THE head of Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Mr Koo Chen-fu, has bowed to pressure from the opposition to attend a question time with lawmakers at the legislative yuan tomorrow.
Mr Koo originally planned to take up questions from the legislators after his historic talks with his Chinese counterpart Mr Wang Daohan, chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
Next week's two-day unofficial meeting will be the highest level of contact between the two countries since 1949.
In Singapore, a senior aide to Mr Koo stressed that the talks would be unlikely to lead to early direct trade and transport links.
Mr Lee Ching-ping, deputy secretary-general of the SEF, said: ''I think the talks will be a starting point for good relations.
''We will witness one of the historic moments of the century.'' A source said: ''It can be seen as a meeting between the special envoys from the leadership of the two parties.'' The source added that opposition parties in Taiwan were worried about a ''sell-out'' by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT).