Chen Yunlin

Chen Yunlin, former State Council Taiwan affairs official, was elected on Tuesday as chief of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Chen was elected at the ARATS executive meeting.

Chen was formerly head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The ARATS, which was set up on Dec. 16, 1991, was previously headed by Wang Daohan, who died in December 2005.

Since then, the chairman's position has been vacant.

"The ARATS is ready to receive Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), to visit the mainland, and is prepared to hold the first consultation after the two organizations resume dialogue," Chen told the ARATS executive meeting.

He said he hoped the first step in dialogue resumption would proceed smoothly and talks on cross-Straits weekend charter flights and mainland tourist travel to Taiwan would make progress.

The SEF accepted an invitation for talks with the ARATS last month. Earlier, the ARATS sent an invitation letter to SEF chairman Chiang and vice-chairman and secretary-general Kao Koong-lian, who were invited to lead a delegation to Beijing from June 11 to 14 for talks on cross-Straits issues.

Chen told the executive meeting about his recent work plans. He said both the ARATS and the SEF had written to each other, stressing that the two sides should resume dialogue based on the "1992 Consensus" as soon as possible and "consultations will restart soon."

He said the ARATS would play an important role in promoting cross-Straits relations.

"The ARATS will plan issues together with the SEF. After negotiating with the SEF, it will arrange the earliest possible settlement of a pair of giant pandas the mainland has decided to send to Taiwan," Chen said.

He added that the ARATS would actively promote mutual visits by ARATS and SEF leaders.

"The ARATS will continue to play a major role as an authorized non-governmental organization, strengthen exchanges with all walks of life in Taiwan, assist relevant authorities in addressing the problems of both sides and safeguard the legal interests of the mainland and Taiwan compatriots," he said.

Chen, 66, a native of Liaoning Province, had served as vice governor of Heilongjiang Province, deputy secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the CPC and mayor of Qiqihar.

He became head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in 1997.

He was a member of the 15th and 16th CPC Central Committees.

In 1967, Chen graduated from the Beijing Agriculture University as a soil chemistry student. He joined the CPC in May 1966.

Wang Yi

Wang Yi, who replaced Chen as head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, made a keynote speech at the ARATS executive meeting.

The meeting also elected Zheng Lizhong, Sun Yafu and Li Bingcai as ARATS vice presidents and Li Yafei as secretary-general.

In 1992, the ARATS and the SEF held a formal discussion in Hong Kong that resulted in the "1992 Consensus." It laid the foundation for subsequent talks between the ARATS and the SEF.

In April 1993, Wang Daohan and Koo Chen-fu, former chairman of the SEF, held a historic "Wang-Koo meeting" in Singapore, the first cross-Straits meeting between leaders of the two authorized non-governmental organizations in four decades.

Discussions ranged from cross-Straits economic exchanges to mail, trade and transport services, as well as labor and technological cooperation.

The two sides eventually held more than 20 dialogues at different levels, an achievement that was applauded by people on both sides of the Straits and the international community.

However, consultations between the two organizations stopped in 1999, when former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui began to pursue "Taiwan Independence".

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2008)