Date: February 1, 1994
Place: Beijing

Vice Chairman Tang, Secretary-general Zou, Ladies and Gentlemen:

　　Today, Mr. Tang and I will hold talks on the affairs of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) as mandated under the "System for Contacts and Meetings between the SEF and ARATS." I would like first of all to thank ARATS for all of its hard work in arranging this meeting.

　　At the end of April last year, the SEF and ARATS held the "Koo-Wang Talks" in Singapore and signed four agreements at that time. Since then, the two sides have worked hard to implement the agreements, and this has had contributed significantly to the promotion of private exchanges between the two sides. Of course, we also must use this opportunity to exchange views in areas where further improvement is needed.

　　Regarding contacts between the SEF and ARATS: Over the past year, the SEF and ARATS have remained in very close contact. They have also assisted each other in resolving numerous difficutlties facing the people on both sides. However, certain hinderances still remain. For example, some requests for assistance have gone unanswered. In other cases, where the nature or urgency of the case required contacting agencies other than ARATS, our requests have been rejected. These are issues that we must discuss and resolve.

　　Regarding the Use and Verification of Certificates of Authentication Across the Taiwan Straits: As of the end of last year, the SEF had sent 9,299 copies of certificates of authentication issued in the Taiwan area. The corresponding number sent by ARATS totaled 18,781 copies. This has made a tremendous contribution in facilitating the use of documents across the Taiwan Strait. However, we have also found that the process of mailing copies is too slow and that there are often discrepencies between the document copies and originals. More importantly, the scope of document copies mailed is overly narrow, frequently inconveniencing the public. We therefore hope to discuss expanding the scope of document copies to reflect the current realities of cross-strait exchanges.

　　Since the launch of cross-strait registered mail service up to the end of last year, 188,229 registered letters have been mailed from Taiwan to the mainland, while 176,868 registered letters have been mailed from the mainland to Taiwan. This has greatly facilitated the delivery of important documents across the Strait. We hope, however, that appropriate improvements can be made in regards to the ways of contact and forms of documents.

　　In order to implement the yearly negotiation issues specified by the "Joint Agreement of the Koo-Wang Talks," the SEF and ARATS held three follow-up meetings on functional issues last August, November and December in Beijing, Xiamen and Taipei, respectively. At each of those meetings, the two sides made progress but also confronted bottlenecks. I hope that during this meeting we can discuss concepts and achieve a breakthrough. Both sides are in consensus that sensitive political issues should be avoided in the talks on SEF-ARATS affairs. At the same time, there we need not be overly sensitive about the legal issues currently under discussion.

　　The 40-plus-year period of separation across the Taiwan Strait is a misfortune of the Chinese people. The objective of the two sides today is to work towards unification. This is a fact that we must confront. Therefore, we should pragmatically regard and accept that there are differences between the legal systems of the two sides. On this basis, moreover, we should show mutual respect and work towards a solution mutually acceptable to both sides to achieve orderly private exchanges between the two sides.

　　Regarding protection of Taiwan business investment in the mainland: The enthusiastic discussions during the "Koo-Wang Talks" were unable to produce a consensus due to overly large gaps in mutual understanding. We still hope to hold talks and sign an agreement at an appropriate time so as to duly solidify protections. This is the best way to fully promote economic co-prosperity and mutual benefit between the two sides. At the same time, Taiwan businesspeople face numerous operational difficulties in the mainland, such as issues concerning their personal safety, security of property and education for their children residing in the mainland. Recently, the local authorities in the Bao'an and Longgang districts of Shenzhen demanded that Taiwan businesses pay a supplemental land fee and tax, creating tremendous difficulties for these enterprises. We hope that we can discuss a resolution to such problems.

　　The scale, scope and level of cross-strait cultural and educational exchanges is steadily expanding and rising. This is a very gratifying trend. Last year the mainland side sent more than 480 cultural and educational exchange groups to Taiwan, totaling over 3,000 persons. The exchanges included visits by the National Beijing Opera Theatre, Beijing People's Art Theatre, Guizhou Opera, and Central National Orchestra, as well as a cross-strait relay race. From the Taiwan side, various inspection missions have been sent to the mainland; and the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and youth visiting missions have received support from ARATS. Recently, mainland media leaders have visited Taiwan through arrangements made by the SEF and ARATS. We hope that reciprocal media visits from Taiwan also can be arranged in the near term, and that we may continue to promote media exchange visits between the two sides.

　　Private cross-strait exchanges have also given rise to smuggling, illegal immigration and other problems. Drugs and gun smuggling endanger public security on both sides. And if hijacking, illegal immigration and other issues cannot be suitably resolved, it will have an impact on benign interactions across the Taiwan Strait. It is therefore clear that we should promptly hold talks on related issues. I also hope that in the interim period we can adopt effective measures to further check these problems.

　　During today's talks, I hope to hold general discussions on related topics with Mr. Tang, while leaving our staff to discuss the details. We come to this meeting in the utmost sincerity and expect a positive outcome. I also wish the meeting the fullest success.