On July 29, 1994, Deputy Secretary-general Sun Yafu of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) led a seven-person delegation to Taiwan. The group was received at the airport by Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Legal Service Department Director Lin Kui-mei. That evening, SEF Deputy Secretary-general Shi Hwei-you and Deputy Secretary-general Sun met for a working dinner to finalize the agenda and itinerary of the fifth meeting on functional issues.

　　On the morning of July 30, the two sides discussed the issues of "repatriation of people who enter the area of the other side in violation of relevant regulations [illegal migrants] and related questions" and "matters concerning the repatriation of cross-strait hijackers." The mainland side raised five conditions pertaining to active repatriation. The Taiwan side said it could not accept these conditions since they represented a step backward and would result in "active repatriation" only in name. Discussions that afternoon focused on "handling of marine fishing disputes between the two sides," over which the main point of contention was on the efficacy of dispute mediation.

　　On the morning of July 31, the two sides determined the agenda and itinerary of the second part of the "Chiao-Tang Talks." That afternoon, discussions covered "cross-strait travel safety and related issues" and "matters concerning contacts between the SEF and ARATS." The mainland side insisted on conflating the travel safety issue with an incident in which military forces based on Kinmen and Matsu drove off mainland fishermen who had crossed into Taiwan's territorial waters to fish, resulting in casualties. It also repeatedly accused Taiwan of inappropriately handling an incident involving the illegal houseboat "Shanghao 3" off the waters of Suao. The Taiwan side strongly denounced this accusation and the talks broke down. That morning, ARATS sent a letter stating that when the ARATS delegation led by Sun Yafu arrived at Chiang Kai-shek Airport in Taoyuan on July 29, the representatives were pushed by some people on the Taiwan side. He claimed that this seriously affected the safety and dignity of the delegation members, using the words "condemn," "unfavorable" and other strong language. The SEF sent a response letter that same day saying that the ARATS letter was untrue, impolite and inappropriate. The letter, it concluded, was regrettable and unacceptable.

　　On the morning of August 1, the discussions covered "repatriation of people who enter the area of the other side in violation of relevant regulations [illegal migrants] and related questions" and "matters concerning the repatriation of cross-strait hijackers". The two sides individually discussed their differences of view in the hope of reaching a breakthrough. In the afternoon, the same approach was adopted in addressing the issue of "handling of marine fishing disputes between the two sides." Regarding the efficacy of mediation, the two sides agreed to allow compulsory implementation, however gaps remained between them in terms of actual operational methods.

　　On the morning of August 2, the discussions focused on "repatriation of hijackers" and "repatriation of people who enter the area of the other side in violation of relevant regulations [illegal migrants] and related questions." On the hijacker issue, the main bottleneck remained the matter of "non-repatriation of one's own people" and "applicable provisions." On the issue of repatriation of illegal immigrants, the mainland side still insisted on several conditions for active repatriation. It also insisted on the inclusion of compensation issues for "abusive injury." In the afternoon, the two sides continued discussions on the "handling of marine fishing disputes between the two sides." ARATS also sent a letter criticizing the Taiwan side for casualties incurred by mainland fishermen when Taiwan military forces based in the Kinmen and Matsu areas shelled their boat to drive it away. The letter demanded that compensation be made to the fishermen for their losses and that the murderers be punished.

　　The meeting adjourned for the day on August 3. That morning, Sun Yafu and other delegation members were accompanied by SEF Secretary-General Wu Shu to visit the tea farms in Mujha and drink tea at the Jhang Yin Tea Farm. In the afternoon, six ARATS representatives led by Permanent Vice Chairman Tang Shubei arrived in Taiwan and were greeted at the airport by SEF Vice Chairman and Secretary-general Chiao Jen-ho. That evening, Secretary-general Chiao hosted a welcome banquet for the ARATS visitors at the Taipei World Trade Center Club.

