believe if he takes the post, he would continue to make cross-Straits talks beneficial to people of both sides," Li said.

But Li pointed out that since Chiang built a good relationship with his mainland counterpart Chen Yunlin during his year of service, it may take time for the new negotiator to adjust.

The SEF is a semi-official agency set up by Taiwan to deal with cross-Straits affairs and negotiations.

Chiang said the latest cross-Straits talks on April 28 brought his service at the SEF to a satisfactory conclusion. During those talks, Chiang and Chen, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, signed three agreements and one consensus that will open the island's market to mainland investors.

Chiang was appointed to head the SEF soon after Ma was inaugurated on May 20, 2008 and made it a priority to ease tensions and improve relations with the mainland.

Chiang has since led the SEF in three rounds of talks with Chen. Their first meeting in June 2008 marked the resumption of cross-Straits dialogue following a nine-year hiatus.

Nine agreements have been made through three rounds of talks, including launching direct flights, mail, shipping, improving food safety, opening Taiwan tourism to mainlanders plus financial and criminal justice cooperation.

A new round of cross-Straits talks is scheduled for the second half of the year in Taiwan.

Chiang has been dogged by conflict of interest allegations over his family's business interests on the mainland and his own role as chairman of Sinocon Industrial Standards Foundation, a nonprofit cross-Straits IT development association, a position he later resigned.

Rumors also surfaced that Chiang has been unhappy with political maneuvering by the ruling Kuomintang and frustrated by the conservative attitude of Taiwan's "Mainland Affairs Council" toward liberalizing business ties with the mainland, Taiwan-based Central News Agency said.