China Digital Times

China news tagged with: Cross-Strait relations (29)

• Building Bridges to China

  

  From Michael Schuman of TIME, a look at Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s approach towards Taiwan-China relations:

  Just about anywhere Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou goes these days, he ends up talking about China. On a Saturday morning in early May, Ma, casually clad in a red polo shirt and blue jeans, is marketing Taiwan as a tourist destination to foreign diplomats at a restaurant perched on a forested hillside in the county of Hualien on the island’s east coast. The government, he tells them, is upgrading bike trails in the area and hopes to get World Heritage Site status for a nearby gorge, which Ma compares to the Grand Canyon. The diplomats chat about the local hotels and scenic spots for a few moments, but then quickly shift the conversation to what is really on everyone’s mind: Taiwan’s rapidly warming relations with China.

  Ma, 58, seems only too happy to dive into the issue that has dominated his first year as Taiwan’s leader. Tourists from the Chinese mainland were allowed to visit Taiwan for the first time last year and are arriving by the thousands each day, he notes, giving the recession-hit local economy a welcome, albeit minor, boost. He stresses that he wants Taiwan to benefit economically from better ties with China — but he won’t let the island be assimilated by the rising giant. “I won’t sell out Taiwan,” Ma told TIME, adding that “I’ll sell China Taiwan fruit … We’re trying to create an atmosphere of peace.”

  Ma has already done more to close ranks with China than anyone in Taiwan’s brief history. Ever since Ma’s political party, the Kuomintang, fled mainland China to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao’s communists in 1949, relations between the two have been antagonistic at best. Beijing treats Taiwan as a runaway province and has blocked the democratic Taipei government from receiving diplomatic recognition or participating in many international forums. Both sides armed the Taiwan Strait to the teeth, turning it into one of Asia’s most dangerous military flash points. Contact between them has been grossly restricted. A year ago, Taiwan residents couldn’t take a scheduled flight or mail a letter directly to the mainland, and Taiwan-made goods had to be trans-shipped through Hong Kong and Japan.

  » Read more
  • May 14, 2009 10:56 PM

• China and Taiwan Deepen Economic Ties

  

  China and Taiwan have deepened economic ties which helps improve cross-strait relations. From Joy C. Shaw of the Wall Street Journal:

  “The two sides also agreed in principle to allow investment from mainland China in Taiwan.

  Representatives of Taiwan’s semiofficial Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, or ARATS, reached the agreements on Sunday in the third round of formal negotiations since Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan’s president in May 2008, elected on a pledge to improve the island’s flagging economy through better relations with China.

  Taiwan insurance firms already have joint ventures in China, but banks and brokerages are allowed only representative offices on the mainland, which means they can’t conduct profitmaking business. Taiwan doesn’t permit Chinese banks any presence on the island.
  Fu Don-cheng, deputy minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the government’s top China-policy body, told a news conference in Nanjing that Taiwan will issue guidelines to allow Chinese investment in Taiwan in one to two months. Taiwan businesses are among the largest investors in China.

  To pave the way for expanded financial flows, the longtime rivals said they will gradually build a foreign-exchange clearing system. Analysts say the lack of such a system has been a major hindrance to financial-market exchanges, such as allowing Chinese investors to buy Taiwanese shares directly.

  Although the Chinese economy seems to be coming out of a shallow recession, the Taiwanese economy is still lagging behind in its GDP growth- thus these improved financial ties are crucial to boosting both economies as well as helping China further develop and improve upon its financial sector. Despite the political tension between China and Taiwan, the economic relations between the two areas have greatly improved which in turn is crucial to stability of the region as economic ties among Asian countries have grown more complex and integrated over recent years.

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  • April 27, 2009 9:15 AM

• Panda Diplomacy: China’s Goodwill Gift to Taiwan

  

  China has delivered on its promise to give a pair of giant pandas — a goodwill gift — to Taiwan. From Reuters:

  Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean “unite”, will be flown to Taiwan on Tuesday with steamed corn buns and fresh bamboo in their luggage and a standby supply of air-sickness pills.

  China had offered the pandas as a goodwill gift in 2006 as part of a charm offensive after decades of sabre rattling. Taiwan’s then anti-China president declined the gift.

