TAIPEI'S swift return of the hijacked China Southern Airlines plane to the mainland yesterday is likely to ensure that the ''unofficial'' talks between both sides will go on unaffected.
And hijacking and mutual crime prevention will be likely to figure in meetings scheduled later this week between representatives of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
Taipei officials, however, said Taiwan authorities would prosecute the hijackers in local courts rather than return the two to the mainland, as was demanded by China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Beijing would be irritated by efforts by Taipei to score anti-communist propaganda points about the two hijackers' ''bid for freedom''.
In Taipei yesterday, officials said Taiwan's top negotiator with China, Mr Cheyne Chiu, will go ahead with talks in Beijing this week despite the hijacking.
Mr Chiu, SEF secretary-general, will visit Beijing today and stay until Sunday as scheduled, SEF spokesman Mr Lee Ching-ping said.