I. Foreword
1. The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) held the fifth talks in Chongqing on June 29, 2010, signed Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Intellectual Property Right Protection, and agreed to list the issues of cross-strait agreement on medical and health cooperation and cross-strait investment protection agreement in the agenda of the sixth talks. SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung also invited ARATS President Chen Yunlin to visit Taiwan as the leader of the ARATS delegation at an appropriate time in the second half of 2010 and hold talks to negotiate relevant issues and sign agreements.
2. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), SEF and relevant organizations have set up task forces and working groups to do various preparations for the sixth talks. In addition to actively participating in the work of various task forces and working groups, the SEF has made various arrangements, immediately began related planning, liaison and consultations under the government’s authorization. To appropriately organize the talks, the SEF has set up working groups on agenda, manuscript writing, administrative logistics, propaganda and news, and dealt with relevant staff planning and preliminary works.
3. Under the arrangements made by the SEF and ARATS, competent authorities in charge of the two issues on both sides have had several business communications in Taipei and Beijing alternately. SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian and ARATS Vice President Zheng lizhong held working discussion and preparatory discussion in Taoyuan and Shanghai on November 30 and December 14 respectively, confirming the main content of Cross-Strait Agreement on Medical and Health Cooperation, making preliminary progress on cross-strait investment protection agreement, and finalizing the concrete schedule of the sixth talks to lay a solid foundation for the smooth holding of the talks.

II. Schedule of the Talks

The 18-member ARATS advance party led by Vice President Zheng Lizhong arrived in Taipei on December 19 to make various preparations for the talks; the ARATS delegation headed by President Chen Yunlin arrived in Taipei at noon on December 20 and all ARATS delegates left Taipei at noon on December 22. The major arrangements were:
1. Preparatory discussion: SEF Vice Chairman Kao and ARATS Vice President Zheng held preparatory discussion at 3:00 p.m. on December 20.
2. Formal talks: At 9:00 a.m. on December 21, SEF Chairman Chiang and ARATS President Chen held the formal leaders meeting.
3. Signing agreement: At 2:30 p.m. on December 21, SEF Chairman Chiang and ARATS President Chen formally signed Cross-Strait Agreement on Medical and Health Cooperation.
4. Press conference for foreign and domestic journalists: At 3:00 p.m. on December 21, the SEF and ARATS held press conference for foreign and domestic journalists respectively.
5. Meeting MAC Minister Shin-yuan Lai: At 4:15 p.m. on December 21, MAC Minister Lai met with President Chen and the ARATS delegation at the Grand Victoria Hotel.
6. Visits: The SEF arranged two visits between meetings:
(1) At 3:00 p.m. on December 20, ARATS President and Mrs. Chen Yunlin visited the National Palace Museum and they were received by National Palace Museum Director Chou Kung-shin.
(2) At 8:00 a.m. on December 22, the ARATS delegation visited the Taipei International Flora Exposition and they were received by Taipei Mayor Lung-gin Hau.

III. Significance and Achievements of the Talks

1. Simplifying Mechanism of Cross-Strait Institutionalized Negotiations
According to the SEF-ARATS consensus, the SEF-ARATS talks are held based on the principle of “institutionalization and simplification.” The arrangements of relevant schedule include only preparatory discussion at the level of SEF vice chairman and ARATS vice president, meeting of SEF and ARATS leaders, signing agreements and press conference for foreign and domestics journalists, and unnecessary courtesy calls and lunch or dinner parties which have nothing to do with the talks are all excluded.

2. Signing Cross-Strait Agreement on Medical and Health Cooperation
(1) Safeguarding people’s health is a universal value and health authorities on both sides will establish institutionalized cooperation mechanism through the signing of the agreement to effectively manage and control medical and health risks arisen from increasingly deepened cross-strait exchanges, and establish mechanism to deal with emergency medical treatment when there are major accidents on either side of the Taiwan Strait to safeguard people’s health and safety. Meanwhile, the two sides will also jointly promote cross-strait cooperation on research and development of new drugs, hoping to make a niche for medical biotech industrial development on both sides and safeguard people’s health and well-being.
(2) The signing of Cross-Strait Agreement on Medical and Health Cooperation has implemented the spirit of “centering on people, orderly management, protecting livelihood, prosperity and mutual benefit”: the two sides center on people to safeguard their medication safety and health, establish medical and health cooperation relationship for orderly management, strengthen relevant industrial deployment and development, and expand international markets to create the new situation in which people are healthy and both sides are prosperous with mutual benefit.
3. Preliminary Progress Made on Issue of Cross-Strait Investment Protection Agreement
(1) Since the investment protection agreement is the first issue the two sides started to negotiate after Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) took effect, and it serves as a demonstration and an indicator and involves matters about which Taiwan businesses concerned greatly, the two sides must carefully deal with them. However, this agreement involves a wide range of fields and complicated problems, the two sides agreed that more time is needed to negotiate relevant issues for the sake of thoroughness so the agreement cannot be signed in the sixth Chiang-Chen talks.
(2) Although the agreement is not signed, the two sides still reached a preliminary consensus. Both sides believed that we should start from the perspective of protecting the interests of cross-strait investors, follow the routine and common practices and further improve the investment environment to effectively protect and promote each other’s investment. The two sides will discuss the definition of investment and investor, investment treatment, investment facilitation, expropriation, damage compensation and loss compensation, subrogation, transfer, investment dispute settlement and other matters and content about which both sides concerned. The two sides agreed to continue promoting relevant works and start further negotiations for the above-mentioned matters and content in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

