Due to the various complex and sensitive issues involved, a planned Taiwan-China investment protection agreement was not ready for signing in the sixth round of talks between the chief cross-strait negotiators, Taiwan's Chiang Pin-kung and China's Chen Yunlin. A major bone of contention is the question of where arbitration proceedings should be held. China rejected Taiwan's proposal that investment disputes be resolved at the Washington-headquartered International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the World Bank, or the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) . China expressed concern that this might internationalize cross-strait issues. China saw Hong Kong as the best choice, but Taiwan would not agree because Hong Kong is part of China. Under these circumstances, we suggest considering Singapore as an alternative. Beijing is willing to sign an investment protection agreement with Taipei because it expects a large number of Chinese businesses will invest in Taiwan. However, although Taiwan opened its doors to Chinese investors last year, many restrictions remain. If Chinese businesses cannot invest in Taiwan, what is the point of China signing such a deal with Taiwan? The Taiwan government, therefore, should further liberalize its restrictions on Chinese investors and open up all non-sensitive sectors. An increased presence of Chinese investors in Taiwan will boost Beijing's interest in negotiating the agreement with Taiwan. 