By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The opposition yesterday demanded that Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) report to the legislature and offer clarification on the consensus that Beijing claimed has been reached in the historic government-to-government meeting after his scheduled return from a four-day visit to China today.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) recognizes the institutionalization of government-to-government communication, but is concerned about several issues with serious political implications, said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), executive director of the party’s Policy Research Committee.
Beijing listed “the completion of followup agreements under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA] and to study the feasibility of bilateral cooperation on regional economic integration” as one of the five points of consensus reached in Wang’s meeting with Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) on Tuesday.
Those points of consensus were inconsistent with what Wang said in his post-meeting press conference.
Wang will have to explain whether Taiwan must have China’s agreement to seek accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and whether Taiwan could not engage in regional economic integration before those followup agreements are completed, Wu said.
Wu and Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) had both warned Wang against raising political issues in his second meeting with Zhang — following a meeting in Shanghai late last night — with Huang demanding that Wang report to the Legislative Yuan upon his return.
Government-to-government meetings are not the prerequisite of political negotiation, and closed-door meetings are opaque and risky, Huang said.
The Mainland Affairs Council has scheduled a press conference for 5pm today for Wang to brief the public about his visit.
Earlier yesterday, Wang and council officials attended a forum organized by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a Chinese think tank which specializes in Taiwan studies, and held discussions on cross-strait relations.
Wang later visited Radio and Television Shanghai, and called on Beijing to lift its restriction on Taiwanese Web sites.
Responding to a media inquiry about his second meeting with Zhang, Wang said it was supposed to be a chat without a preset agenda, but he did not rule out China bringing up a potential meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) later this year at an APEC summit in Beijing.
“If it is brought up, we do not rule out making a response,” Wang told reporters.