Cross-Straits pacts on meteorology and seismology signed in Taipei

Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Beijing-headquartered the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) held their 10th round of talks on 27 February in Taipei City, concluding two agreements on cooperation in meteorological and seismic monitoring.

The pacts, expected to help safeguard lives and property on both sides of the strait, were signed by SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane and ARATS President Chen Deming.

“These two agreements will give authorities from both sides ready access to more data, allowing for more precise earthquake measurements and prediction, as well as better understanding of changes in weather systems, especially with regard to extreme weather events and destructive temblors,” Lin said.

SEF-ARATS negotiations have played a key role in the development of cross-strait stability, security in East Asia, and economic prosperity in Taiwan and mainland China, he noted.

The two quasi-official organizations have signed 21 agreements since 2008 on issues including trade, direct flights, food safety, crime fighting, mutual judicial assistance and health care.

The latest negotiations took place in the wake of a Feb. 11 meeting in Nanjing between Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi and Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun, the first ministerial-level talks between the two sides in 65 years. ROC President Ma Ying-jeou has called the Wang-Zhang meeting “an important milestone on the path toward peace and prosperity.”

Major issues agreed on for the next round of SEF-ARATS talks are a pact on trade in goods, a dispute settlement mechanism, tax cooperation and avoidance of double taxation, the establishment of reciprocal representative offices, cooperation on environmental protection, and collaboration on aviation security.

The 11th round of talks is expected in the second half of the year, the SEF said.

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