Cross-strait talks advance but still no deal on investment protection

The mainland's top negotiator with Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, arrived in Taipei yesterday for a new round of cross-strait talks, amid protests by pro-independence activists.

The chairman of Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (Arats) is expected to sign a cross-strait medical co-operation accord during his three-day stay in Taipei.

But there will be no agreement on the more important issue of investment protection, despite talks on the subject since July. Cabinet officials said the mainland disagreed with the island's demand that international arbitrators adjudicate investment-related disputes.

Officials also said the two sides still had to resolve a number of issues before they could announce the formation of the economic co-operation councils in each other's area. The councils would oversee the implementation of the landmark Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (Ecfa), a semi-free trade deal signed by Taipei and Beijing in June.

Chen confirmed that the two sides would not sign the investment protection agreement during this sixth round of talks.

'Investment protection concerns many aspects and areas, and we have yet to reach consensus that can satisfy both Taiwan and mainland investors,' Chen said in a ceremony hosted by his Taiwanese counterpart, Chiang Pin-kung of the Straits Exchange Foundation.

'It's a pity that we could not sign the deal this time,' Chen said, adding that it was 'normal' for the two sides not to sign agreements during every round of talks.