Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) Representatives of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) will open their fourth round of talks in Taichung Monday, a day after the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) launches a large-scale protest.
Led by Taiwan's chief negotiator SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and his Chinese counterpart, ARATS President Chen Yunlin, the negotiations are expected to result in agreements on fishing crew cooperation, agricultural quarantine inspection, industrial product standards, inspection and certification, and the avoidance of double taxation.
Both SEF and ARATS are quasi-official organizations designated by the governments of Taiwan and China, respectively, to handle cross-strait dealings in the absence of official contacts between the two sides.
The three-day meeting, from Dec. 21-23, represents the fourth round of the biannual talks over the past two years since the two organizations resumed discussions in June 2008 after a 13-year hiatus, ending years of tension.
In a press briefing on Thursday, SEF Chairman Chiang said that the nine agreements reached during the past three rounds have benefited Taiwanese businesses by helping them reduce their operating expenses and improving efficiency.
He suggested that a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) , which aims to normalize trade between the two countries and eventually lead to the reduction of tariff barriers, will be on the agenda of the next round of talks, which will be held in China.
Meanwhile, the opposition DPP and more than 10 civil groups are expected to hold a major protest against the ECFA, even though it is not on the agenda of this round of talks.
Lo Chih-cheng, secretary-general of the Taiwan Society, one of the civil groups to participate in the Sunday protest, said his group was against the lack of transparency in the ECFA negotiations and advocated holding a referendum on the proposed trade pact before the start of the negotiation process.
Other smaller scale protests are expected to be held throughout Chen's stay in Taiwan.
Chiang as host of this round of talks, called on the protesters to be peaceful, rational and law-abiding.
The DPP hopes to mobilize 100,000 demonstrators for Sunday's rally, while the Ministry of the Interior plans to mobilize 200 police officers to patrol the negotiating venue in Taichung and a total of 1,000 to share the task of providing security for Chen when he travels outside the venue, according to Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah.