June 13, 2008
The front page picture of today’s Oriental Morning Post shows Chen Yunlin, chairman of the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), and Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), shaking hands in Beijing yesterday during the first cross-Straits talk in 9 years.
Both sides agreed on the need for more visits between ARATS and SEF personnel, and on the desire to enhance economic, cultural and social visits at various levels, including allowing mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan. As the top headline reads, it seems “Most obstacles have been cleared.” The two sides signed an agreement this morning.
Other headlines include:
• The Shanghai Stock Index dropped 2.21% to reach a 15 month low yesterday closing at 2957 points.
• The consumer price index, the primary gauge of inflation, was up 7.7% this May from the same period last year, l a smaller increase than the 8.5% recorded in April.
• According to a spokesman of the National Space Agency, China will launch the space craft Shenzhou 7 with three crew members in October.
• An old woman in Shanghai auctioned off her house for 4.5 million yuan and donated all of the proceeds to Sichuan earthquake victims.