A delegation of notaries from the Chinese mainland have expressed strong dissatisfaction with Taiwan authorities. A visit by them to the region was cut short after an argument with Taiwan authorities over a meeting with Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation. The foundation insisted a symposium with the notaries had been scheduled as part of their visit to the island. But the visiting delegation said nothing of the kind was included in their planned itinerary.

Upon their refusal to attend the symposium, the sixteen-member group of mainland public notary officials were then forced to cut short their visit on Tuesday, six days earlier than scheduled.

They arrived in Taiwan last Tuesday for exchanges with people in the same trade there on document signing and witnessing.

The head of the delegation said their itinerary had been determined by the Taiwan Association for Notaries and did not include any discussions with the Straits Exchange Foundation.

The foundation has so far not commented on the situation.

(CCTV.com November 20, 2003)