Beijing: Taiwan and China aim to sign three agreements in a sixth round of cross-strait talks that will be held later this year, Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taipei- based Straits Exchange Foundation, said.
Taiwan and China will hold a fifth round of talks from today through Wednesday in Chongqing, China and plan another round later in the year, Chiang said. An Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, or ECFA, and an intellectual property protection agreement will be signed on June 29, with the two likely reaching further agreements on investment protection and trade in goods and services in the sixth talks, he said.
Parliament approval
"We will begin discussions on the three agreements within six months after the ECFA is signed and approved by the parliament," said Chiang, who was speaking at a press briefing today in Taipei.
Cross-strait negotiations resumed in 2008 after a nine-year halt during which former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui described the talks as "state-to-state", a term Beijing rejected. China claims the self-ruled island as its territory and has threatened force to impose Taiwan's unification with the mainland.
An agreement to avoid double taxation isn't included in the fifth round of discussions, he added without elaboration.
Separately, Chiang said he will meet with Chongqing mayor Bo Xilai and Wang Yi, director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, during his stay in Chongqing.
