A Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) delegation arrived in China Tuesday on the first leg of a four-day visit. The SEF is a semi-official organization entrusted by Taipei to handle exchanges with China in the absence of official ties.
The group, led by SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane, is scheduled to visit Luoyang on Wednesday and Xi'an on Thursday. Lin is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Chen Deming, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
The two top cross-strait negotiators will talk about important issues such as protecting Taiwanese businesses in China. But the two will not touch upon topics related to Taiwan’s participation in the AIIB investment bank since the Cabinet hasn’t authorized the SEF to discuss this particular issue with its Chinese counterpart.
The AIIB is a China-led development fund that has attracted more than 40 countries to apply for its membership. Taiwan has also sent in an application to be a founding member, but it’s still unclear if China will approve Taiwan’s application.
SEF board member Chao Tien-lin, who is also director of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Department of Chinese Affairs, is also part of the delegation, making him the DPP's first incumbent China affairs chief to ever visit China.