A spokesman for the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said Wednesday that it will not send any representative to attend China's 60th national day celebrations or other relevant activities in Beijing. Ma Shao-chang, SEF deputy secretary general, was responding to questions on whether SEF Vice Chairman Rock Hsu is among the some 150 Taiwan figures who have accepted Beijing's invitation to attend China's 60th national day celebrations on Oct. 1. The SEF is a semi-official agency authorized by the government to handle exchanges with China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in the absence of official contact between the two sides. Ma said that Hsu, chairman of the Kinpo Group, will take part in the event in a personal capacity, and his planned participation has nothing to do with the SEF or any other official agency in Taiwan. Ma added that Hsu is one of the private sector representatives on the SEF's board of directors and is therefore not obliged to obtain SEF approval for travel to Beijing for any purpose. Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan said while the government has no legal power to forbid any private individual from attending the Beijing celebrations, Hsu, who is now in Beijing, should think twice before he decides to do so and should 'keep public sentiment in mind.' 