The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has, through the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), invited China to send representatives to Taiwan to discuss the application of Chen Yunlin and other officials to visit Taiwan. China should actively adopt measures to reduce damage to the interests of Taiwanese farmers and accept Taiwan's invitation to conduct negotiations between the responsible authorities of the two governments across the Strait.
A group of 66 China’s central government officials and other personnel, including Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Chen Yunlin, today (August 21, 2006) officially submitted an application to the Immigration Office of the National Police Agency for permission to visit Taiwan to attend the "Cross-Strait Forum on Agricultural Cooperation" organized by the National Policy Foundation. With regard to this issue, the MAC indicated that the Taiwanese government immediately contacted the SEF to forward an invitation to China to send representatives to Taiwan to discuss related matters and facilitate follow-up procedures.
The MAC indicated that in 2005, Chen Yulin and other Chinese officials filed an original application for their visit to Taiwan. Since their application was deemed to involve exchanges and visits between high-ranking government officials of both sides across the Strait, the MAC then entrusted the SEF to write twice to the Chinese authorities informing them of the necessity to promptly send their representatives to discuss related matters with Taiwan. However, the MAC has not received any response to date.
According to experts knowledgeable of Taiwan's agricultural issues, the biggest problems currently facing Taiwan’s agricultural exports to China include Chinese trademark infringement of renowned Taiwanese fruit, tea and other high added-value agricultural products, as well as the frequent difficulty of receiving payment for agricultural products sold to China. These current problems seriously harm the interests of Taiwanese farmers. In fact, the Chinese authorities can improve this situation immediately by taking proactive measures unilaterally. Since these problems are detrimental to Taiwanese farmers, it is imperative that government authority be exercised in this regard to ensure their long-term interests.
The MAC emphasized that Taiwan has clearly and directly conveyed related information to the Chinese authorities through various channels, including Chinese officials responsible for agriculture, intellectual property rights, as well as legal and trade affairs. Therefore, the most urgent task at present does not lie in China’s sending representatives to participate in a civilian seminar to be held in Taiwan, for which China merely goes through the motions and caters to its own particular needs. Rather, China should actively take measures to improve its practices and immediately reduce damage to the interests of Taiwanese farmers. Furthermore, in order to establish an effective long-term operating mechanism, China should accept Taiwan's invitation to conduct negotiations between the responsible authorities of the two governments across the Strait. This is the only way to truly look after the interests of Taiwanese farmers.