Taiwan court says to handle violence by law during talks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-19 23:04

Taipei: Taiwan's Taichung District Court said Saturday it will strictly enforce the law if violence crops up during the upcoming cross-Straits talks, so as to safeguard people's lives and properties and maintain public order.

Protests have been planned by political forces during the December 22 talks in Taichung between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), both authorized by two sides to handle cross-Straits issues.

It hopes people could express their opinions in a peaceful and rational way, the court's Prosecutors Office said in a press release.

As Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party has been reported to organize all kinds of protests against the talks starting from Sunday, security issues have become a public concern in Taichung.

Both ARATS President Chen Yunlin and SEF chairman Chiang Pin-kung have earlier called for peaceful and rational reaction to the talks.

The meeting between Chen and Chiang will be the fourth round of talks between the two groups since they resumed negotiations in June last year after a 10-year suspension.

As planned, ARATS and SEF will talk about labor cooperation in the fishing industry, cooperation in inspection and quarantine of agricultural products, and taxation cooperation.