On December 22, 2009, Chen Yunlin, President of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), met again in Taichung, Taiwan. It was the fourth top-level dialogue between the two semi-official negotiating bodies for cross-Taiwan Straits relations after they resumed negotiations in mid-2008.

The two sides signed three agreements on labor cooperation in the fishing industry, cooperation in inspection and quarantine of farm produce, and cooperation in standards measuring, inspection and certification. Compared with the results of previous Chen-Chiang meetings that focused on basic aspects of cross-Straits relations, the agreements are more technical and specific, which show the mainland-Taiwan relations continue to deepen.

The leaders also exchanged views on negotiation and signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the mainland and Taiwan. It was agreed the ECFA would be the highlight of the next Chen-Chiang talks in the first half of 2010 and expert-level consultations between ARATS and SEF would be soon arranged.

The two sides also agreed to encourage specialized institutions of the mainland and Taiwan to strengthen cooperation and communication through various channels in natural disaster forecasting, pre-warning and monitoring, as well as include protection of intellectual property rights in the agenda of next Chen-Chiang talks.

During the talks in Taichung, ARATS and SEF also co-hosted a symposium where representatives of 19 mainland enterprises exchanged in-depth views on Taiwan's policies toward mainland investment and cross-Straits industrial cooperation with economic experts and business people on the island.

The many achievements of the talks between ARATS and SEF will benefit Taiwan's economy and promote peace in the Taiwan Straits.

Since ARATS and SEF resumed negotiations, an institutionalized negotiation mechanism between the two organizations is beginning to take shape. Chen's second Taiwan visit, following the one in November 2008, further consolidated the mechanism under which top leaders of ARATS and SEF meet twice a year on the mainland and Taiwan in turn. Chen described his latest talks with Chiang as a milestone that witnessed institutionalized cross-Straits negotiations becoming a stable and long-term practice. Chiang also said that ARATS and SEF had reached consensus regarding equal negotiations, positive interaction, gradual improvement, easy topics ahead of difficult ones, and the economy paving the way for politics.

The three signed agreements are expected to enhance cross-Straits economic links, facilitate trade and investment, elevate the level of industrial cooperation and strengthen international competitiveness of industries on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Wu Den-yih, the head of Taiwan's "Executive Yuan," said he believes the three agreements will strengthen Taiwan's fishery industry and boost sales of Taiwan's farm produce on the mainland. Chen also predicted that the implementation of the agreements would greatly increase personnel, commodity and capital flow between the mainland and Taiwan, bring about huge economic and social benefits, and broaden the road of peaceful development across the Straits.

ECFA is of vital importance for Taiwan to avoid being marginalized economically and becoming integrated with the rest of the world. However, due to misleading propaganda and resistance by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and other "Taiwan independence" forces, its signing is still up in the air. The agreement between Chen and Chiang to start negotiations on this issue marked the arrival of a favorable new stage. Meanwhile, Taiwan residents have high expectations of the signing of the ECFA. Chiang stressed that the signing of ECFA with the mainland could be delayed no longer.

Since the resumption of talks between ARATS and SEF, 12 agreements and a consensus have been reached. These have effectively promoted cross-Straits economic cooperation and personnel exchanges and improved the well-being of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. This has had a positive and far-reaching influence on the enhancement of economic competitiveness across the Straits and the promotion of the peaceful development of mainland-Taiwan relations. Therefore, they are well received and supported by the majority of the residents in Taiwan.

But, in order to mobilize pro-"independence" forces, disturb the incumbent Kuomintang authority and damage peace in the Taiwan Straits, the DPP, in the name of defending "Taiwan's sovereignty," did its utmost to disrupt the Chen-Chiang talks. But their action was not in accordance with mainstream opinion on the island. According to a poll by Taiwan's Union Daily, 56 percent of the respondents disapproved of DPP-led protests while only 22 percent felt good about them. Many popular media organizations have called on the DPP to overhaul its policy toward cross-Straits relations. This shows the improvement of cross-Straits relations conforms to Taiwan's mainstream public opinion.