TAIPEI: A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on financial cooperation between Taiwan and the mainland will not be signed any later than New Year's Day, 2010, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen said yesterday.

Chen made the remarks while answering questions from lawmakers during a legislative committee meeting, although he declined to confirm the venue for the signing of the pact.

"Judging from precedent, the signing of a cross-Straits MOU will not be carried out later than the beginning of next year," Chen said.

According to Chen, the FSC submitted the issues relevant to the deal's signing in mid-March to the economic affairs authorities, which have included them in the "early harvest" list to be exchanged with the mainland next week, paving the way for the next round of informal two-way negotiations on a planned economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) set for November 3-4 in Beijing.

The list refers to industries or services that each side will open for immediate tariff concessions or more liberal trade terms under the ECFA, similar to provisions under a free trade agreement.

Chen, however, said he did not agree to a proposal that the MOU be signed during the fourth round of cross-Straits talks between the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation and the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits - slated to be held in Taichung in mid-December.

Such an MOU should be inked by the financial supervisory authorities of the two sides, he said.

On the mainland, meanwhile, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council said, "In response to Taiwan's concern over the issue, we hope to clinch the deal as soon as possible."

In another development, a spokesman for the defense affairs authorities said yesterday that Taipei has no timetable for conducting talks on cross-Straits confidence-building measures at the moment.

Yu Sy-tue made the remarks after Qian Lihua, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Defense Ministry in Beijing, said earlier in the day that the mainland is happy to see an easing of cross-Straits tension and that it is willing to discuss cross-Straits confidence-building measures.

But, Qian said, it seems that Taiwan has yet to forge a substantive view on the matter, adding that he is urging an early coordination of Taiwanese views on the issue.

Responding to Qian's words, Yu noted that Taipei's current cross-Straits policy is based on three principles: the economy before politics, easy parts before difficult parts, and urgent issues ahead of non-urgent issues.

"The subjective and objective conditions have not yet ripened to the point that talks can be conducted on confidence-building measures," he said, adding that "the government has no timetable for embarking on such talks at present."

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/29/2009 page2)