A. Foreword
In June, 2013, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) held the 9th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks in Shanghai and the two sides reached a consensus on the six issues to be negotiated for the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks. These issues are follow-ups to the ECFA regarding trade in goods and dispute settlement, the avoidance of double taxation and strengthening of tax cooperation, the establishment of SEF and ARATS reciprocal offices on the other side, seismological monitoring cooperation, and meteorological cooperation. An agreement can be signed as soon as a consensus is reached on any of the six issues.
Afterwards, officials of the competent authorities on both sides have had intensive business communications and a considerable degree of consensus was reached on the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring and Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology.
As entrusted and authorized by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the SEF and the ARATS held working discussions for the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks in Changsha, Hunan Province in the afternoon of February 20, 2014. With SEF Vice Chairman Chang Hsien-yao and ARATS Vice President Zheng Lizhong at the head of their respective negotiation teams, the two sides decided in working discussions that the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks will be held at The Grand Hotel in Taipei between February 26 and 28.

B. The Itinerary for the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks
ARATS Vice President Zheng Lizhong and his party are scheduled to arrive in Taipei on February 25 to make advance preparations together with the SEF; ARATS President Chen Deming and the ARATS delegation will arrive in Taipei at noon on February 26 and leave Taiwan at noon on February 28. The itinerary between February 26 and 28 are arranged as follows:

1. Preparatory Consultations
Between 3 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on February 26, SEF Vice Chairman Chang and ARATS Vice President Zheng will hold preparatory consultations.

2. High-level Talks
Between 9 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. on February 27, SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane and ARATS President Chen Deming will hold the high-level talk between the SEF and the ARATS.

3. Signing Agreement
At 2:30 p.m. on February 27, leaders of the SEF and the ARATS will sign the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring and Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology and exchange souvenirs according to convention.

4. Press Conference
At 3 p.m. on February 27, the SEF delegation and the ARATS delegation will convene a press conference for local and foreign media in succession.

5. Meeting with Minister Wang
At 4:15 p.m. on February 27, MAC Minister Wang Yu-chi will meet with ARATS President Chen and the ARATS delegation at Grand Victoria Hotel in Taipei.

C. Significance and Achievement of the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks

1. Putting into practice the spirit of institutionalized cross-strait negotiations to create a new situation by consolidating a lasting cross-strait peace.
The orderly operation of institutionalized cross-strait negotiations is an indicator of the normal development of cross-strait relations. Based on the good foundation laid by previous high-level talks, the two sides have effectively solved problems arising from cross-strait exchanges, playing the function of safeguarding and enhancing people’s well-being.
Over the past six years the SEF and ARATS have held ten rounds of high level talks and signed 21 agreements, and the fruitful results of cross-strait negotiations have not only brought real benefits to people on both sides but also played a critical role in the prosperous development of economy and society on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, peaceful and stable cross-strait relations, and regional security in East Asia. In the future, the SEF and the ARATS will give priority to the negotiation for issues that will safeguard people’s rights and interests as well as the orderly interaction of cross-strait exchanges, in order to accumulate the fruition of institutionalized negotiations between the SEF and the ARATS.

2. Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring
The two sides have a commonality in their seismological monitoring techniques and experiences of earthquake prevention and disaster mitigation, and the signing of the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring will strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges, allowing the two sides to obtain more timely, diverse and accurate information and then understand more accurately the status of seismological monitoring to expand the protection of people’s lives and properties.
In recent years the two sides have been hit by big earthquakes in succession, resulting in heavy losses of lives and properties; in particular, the population density in urban areas on both sides has grown continuously and related construction and facilities have been developed consistently, so the threat posed by earthquakes to people’s lives and properties will increase significantly. Studies indicated that the potential of big earthquakes could be bred in the Taiwan Strait. Although the competent authorities on both sides had been able to communicate with each other through various channels in the past, they could not move further to establish a mechanism for business contacts and cooperation. Therefore, the signing of the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring is of great significance for the safety of people on both sides.

3. Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology
Since there have been frequent extreme weather conditions which caused heavy losses of lives and properties around the world, various countries have begun regional or global cooperation and exchanges on related issues. In the face of the effect and impact of global climate change, no region is immune to the threat by disastrous weather conditions, plus the geographical closeness between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the signing of the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology is a necessary and urgent matter for both sides.
After signing the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology, the two sides will be able to utilize their high-degree complementary meteorological monitoring and forecasting to get more timely and stable information, which will help grasp the trend of weather changes, while enhancing their weather forecast capabilities and quality and strengthening their global climate change risk management capabilities.
Such natural disasters as disastrous weather conditions and earthquakes will directly impact or indirectly affect human safety and well-being, including ecological systems, living environment, economic development, food supply, health and hygiene. Signing the Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Seismological Monitoring and Cross-Strait Collaboration Agreement on Meteorology to strengthen the early warning capability of governments and people on both sides regarding disastrous weather conditions and earthquakes is the most direct way of protecting the safety of people's lives and properties.

4. Jointly discussing the issues for the 11th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks
During the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks, the two sides reached a consensus on the six issues to be negotiated for the 11th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks. These issues are follow-ups to the ECFA regarding trade in goods and dispute settlement, the avoidance of double taxation and strengthening of tax cooperation, the establishment of SEF and ARATS reciprocal offices on the other side, environmental protection cooperation, and cooperation on flight safety and airworthiness standards. An agreement can be signed as long as a consensus is reached on any of the six issues.
Moreover, the SEF and the ARATS widely exchanged opinions on the issue of exchanges and cooperation in the fields of education, culture, agriculture and fisheries.

5. Reviewing the effects and achievement of previously signed agreements and planning future actions
During the talks, the two sides reviewed the implementation of the previously signed agreements, including the agreements on air transport, joint crimes-fighting and judicial mutual assistance cooperation, food safety, and medicine and public health affairs cooperation, based on the results of the Second Review Meeting on the effects and achievement of implementing cross-strait agreements. In particular, the SEF expressed again concerns of the people and public opinion about the issues of the expatriation of grave economic criminals and compensation for melamine and other major food safety cases, hoping mainland China can actively take measures and improve as soon as possible.
In addition, the SEF also expressed the hope during the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks that the two sides will make substantial progress on the issue of the arrangement for the Mainland’s air passengers making transit stops in Taiwan and put the measure into practice as soon as possible.

6. Strengthening internal and external communications regarding cross-strait negotiations and respecting congressional oversight
In response to the demand for security considerations and transparency of cross-strait negotiations by all sectors of the society, the MAC has established a two-phase national security review mechanism for cross-strait negotiations on the basis of existing operation of cross-strait agreements. And the operation of the mechanism is applicable to the two cross-strait agreements signed in the 10th round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks.
Moreover, the SEF and relevant government agencies had fully reported to the congress before signing the two agreements. The agreements must be submitted to the Legislative Yuan either for review or record, whereby congress may comprehensively monitor all cross-strait agreements. After signing the agreements, the SEF and relevant government agencies will communicate and consult with the legislature and the public to realize congressional and public supervision over the cross-strait negotiation process and agreement content, as well as to build public support for institutionalized cross-strait negotiations.

D. Conclusion
Since June 2008, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have resumed and established institutionalized cross-strait negotiations on the basis of the “1992 Consensus”, whereby each side acknowledges the existence of “one China ”but maintains its own interpretation of what that means." The mechanism has been moved towards the mature stage of normalization after more than five years and the two sides have safeguarded people's rights, interests and well-being by pragmatically discussing and resolving many problems.
The SEF and the ARATS have so far held ten rounds of high-level talks, signed 21 agreements and issued two consensuses and three common opinions, with each agreement adhering to the principle of "parity, dignity, reciprocity" and fully implementing the spirit of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people." Deepening the interaction between government agencies on both sides through the implementation of various signed agreements is the concrete practice of facing reality, shelving disputes and creating a win-win situation by the two sides, not only pragmatically resolving related problems arising from cross-strait exchanges but also providing people on both sides with institutionalized protection.
In the future, the SEF will continue promoting cross-strait exchanges, dialogues and negotiations orderly and stably based on the government's authorization according to the policy goals set in "cross-strait peace" in the "Golden Decade" for Taiwan vision by President Ma Ying-jeou while insisting on the principle of "parity, dignity, reciprocity" and " necessary to the ROC, support by the public, oversight by the national legislature." and accumulate mutual trust and strengthen consensus on this basis to continue promoting the peaceful, stable and prosperous development of cross-strait relations.