  At weekend talks held in Shanghai, China and Taiwan also proposed that that an accord be signed in 2009 strengthening cross strait economic ties. From Bloomberg:

  The sides agreed to create a supervisory mechanism that would effectively allow Taiwan banks including First Commercial Bank Co., Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd. and five others to upgrade representative offices in China to branches. Taiwan will let Chinese companies bid for construction contracts on the island.

  Wang Yi, the top Chinese official responsible for relations with Taiwan, proposed another 10 incentives, including 130 billion yuan ($19 billion) of loans for Taiwan companies operating on the mainland, and purchases worth $2 billion of flat-panel displays from the island’s companies.

  “The measures are really helpful,” said Norman Yin, a banking professor at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, who attended the Shanghai forum. “Once Taiwanese banks upgrade their China representative offices, they can cooperate with mainland banks to provide financing to Taiwanese businesses in China.”

  » Read more
  • December 22, 2008 1:44 PM

• Taiwan’s Ma to Meet Mainland Envoy in Historic Visit

  

  After being trapped inside a Taipei hotel with thousands of pro-Taiwanese activists waiting outside on Thursday, China’s top envoy to Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, will meet with the island’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, on the last day of his historic visit. From Bloomberg:

  Taiwan’s future will be decided by its 23 million people, Ma said today at a press briefing in Taipei ahead of his meeting with Chen. This week’s talks don’t threaten the island’s sovereignty, they benefit both sides, he said. Ma said his meeting with Chen won’t involve any negotiations.

  China considers Taiwan part of its territory, making cross- strait diplomacy a delicate dance of words and moves since Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government was defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist forces in 1949. Taiwanese newspapers have been speculating how Chen will address Ma during their meeting.

  Calling Ma “President” could be read to mean that he recognizes Taiwan’s sovereignty; addressing him as “Mr.” may be too informal.

  Taiwan’s China Post newspaper today reported, without identifying sources, that both sides have held several rounds of talks about the so-called title issue, which the newspaper said is one of the most sensitive matters in cross-strait relations.

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  • November 5, 2008 8:09 PM

• China and Taiwan Expand Accords

  

  Chen Yunlin’s visit to Taipei has ended successfully, with the establishment of new agreements that bring both sides closer. The New York Times reports:

  Chinese and Taiwanese officials signed agreements on Tuesday expanding charter flights, maritime shipping and cooperation on food safety issues, bringing their governments closer together as both struggle to overcome economic slowdowns.

  …

  The new transportation agreement raises to 108 from 36 the number of weekly round-trip charter flights, according to a summary of the agreement posted on a Web site run by the Taiwanese government. The flights are expected to run daily, with 21 cities on the mainland and eight in Taiwan receiving service.

  The planes will also fly in a direct line between cities over a route north of Taiwan. Charter flights between China and Taiwan currently take a longer route through Hong Kong airspace because of security concerns.

  …

  China and Taiwan will add direct cargo charter flights as well, with 60 scheduled per month.

  The two governments will also open direct shipping channels for passengers and cargo. China will open a total of 63 ports (48 seaports and 15 riverports), and Taiwan will open 11. To avoid political sensitivities, ships will not fly national flags.

  The two governments also agreed to expand free exchange of information regarding food safety issues. If any product is considered faulty or dangerous, a government will recall it and halt its shipment, according to the agreement.

  Chen also said China would give Taiwan two pandas at the end of the year. Panda diplomacy has been raised in the past, but was rejected by the former DPP-governing party.

  » Read more
  • November 4, 2008 9:59 AM

• Taiwan, PRC pursue more direct route

  

  The Taipei Times reports on the growing closeness of Taiwan and PRC ties:

  The Ministry of National Defense (MND) assured the public yesterday that the government’s plan to open straighter air routes across the Taiwan Strait would not undermine national security.

  Ministry spokeswoman Lisa Chi (池玉蘭) said the ministry had contributed its professional assessment to the plan and suggested that the air routes should not involve any direct flights across the median line in the Taiwan Strait.

  …
  The new routes, which will dispense with the detours through a third area, are expected to shorten the flying time between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai from 150 minutes to 67 minutes.