　　The first round of the "Chiao-Tang Talks" began on the morning of August 4. The two sides held general discussions on the issues of verification of certificates of authentication, opening express mail service, cultural, educational scientific and technological exchanges, cross-strait inheritance issues, economic exchanges, and energy exchanges. They reached a partial consensus and agreed to hold afternoon breakout sessions on culture and education issues. That afternoon, the two sides continued talks on the said issues, and the Taiwan side expressed its sincerity to sign an agreement. Since an agreement would involve the rights and obligations of the people and need to be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan, the basic position of the Taiwan side would need to be considered in order for a consensus to be reached. The mainland side believed that it would be preferable to remain vague on the sensitive points of debate on these issues, since too much clarity could raise doubts and make it impossible to sign an agreement. Deputy Secretary-general Lee Ching-ping and ARATS Deputy Secretary-general Liu Gangqi then held breakout discussions on cross-strait cultural and educational exchanges. The two sides reached a consensus on various issues, including youth exchanges, cultural relic exchanges, and scientific and technological exchanges. That evening, Mr. Tang Shubei and three ARATS deputy secretaries-general visited Chairman Koo Chen-fu at the SEF. Chairman Koo invited the visitors to a dinner banquet at the Sherwood Taipei.

　　The second round of the "Chiao-Tang Talks" began on the morning of August 5. The two sides exchanged views and reached partial consensus on verification of certificates of authentication, opening express mail service, improving the quality of cross-strait telephone communications, matters concerning contacts between the SEF and ARATS, and travel safety. At the same time, SEF Deputy Secretary-general Lee Ching-ping and his ARATS counterpart Mr. Liu Gangqi continued discussions and reached concrete consensus on youth exchanges, cultural relic exchanges, and scientific and technological exchanges. That afternoon, Deputy Secretary-general Lee accompanied Tang Shubei and other ARATS members to Hsinchu Science Park to tour United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), Microelectronics Technology Inc. and Acer Computer. Hsinchu Science Park Administration Director-general Hsueh Hsiang-chuan arranged a reception banquet for the visitors. At the same time, Deputy Secretary-general Shi Hwei-you and Mr. Liu Gangqi continued discussions on inheritance issues. The two sides reached an initial consensus and agreed to offer mutual assistance.

　　On the morning of August 6, the third round of the "Chiao-Tang Talks" began with discussions on cultural, educational, scientific and technological exchanges and continued with an exchange of views on economic issues. The two sides reached several points of consensus on cultural relic, scientific, technological and media exchanges. In the afternoon, Mr. Tang Shubei was accompanied by SEF Secretary-general Chiao Jen-ho to call on Honorary Chairman and senior advisor to the President Sun Yun-suan. Mr. Liu Gangqi and his colleagues then visited the Cultural Services Department and were accompanied by department Director Ouyang Sheng-en on a tour of the National Palace Museum.

　　General discussions were scheduled for the morning and afternoon of August 7. The two sides extensively discussed and finally achieved breakthroughs on major areas of difference on "matters concerning the repatriation of cross-strait hijackers," including the "non-repatriation of one's own people," "applicable provisions" and "double jeopardy." A concrete consensus was achieved on the matter of active repatriation and repatriation costs in the repatriation of illegal immigrants. That evening, Mr. Tang Shubei held a banquet at the Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei for the SEF chairman, directors, supervisors, negotiation team and work personnel.

　　On the morning of August 8, the 13-member ARATS delegation departed Taiwan. At the VIP area of Chiang Kai-shek Airport, SEF, Vice Chairman and Secretary-general Chiao Jen-ho and ARATS Permanent Vice Chairman Tang Shubei signed a "Joint Press Release on the Taipei Talks between the SEF and ARATS."

• Second Chiao-Tang Talks ─ Speech by Vice Chairman Chiao at the First Meeting
• Second Chiao-Tang Talks ─ Joint Press Release of the SEF-ARATS Talks in Taipei