Authorities from the mainland and Taiwan could establish a cooperation model for fighting crime by the end of the year, a senior Taiwan official has said.

Kao Koong-lian, vice-chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) told a press conference on Thursday that the issue will be discussed at the next round of cross-Straits talks, scheduled for later in the year, the China News Service reported Friday.

SEF, a semi-official body set up by Taiwan to handle exchanges with the mainland, is expected to hold a second high-level talk with its mainland counterpart the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in the autumn, following the first one held in June, which came after a decade of icy relations.

The mainland wants to focus on fighting drugs and improve the exchange of crime-related information, Kao said.

Zhang Guanhua, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that over the past few years, the two sides have collaborated on several criminal cases but have yet to reach a formal agreement on the subject.

Cooperation in this regard is essential, as the expansion of cross-Straits exchanges due to warmer ties, could lead to an increase in cross-border crime, he said.

Figures from the Supreme People's Court show mainland courts handled 4,163 civil cases involving Taiwan people last year, compared with 3,529 in 2006.

But collaboration must involve all-round judicial cooperation and will need the confirmation of the judicial verdicts made by each side, which is sensitive and complicated, Zhang said.

Other experts have called for the urgent establishment of a joint crime-fighting model to protect the interests of people on both sides during the coming talks.

Huang Songyou, vice-president of the SPC, said personnel, economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits have been on the increase since 1987, when the Taiwan government allowed its residents to visit the mainland.

By the end of last year, trade volume between the two sides had reached $720 billion and Taiwan investment in the mainland was US$45.3 billion.

The SPC has been enlarging the scope of Taiwan civil verdicts and reconciliation agreements that can be recognized by mainland courts.

Chen Yunlin, chairman of ARATS, is scheduled to visit Taiwan later this year for a second round of talks between the SEF and the ARATS.

They will also discuss cross-Straits cooperation on transport, oil exploration, climate change, earthquake research and disaster prevention, SEF officials said earlier.

(China Daily September 6, 2008)