  A more direct Taoyuan-Beijing flight would take two-and-a-half hours, 75 minutes less than the current time, and a Taoyuan-Xiamen flight would take one hour, 30 minutes less than it does now.

  » Read more
  • October 9, 2008 1:31 AM

• Chinese Tourists Give Taiwan 91% Approval

  

  The Taiwan News reports that a majority of Chinese tourists have enjoyed their stay in Taiwan:

  Chinese tourists who have visited Taiwan since July 4 have given an average approval rating of 91 percent to tourism in Taiwan, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) reported yesterday

  Although flights run at an 85% capacity, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan has been less than expected by Taiwanese officials. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo stated that:

  “This could be seen as quite successful, although only between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the passengers have been Chinese tourists, a ratio lower than the original expectations.

  The MOTC believes that the lower expectations are a result of legal and political barriers.

  China also has problems with some of Taiwan’s restrictions, Mao went on, such as Taiwan’s requirement that Chinese tourists provide certificates of being either at school, in work or in possession of suitable funds.”

  Critics of Ma have been quick, however, to use the lower-than-expected Chinese tourists to highlight the administration’s mishandling of cross-strait relations. Shiue Yih-Chearng writes in an editorial for the Taipei Times:

  …direct cross-strait chartered flights have failed to produce the expected tourism boom…

  All this has given the impression that political motives are being given far greater weight than economic ones. Failure to propose a visionary economic development blueprint, rising commodity prices, soaring oil prices, rising unemployment, the growing income disparity and the massive stock market losses have forced Ma to admit that his “6-3-3” economic check has bounced and that the targets will not be achieved until 2016.

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  • September 22, 2008 12:04 PM

• China, Taiwan Tapping of Diaoyu Islands’ Resources is Blow to Japan – Paper

  

  Taiwan and China will move forward with economic integration through a CPC-CNOOC joint oil exploration in the Diaoyu Islands. From Ta Kung Pao (Hong Kong), via RedOrbit:

  A few days ago two major energy enterprises in the mainland and Taiwan decided to join hands in prospecting for and exploiting oil and gas resources in China’s Diaoyu Islands waters. This move marks the rise of cross-Strait energy cooperation to a new height and also deals a heavy blow to some Japanese energy experts’ wild ambition to encroach on the energy resources at China’s Diaoyu Islands.
  The Diaoyu Islands, also known as the Senkaku Islands, are a group of islands lying about 170 km northeast of Taiwan. They are claimed by both the PRC, Taiwan, and Japan.

  Collaboration between Taiwan’s CPC and China’s CNOOC has been proposed in the past, but has never been followed through on.

  Here is a map of the islands from Wikipedia.

  » Read more
  • September 16, 2008 10:27 PM

• Poll-itical Salvation: Forget Tibet, Look at Taiwan

  

  At least one thing appears to be going right for China on the diplomatic front. After a brief but reportedly friendly meeting between Hu Jintao and Taiwan’s vice-president elect Vicent Siew on the sidelines of the Bo’ao Forum in Hainan, a new survey suggests people in Taiwan are feeling better about relations with the mainland. From Monsters and Critics:

  Thirty-nine per cent of the respondents said relations were friendly, compared with 32 per cent after the 1993 meeting in Singapore, according to a poll conducted by the China Times daily after Taiwan vice president-elect Vincent Siew met with Chinese President Hu Jintao over the weekend in China.

  Only 22 per cent thought China is still hostile toward Taiwan, the survey of 931 adults found.

  For those looking for a more textured view of reactions inside Taiwan, the BBC’s Caroline Gluck provides some good analysis:

  Mr Siew’s decision to travel to the forum was a bold step, carrying significant risks as well as opportunities.

  Some members of the governing Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, had opposed the visit, saying it could undermine Taiwan’s dignity and status in any future dealings with Chinese officials.

  “Interaction between two hostile countries with very different ideas is good,” said senior DPP legislator, Trong Chai, “but we must understand the position and ideas of the other side. The other side should respect the fact that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign country. Mr Siew didn’t receive that kind of treatment.”

  But others disagreed. Mr Siew was attending the forum in a private capacity - as head of a private, non-government organisation promoting trade with China.

