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relevant agencies to review the spate of hijackings and determine whether a different approach should be adopted in future. were some suggestions that China might be engineering the hijackings (or at least condoning them) in order to force Taiwan to focus on the repatriation issue. Seven have taken place since April. On 18 November, the Taiwan Cabinet decided that hijackers should be deported after they had been convicted or after they had finished their jail-terms. The Premier would have the final word. Meanwhile, CAAC demanded that Taiwan repatriate the hijackers immediately. Taiwan called for the resumption of unofficial talks with Peking in early December to resolve differences over the treatment of hijackers.
8. Talks between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) were held in Xiamen between 2 and 7 November. They ended without formal agreement, but substantial discussions took place about repatriation and fishing disputes: A draft agreement was signed to create a system for resolving fishing disputes, and the two sides also agreed that illegal Chinese immigrants could be repatriated by plane through Hong Kong. (The existing method of repatriation is by boat from the Matsu islands). However, Taiwan accused China of hindering progress by bringing up some items which were not on the agenda. ARATS sent a message to the SEF on 20 October, proposing holding two rounds of talks in December to discuss five agenda items and the question of repatriating hijackers. Chairman of the SEF, Koo Chen-fu, said on 18 November that he would hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Daohan, next year. This will be their first meeting since the historic talks in Singapore in April. The exact date, venue and agenda of the next round of talks have yet to be approved by China.
9. Vincent Siew, Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) led the delegation to the APEC leaders conference in Seattle. Chiang Ping-kun and Lin Chen-kuo, Ministers of Economic Affairs and Finance, attended the ministerial meetings. Premier Lien Chan described the meeting as the most important international event Taiwan had attended since it left the UN in 1971. Foreign Minister Frederick Chien said simply being able to attend the conference was an achievement because it provided an opportunity for Taiwan to conduct bilateral trade talks with various Pacific Rim countries. At the closing press conference on 21 November which followed the APEC meeting, Chiang Ping-kun made some interesting remarks about the status of Taiwan. He said that Taiwan and China are two sovereign states, neither of which is subordinate to the other; Taiwan's policy is to implement a "two-China" policy until reunification becomes a practical possibility. Foreign Minister Frederick Chien met with members of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs Committee on 24 November to clarify Chiang's statements. Chien stressed that Taiwan has every right as a sovereign state to develop its external relations until the time is ripe for unification.
10.
KMT conservatives are likely to view the policy shift as a renunciation of the goal of unification with the mainland: Hsu Li-nung, a former member of the KMT's Standing Committee, left the
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