China, Taiwan talks scheduled for October 14 in Guangzhou

TAIPEI - The fourth official meeting between heads of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office is to take place on October 14 in Guangzhou. MAC Minister, Andrew Hsia, and his TAO counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, are expected to discuss collaboration on environmental protection, establishment of reciprocal representative offices, facilitation of cross-strait goods in trade and a dispute resolution mechanism.

It will be the second official meeting between Hsia and Zhang after their Kinmen County talks in May.
Other matters likely to be broached during the meeting include Taipei’s concern over the decision by Beijing to implement e-travel passes for ROC nationals in place of paper-based ones.
“We have repeatedly voiced our discontent to our mainland Chinese counterparts on this issue and will keep a close eye on related developments,” Hsia said.
In addition, a timetable for allowing mainland Chinese to transit through Taiwan is set for further discussion, with the MAC aiming to have an agreement in place enabling the scheme to be up and running by year-end. www.taiwantoday.com (ATI).