1. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) presented a report at
its Council Meeting today (November 30) on the implementation status of the
agreements signed during the three Chiang-Chen Talks.
2. Since establishing cross-strait institutionalized
negotiation channels, both sides have held three rounds of Chiang-Chen Talks,
signed nine agreements, and reached one consensus, bringing substantial benefits
to the normalization of cross-strait exchanges. The benefits from the agreements
are enjoyed by all of the people, and both sides have continually communicated
with each other through related mechanisms to handle matters requiring further
improvement.
3. The outcomes of the implementation of the Cross-Strait
Food Safety Agreement and the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and
Judicial Mutual Assistance are as follows:
(1) According to the Cross-Strait Food Safety Agreement, the
two sides have established institutionalized liaison bodies for real-time
reporting of information related to food safety. Over the past year, more than
400 cases have been handled through this channel. The health authorities of the
two sides held two "Cross-Strait Food Safety Executive Agency Expert Meetings"
in March and August of 2009, respectively. During the meetings, the two sides
conducted operational contacts on cross-strait food management systems,
cross-strait food safety laws and regulations, inspection systems, and import
and export food supervision systems, as well as formed related working groups.
Through the implementation of the agreements, the ROC side hopes to improve
Taiwan's source management of imported food, reduce the risk of harm from
Mainland food, and protect the health of the ROC nationals. Furthermore, to
assist negatively affected companies in gaining compensation, the Department of
Health (DOH) has helped them to compile information on seeking compensation and
the MAC has requested the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to contact its
Mainland counterpart—the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS)
regarding this matter. In accordance with the stipulations of the agreement, the
DOH and the SEF have also repeatedly urged the Mainland side to deal with this
matter through the SEF-ARATS channel. The ARATS has stated that it will not only
continue to pay close attention to this case, but will also coordinate with the
relevant agencies in the handling of this case.
(2) The Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and
Judicial Mutual Assistance came into effect on June 25, 2009. When a mechanism
is formed, a breaking-in period is required before it can properly operate.
However, definite results have already been achieved to date in the joint fight
against crime through mutual assistance among public security authorities of the
two sides.
1. In the area of cross-strait cooperation on prevention of
telecommunication fraud, between June 25 and November 10, 2009, the two sides
have jointly broken four cases, arrested 76 Taiwanese suspects and over 10
Mainland accomplices. The number of victims has reached more than 100. The
related circumstances are as follows:
(1) On August 17, 2009, both sides conducted their first
coordinated strike against a cross-border fraud ring. The action resulted in the
bust of a new type of international fraud ring that operated in the Guangzhou
area, was based in Taichung, and laundered its illicit funds in Thailand. This
was the biggest criminal fraud ring that had defrauded the people of the
Mainland Area, with a total of 35 suspects arrested in Taiwan.
(2) On September 8, 2009, police agencies of both sides
conducted the first cross-strait sweep against a telecommunication fraud ring.
The ring had repeatedly defrauded the people of Taiwan in the names of the
District Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of the Interior, Bureau of National
Health Insurance and other agencies. The ROC side busted 20 criminal bases and
made 23 arrests in Taipei County, Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Yilan County, and
Changhua County. The Mainland side broke up criminal bases in Chengdu and other
areas and made over 10 arrests (including eight suspects from Taiwan).
(3) On September 30, 2009, police agencies on both sides
exchanged information under the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting
and Judicial Mutual Assistance, helping the ROC side to uncover a
telecommunication fraud ring that created a new type of crime in which the
gangsters gave directives and engaged in money laundering operations in Taiwan,
set up a network in Thailand, and hired Mainlanders as the accomplices to
withdraw money from the bank. The ring cheated car owners through the tax
authorities' automobile tax rebate program. It operated in over 10 Mainland
provinces and defrauded people of tens of millions of NT dollars. This was the
first operation involving arrests by Taiwan of fraud ring leaders in Taiwan, the
Mainland and Thailand.
(4) On November 6, 2009, after a four-month cooperative
investigation, the police authorities on the two sides ferreted out four major
fraud rings headed by five people, one surnamed Chiu. The ring was a rarely seen
composite type of criminal gang, with operations in Liaoning, Fujian, Zhejiang,
Guangdong, and Guangxi, and defrauded people in Taiwan and the Mainland.
