Wang's representatives to Taiwan are for funeral only, spokesman says

The representatives of the president of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits will visit Taiwan only to attend Koo Chen-fu's funeral, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council said Sunday.

Wang Daohan, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), has decided to send ARATS vice president Sun yafu and secretary-general Li Yafei to attend the funeral of Chairman of the Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taiwan Koo Chen-fu on Wang's behalf.

Koo died of renal failure in Taipei on Jan. 3, aged 89.

During their visit to Taiwan, Sun Yafu and Li Yafei will act as personal representatives of ARATS President Wang to Koo's funeral and will not touch on any issue pertaining to the contact between ARATS and SEF or other issues concerning cross-strait relations, the spokesman said.

Sun and Li will leave Shanghai for Taipei on Feb. 1 and return on Feb. 2, the spokesman said.

In another development, Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told the press, "We have cherished the memories of Mr. Koo. We wish to pay our respects for him."