Source: Reference News Network
Taiwan's United News Network published an article on March 7 saying that Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation is facing a dilemma in its "year of establishment." The full text is excerpted below:
Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. For individuals, "thirty and standing" means to determine their own life goals and development direction and achieve something, but under the current cross-strait relations, the SEF has shrunk significantly in business and functions, and is facing the dilemma of where to go.
In the past 30 years, the political environment in Taiwan has undergone great changes, the Democratic Progressive Party has been in power twice, and the role and function of the SEF have also risen and fallen.
In 1987, after the Taiwan authorities opened up the people on the island to visit relatives on the mainland, cross-strait nongovernmental exchanges expanded. Therefore, the Taiwan authorities decided to set up a non-governmental intermediary group to serve as a bridge for cross-strait communication. On March 9, 1991, the SEF was officially put into operation, and Gu Zhenfu became the chairman of the board.
Gu Zhenfu's wife, Gu Yanqiuyun, recalled that Gu Lao was an authentic Taiwanese who married a girl from other provinces, but he did not distinguish between Taiwan and other provinces in his life. He held that the two sides of the strait should move in the direction of peace and living and working in peace and contentment. Therefore, when the SEF was established, Gu Lao was happy to accept the challenge.
On the mainland side, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait was established at the end of 1991, with Wang Daohan as its first president. Since the "Koo-Wang Talks" opened a new page in cross-strait relations in 1993, by July 1999, the SEF ARATS had held several consultations and dialogues and signed a number of agreements, and the SEF ARATS consultations and exchanges have also become a barometer for the stable development of cross-strait relations.
In 2000, the DPP authorities came to power for the first time, but because the cross-strait political deadlock could not be solved, the SEF-ARATS consultations were interrupted for a full 8 years and the white scrolls were handed over. Fortunately, there is still a "private hotline pipeline" between Gu Wang and the two elders.
In 2008, the Kuomintang came to power again, and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) quickly resumed consultations and exchanges under the "1992 Consensus."
In 2016, the DPP authorities came back to power, and the political impasse also interrupted consultations between the SEF Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
The SEF was authorized and entrusted by the Taiwan authorities to carry out the three major tasks of consultation, exchange, and service, and now the first two of the three major tasks have been suspended for 5 years. After witnessing the ups and downs of cross-strait relations over the past 30 years and entering the "year of establishment," will the SEF usher in beauty or sorrow? (Refer to the news network)