Mainland urges early establishment of cross-Straits offices

Both sides of the Taiwan Strait should create conditions for the early establishment of offices on each other's side, a Chinese mainland spokesman said on Friday.

Yang Yi, spokesman for the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to a question concerning progress made during the latest discussions between the two sides on the subject in late August.

"Considering the current situation of the cross-Strait relations, the two sides should start with easy things, proceed step by step, avoid sensitive issues, and reach a consensus on issues that can be solved at the present stage," he said.

The offices are service institutions in nature, according to the spokesman.

During the latest discussions, the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and its Taiwanese counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), exchanged views on the text of agreement, a code of conduct and ensuring convenience for each other, Yang said.

"The two sides solved some technical problems concerning language description," he added. "They didn't proceed to discuss other left-over problems."

Founded in 1990 and 1991 respectively, the SEF and the ARATS are authorized by Taiwan and the mainland to handle cross-Strait affairs.