4. Review Cross-Strait Agreement Implementation Results
The two sides also reported and reviewed the major results of implementing t he 14 agreements signed by the SEF and ARATS, and the SEF delegation made recommendations to its mainland counterpart on further strengthening and improving the implementation of signed agreements on tourism, air transport, joint crime-fighting and food safety, and achieved the following results:

(1) The two sides agreed to actively contact with each other to bring about increased flights for Chinese New Year holidays and decided that civil aviation authorities on both sides will begin consultations in a few days.
(2) As to open Taiwan to free travel by mainland residents, the two sides agreed to step up planning and formally implement the measure as soon as possible at an appropriate time in the first half of next year.
(3) With regard to the daily quota on mainland residents travelling to Taiwan, the SEF and ARATS agreed to increase it from an average of 3,000 at present to 4,000 starting on January 1 next year and the two sides agreed to exchange letters immediately after the talks were concluded for implementation.

5. Establish Cross-Strait Agreement Implementation Results Review Mechanism
(1) The SEF and ARATS have signed a total of 15 agreements over the past two and a half years. After gradual implementation, these agreements have had immediate effects on safeguarding people’s interests and rights, establishing normal exchange order and promoting cross-strait economic and trade cooperation. However, we realized in the process of implementing the agreements that it is still necessary to strengthen their implementation to really live up to people’s expectations and take care of people’s interests.
(2) Therefore, the two sides agreed in the talks that the SEF and ARATS will invite competent authorities on both sides to hold a meeting on the effectiveness of signed cross-strait agreements and its review at an appropriate time in order to establish the implementation effectiveness review mechanism for the practical implementation of mutually concerned issues.

6. Arrangements Made for Issues in Cross-Strait Follow-up Negotiations
The two sides exchanged opinions about issues to be discussed in the seventh SEF-ARATS talks and follow-up negotiations in the talks and made the following arrangements:
(1) Regarding the issued to be negotiated in the seventh talks, the two sides agreed to list Cross-Strait Investment Protection Agreement as the priority item, hoping to reach a consensus as soon as possible for its signing.
(2) The two sides also agreed to list the follow-up negotiations after the ECFA took effect, including such matters as dispute settlement, trade in goods, trade in services and “economic cooperation” mentioned in the ECFA, as the major items and any of the items can be included in the SEF-ARATS talks and sign an agreement when its negotiations get concrete results.

7. Strengthened and Deepened Business Exchanges between SEF and ARATS
The two sides also exchanged opinions about business exchanges between the SEF and ARATS in the talks, hoping to expand exchange dimensions and deepen exchange levels in the future on the excellent basis built by the SEF and ARATS to serve as the exchange platform for accumulating mutual trust between the two sides.

IV Conclusion

The SEF and ARATS have held six talks, signed 15 agreements and announced a consensus since resuming cross-strait negotiations in June 2008, laying a solid foundation for safeguarding the rights and interests of people across the Taiwan Strait and establishing the cross-strait exchange order. The SEF-ARATS institutionalized negotiations are an indicator of the positive, stable development of cross-strait relations, and have eased cross-strait confrontation, enabled the two sides to accumulate mutual trust and created the results of reciprocity and a win-win situation, not only demonstrating the three important meanings -- negotiating on equal footing, resolving problems and planning for the future, but also forming the foundation of peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait as well as in the entire region.

Regarding the holding of the sixth talks, the SEF has followed the principle of “focusing on Taiwan and benefiting the people” announced by President Ma and the principle of “national needs, popular support, congressional supervision” declared by Premier Wu Den-yih, and negotiated with the ARATS on the basis of rationality, peace, equality and dignity. We hope our compatriots will be united as the most solid backup for the SEF to strive for our best interests and achieve stability, prosperity and sustainable development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.