Taipei - Taiwan's top negotiator with China has decided to drop his plan to attend the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics in China next month, his deputy said on Wednesday.

"Chairman Chiang (Pin-kung) has decided not to attend given the busy schedule in preparing for the next round of talks with the mainland, which is our top work priority," said Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

Chiang, head of the semi-official SEF, which represents the government in talks with China in the absence of official ties, has been invited by his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) to take part in the August 8 event, and had planned to attend.

But because the two sides are set to start the next round of talks on cargo charters and shipping across the Taiwan Strait, Kao said it has left no time for Chiang to go to the Olympics if Chen is to come to Taiwan to sign the agreement shortly after the games.

Taiwan and China, rivals since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949, have resumed talks in June after more than a decade of stalemate.

They signed a deal on June 13 to operate cross-strait weekend charter flights and Taiwan visits by Chinese tourists, a result of a policy adopted by the new president, Ma Ying-jeou of China-friendly Nationalist Party of Kuomintang, to engage the mainland. Chiang also invited Chen to visit Taiwan later this year for the second round of talks and signing of the agreement in Taipei.

The two sides started the landmark flights last weekend from Friday through Monday, taking 753 Chinese tourists, including journalists and officials, to Taiwan directly from China. The deal marked the first time Taiwan and China have had regular direct contacts as the island used to ban direct flights, except for special festival charter flights, with the mainland.

Kao said the two sides agreed last month to start the second-round talks on shipping and cargo charter services within three months.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's immigration authorities are trying to locate three female Chinese tourists who apparently ran away Tuesday night after coming to Taiwan for a visit on July 3.

Those missing tourists, who were due to leave Taiwan along with other tour members Wednesday morning, were not among the 753 coming directly from China on July 4 for a 10-day visit. They entered Taiwan via Thailand, instead, immigration officials said.

Before allowing Chinese tourists to come to the island directly, Taiwan did not bar Chinese from visiting Taiwan via a third country. (dpa)