It may be the second meeting for 2009, but it's in fact the fourth since this mechanism resumed in June last year. Let's get a summary of what earlier talks have achieved.
Since the Kuomintang won the vote for leadership in Taiwan in March 2008, relations between the two sides across the Taiwan Straits have improved significantly. The regular meeting mechanism, suspended for nine years, resumed between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation.
On June 12th 2008, Chen Yunlin and Chiang Pin-kung, heads of the ARATS and SEF respectively, held their first meeting at the Beijing Diaoyutai State Guest House. They signed agreements on weekend charter flights and travel pacts for mainland residents to visit Taiwan island. The two agreements were implemented one month later.
On November 4th, 2008, the second meeting between the ARATS and SEF was held in Taipei. It was the first time the two sides held talks in Taiwan. They signed four agreements, covering air cargo transport, shipping, postal service and food safety. Implemented in December last year, the agreements have provided direct air travel, shipping and postal services.
Five months later, the third meeting was held in Nanjing. The two sides signed a supplemental agreement on airway transport, and also reached agreements on cooperation in the financial sector, and judicial issues. The meeting was an extension of previous meetings, and also marked a normalization in the negotiation mechanism.
