Taiwan’s top China policy maker Andrew Hsia is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Wednesday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
Hsia is the minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). He will be departing Tuesday in preparation for a meeting with the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office the following day. The meeting will be the fourth round of high level cross-strait talks under the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou.
Hsia told lawmakers Monday that the goals of the meeting include reviewing cross-strait ties and examining the implementation of existing agreements.
Hsia also said he will be lodging a complaint about China’s unilateral decision to issue ID cards to Taiwanese nationals visiting China.
“Some people say that China often takes actions that it believes are necessary or will benefit Taiwanese people," said Hsia, "and it assumes that Taiwan will find these actions acceptable. I think that there need to be negotiations before any decision that will affect the lives of Taiwanese people is made, and there should be more communication during the implementation process.”
Wednesday’s meeting will take place around two months before Taiwan’s presidential election. But Hsia said that the election will not have any bearing on the meeting.
Meanwhile, Hsia denied rumors that China plans to cut the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan a month before the presidential race by 95%. Hsia said it’s possible that China might “adjust the figure to a slight degree” due to the sensitive atmosphere in the run up to the presidential elections.