2. Regarding repatriation of major criminals, the Mainland
side repatriated to Taiwan a major criminal named Huang "X"-feng who had
committed the shooting and a murder suspect Hsu "X"-jung, respectively, on April
30 and June 5, 2009. This has had an active and positive impact on cross-strait
joint crime fighting. In accordance with the above-stated agreement, on
September 28, 2009, the Criminal Investigation Bureau sent officers to Xi'an to
pick up and repatriate fraud perpetrators Liu “X”-hsing via cross-strait direct
transport links.
3. According to preliminary statistics, from June 25, 2009,
when the agreement was signed, to October 31, 2009, the two sides mutually made
4,199 requests for assistance in arrests, intelligence exchange, document
delivery, and other related affairs. Since the agreement came into effect, the
police agencies of the two sides have not only established institutionalized
mechanisms for handling related matters, but they have also achieved good
results in this regard. Based on this foundation, Taiwan will continue to
coordinate with the Mainland side to actively repatriate major Taiwanese
criminal suspects and further implement the mutual assistance items under the
agreement to protect the people's rights and interests and uphold public
security.
4. Cross-Strait Agreement Signed Between SEF and ARATS
Concerning Mainland Tourists Traveling to Taiwan
(1) From July 4, 2008, when the first Mainland tour group
visited Taiwan, to late October of 2009, a total of 20,989 tour groups with a
total of 513,229 mainland Chinese tourists visited Taiwan for tourism. Based on
an average per person daily expenditure of US$295 (about NT$9,735) and an
average stay period of seven days and six nights, it is estimated that Mainland
visitors have generated over US$1.05 billion (about NT$34.90 billion) in foreign
exchange earnings and business opportunities for tourism-related industries in
Taiwan.
(2) Since the opening up of tourism in Taiwan for Mainland
tourists, a total of 15 Mainland tourists have absconded or overstayed, and
three runaways have been arrested. The ratio of visitors leaving their tour
groups to all Mainland visitors is just 0.00003%, the lowest ratio among all
neighboring countries that allow Mainland tourists to visit there.
(3) During the second Chiang-Chen Talks, the two sides again
held negotiations on further promoting Mainland tourist visits to Taiwan. They
decided that the restriction on the number of people per tour group be relaxed
from 10 or more originally to five or more, while also extending the maximum
period of stay from 10 days to 15 days to further attract Mainland visitors to
Taiwan.
5. Cross-Strait Air Transport Agreement
(1) Direct cross-strait air transport has been advanced in an
orderly and gradual manner, further linking Taiwan with world markets. On July
4, 2008, cross-strait weekend charter flights were launched. On December 15,
2008, weekday passenger and cargo charter flights were implemented. And on
August 31, 2009, regular flights began operation. Regarding weekly flights,
there are currently 36 roundtrip weekend charter flights, 108 roundtrip weekday
charter flights, and 270 roundtrip regular flights. With regard to flight
points, there are eight flight points for passenger charter flights on the
Taiwan side, while on the Mainland side there are five flight points for weekend
charter flights, 21 for weekday charter flights, and 27 for regular flights.
(2) Weekend charter flights: From July 4, 2008 to December 14
(24 weeks), there were a total of 859 flights and about 336,000 passengers,
representing an average passenger load factor of 85.3%.
(3) Weekday charter flights: From December 15, 2008 to August
30, 2009 (37 weeks), there were 4,091 passenger charter flights, including
flights added for the Lunar New Year holidays, and about 1,709,000 passengers,
for an average passenger load factor of 81%. Cargo charter flights during the
same period numbered 236 and transported 29,991 tons of goods. A direct two-way
flight path in the northern line across the Taiwan Strait was launched on
December 15, 2008.
(4) Regular flights: From August 31 to November 15, 2009 (11
weeks), the two sides operated a total of 2,774 passenger flights carrying
895,521 passengers, with an average passenger load factor of about 64.9%. As for
regular cargo flights, the two sides operated a total of 139 flights
transporting 20,855 tons of goods, for an average cargo load factor of 80.3%. A
southern line and a second direct two-way flight path in the northern line were
added on July 29, 2009.
(5) From July 4, 2008 to November 15, 2009, over 2.94 million
passengers have taken direct flights across the Taiwan Strait. For example, it
originally took six to seven hours to fly to Shanghai from Taoyuan via a third
area. With the implementation of direct cross-strait flights, the trip now takes
only 84 minutes, making cross-strait contacts more convenient, significantly
reducing the time and cost of cross-strait transportation, and thereby promoting
closer cross-strait exchanges and economic and trade activity. The direct
flights are conducive to increasing the number of Mainland tourists visiting
Taiwan, enhancing the willingness of Taiwanese businesses to invest back in
Taiwan, and improving cross-strait division of labor.
