Backgrounder: Historical moments of ARATS & SEF

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And after a ten year delay, the chairman of ARATS  finally arrived in Taiwan. Before leaving for the  island, Chen said the visit would be a milestone of  historic significance for the relations of the two sides.

And after a ten year delay, the chairman of ARATS finally arrived in Taiwan. Before leaving for the island, Chen said the visit would be a milestone of historic significance for the relations of the two sides.

Chen said "The talks between ARATS and SEF have suspended for nearly ten years, which made us lose too many precious opportunities... and left too many problems to be solved. If the negotiation mechanism can not be settled, the interests of the people from both sides of the Taiwan Straits will be harmed. We have no reason to delay our efforts on pushing forward the cross Straits relations... and benefiting our Taiwan compatriots."

Their previous talks in June reached consensus on various issues, including opening chartered flights on weekends across the Taiwan Strait... and allowing mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan -- benefiting people on both sides of the Straits.

Editor:Du Xiaodan