20th Anniversary of Kinmen Agreement

20^th Anniversary of Kinmen Agreement

Sources: All Taipei Newspapers

September 21, 2010

Yesterday Gen. Hau Pei-tsun and C.V. Chen went to Kinmen to commemorate the “Kinmen Agreement” signed by Taipei and Beijing 20 years ago when they served as Premier and Secretary-General of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China, respectively.  The Kinmen Agreement established a mechanism to peacefully resolve cross-Strait issues and was signed by Red Cross representatives on both sides of the Taiwan Strait on Kinmen islets, which had previously been a battlefield between forces across the Taiwan Strait.   Hau and Chen stressed the unique historic significance of the accord in settling cross-Strait issues.

Representatives from the Red Cross Society on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, led by C.V. Chen and Lo Mei-chen, who had negotiated the Kinmen Agreement 20 years ago marked the anniversary of the accord at a reunion held in Xiamen.  They all concluded that the accord was a unique arrangement negotiated in trying times which embodied the spirit of “seeking commonalities and shelving disputes.”  The Kinmen Agreement also established the principle of “easier issues before difficult ones,” the model still used in current cross-Strait consultations.

Editor’s note:

Kinmen Agreement:

On September 11, 1990, five representatives from the Mainland, including Lo Mei-chen, deputy director of the Bureau of Exchanges under the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Mainland’s State Council, and Han Chang-lin, Secretary-General of the Mainland’s Red Cross Society, secretly arrived in Kinmen on a fishing boat and signed an agreement with C.V. Chen at Renai New Community, Jinning village.  Both sides reached a consensus on repatriating criminals, smugglers or fugitives under the spirit of humanity, safety, and convenience.  It was also agreed that exchange locations could include Mawe-Matsu and Xiamen-Kinmen.  In addition, both sides agreed to use Red Cross Society vessels to conduct the exchanges.

The “Kinmen Agreement” was the first agreement dealing with cross-Strait affairs and set a precedent in institutionalizing the management of cross-Strait affairs after Taiwan allowed citizens to visit relatives on the Mainland in 1987.

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