6. Cross-Strait Sea Transport Agreement
(1) Regular direct cross-strait shipping service was launched
on December 15, 2008, with the two sides separately holding maiden voyage
ceremonies at the ports of Keelung, Kaohsiung and Tianjin.
(2) As of October 31, 2009, the Ministry of Transportation
and Communications granted approval for 161 vessels to provide direct
cross-strait shipping services (including 27 ROC ships, 52 Mainland ships, 54
ROC-owned flag-of-convenience ships, and 28 Mainland-owned flag-of-convenience
ships). The actual number of ships entering and leaving port was 5,486 and
5,470, respectively. The total container volume was 1.19 million twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs), or 21.89 million tons.
(3) Direct cross-strait shipping without detouring via a
third territory can save over NT$1.20 billion a year. It also greatly enhances
distribution and shipping efficiency, creates new opportunities to export
agricultural products to mainland China, and helps to transform Taiwan into a
sea and air logistics hub.
7. Cross-Strait Postal Service Agreement
(1) Cross-strait direct postal service was launched on
December 15, 2008. This provides the people with improved postal services,
including small packages, parcels, and express mail across the Taiwan Strait.
(2) Ordinary mail: A daily average of 36,444 postal items
were delivered across the Strait through the former indirect cross-strait postal
service. Since the launch of direct postal service, the daily average has been
about 27,492 items (including small packages), or 24.56% less than the number of
postal items through the indirect postal service. However, the time of mail
delivery has been reduced by about one to two days.
(3) Registered mail: About 2,451 registered mail items were
handled per day through the former indirect postal service. Since direct postal
service was implemented, the number has increased by about 10.3% to 2,703 items
and the time of mail delivery has been reduced by about one to two days.
(4) New small package, parcel and express mail service: Small
package figures have been combined with the figures for ordinary mail. An
average of 323 packages are delivered daily, with a delivery time of six to nine
days. A daily average of 938 express mail items are delivered, with a delivery
time of about four to five days.
(5) On February 26, 2009, Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd. began
offering two-way postal remittance services. Previously, the Taiwanese people
already could remit funds to the Mainland via Chunghwa Post. Now funds can also
be remitted to Taiwan from the Mainland. About 13 remittances are made daily
from the Mainland on average, with a total average remittance amount of
NT$2,138,087 per day, further broadening services to the public.
8. Cross-Strait Financial Cooperation Agreement
(1) On November 16, 2009, the financial supervisory
authorities of the two sides announced the signing of memorandums of
understanding (MOUs) on financial cooperation in the banking, securities and
futures, and insurance industries. The main contents of the MOUs included
information exchange, confidentiality obligation, modes of examination, and
cooperative mechanisms and these were generally consistent with international
norms.
(2) The financial cooperation MOUs signed between the two
sides is an admission ticket for financial institutions in Taiwan to establish
branches in the Mainland. In the future, the competent authorities of the two
sides will be able to exchange information and conduct cross-border inspections.
This will not only enable effective supervision and management of the Mainland
branches established by Taiwan's financial institutions but will also allow the
Mainland branches of this kind to provide financial support and services for
Mainland-based Taiwanese businesses. As to the threshold for the mutual
establishment of banks on each other’s side and other issues, the financial
supervisory agencies of both sides across the Strait still need to separately
negotiate market access.
(3) Renminbi cash supply and backflow: The Central Bank of
the Republic of China has communicated with and contacted the People's Bank of
China on the issues of renminbi cash currency exchange, supply and backflow.
(4) Renminbi businesses conducted by the Hong Kong branches
of Taiwanese banks: After several communications between the Central Bank of the
Republic of China and the People's Bank of China, the government has already
assisted in handling sensitive issues concerning the "Agreement for Settlement
of Renminbi Banking Business in Hong Kong," enabling the Hong Kong branches of
Taiwanese banks to engage in renminbi businesses. Once seventeen such branches
of Taiwanese banks have requested and received approval from the Financial
Supervisory Commission and have formally entered into the renminbi clearing and
settlement agreement, they can engage in renminbi businesses.