  Those studying the nuances of his treatment were quick to note that he was seated in the front row, reserved for VIPs, and invited to join the centre table at a state banquet.

  As Gluck observes, more than a few pundits wonder how much of the good turn in cross-strait relations is owed to Beijing’s hunger for good PR in the wake of its pounding over Tibet.

  » Read more
  • April 14, 2008 12:32 AM

• Taiwan, China See Progress From Historic Talks

  

  AFP reports on the talks between Taiwan vice president-elect Vincent Siew and Chinese President Hu Jintao:

  Taiwan’s vice president-elect and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Saturday in the highest-level contact ever between the two sides, with direct flights an early topic of discussion.

  Vincent Siew and Hu mainly talked about economic issues in their 20 minutes together, seen as an indicator of the incoming Taiwan government’s ability to bring about better ties with giant China.

  “The talk was friendly, candid, and harmonious, and there were results,” Siew told reporters in a short press conference directly after meeting Hu. He later characterized the Chinese leader as “pragmatic.”

  » Read more
  • April 12, 2008 5:36 PM

• Hopes Fade for Rapid Taiwan-China Thaw

  

  Many thought that the recent election of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan’s next president would herald a new era of warmer cross-straight relations, but in an an exclusive interview with the Financial Times today, Ma told the paper that he would not personally engage in dialogue with Chinese leaders because this could be “too controversial in Taiwan.” From the FT:

  Mr Ma’s remarks highlight how difficult it has become for elected politicians in democratic Taiwan to seek detente with its politically hostile neighbour as the island’s citizens firmly embrace an identity of their own.

  Pro-independence politicians have questioned Mr Ma’s loyalty to Taiwan because he was born in Hong Kong into a mainland Chinese family. During his election campaign, he sought to allay such doubts with strong criticism of China’s handling of Tibet and vows to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty.

  Mr Ma also made it clear that he expected it would take years to normalise economic relations across the Strait. While he hopes to open non-stop flights to and from China every weekend and allow up to 3,000 Chinese to visit the island every day from July, his government intends to move slowly on economic deregulation.

  Mr Ma has pledged to abolish restrictions on the amount Taiwanese companies can invest in China, to deregulate financial exchanges and facilitate the flow of people across the Strait. But he warned: “For these issues, some preparation is needed.”

  Watch the FT’s 3-part video interview with Ma here.

  » Read more
  • April 9, 2008 7:42 PM

• Taiwan Fears Braindrain As Professionals Head For Rival China - AFP

  

  The mainland-bound Tawian talent exodus story resurfaces, and this time not only for economic reasons. Via TODAYonline:

  …According to 104 Corporation, a leading Taiwanese jobs website, some 15,000 people — or 6 percent of those posting their resumes — were exploring prospects in China in December. “The applicants wish to position themselves in the huge, growing market. Those with experience look for career advancement and fresh graduates hope to develop their potential there,” said Max Fang, public relations manager of the 104 Corporation.

  A sluggish domestic economy coupled with political animosity between the pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition have accelerated the exodus of industries to China, now Taiwan’s leading overseas investment destination. [Full Text]

  See an opposite, and perhaps overly optimistic, view in the Taiwan Journal editorial: “China is paradise lost for Taiwanese investors.”

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  • January 5, 2008 11:14 PM

• Taiwan To Go Ahead With UN Referendum - Peter Enav

  

  Since losing its seat to the PRC in 1971, Taiwan has made annual attempts to rejoin the UN. President Chen Shui Bian has announced that Taiwan will hold a referendum with its 2008 presidential elections on whether it should join the UN under the name “Taiwan.” Although such a referendum is more symbolic than anything, and would not do much to actually win a seat, Chen’s plan has been met with strong discouragement from the US, let alone China. From Seattlepi.com:

  Taiwan will proceed with a planned referendum on rejoining the United Nations under its own name, an official said Wednesday, despite strong objections to the move from China and the United States…

  Even if the referendum passes, however, Taiwanese membership would still need to be approved by the General Assembly with the recommendation of the Security Council - a virtual impossibility considering China’s veto-wielding seat on the council and the wide backing for its “one China” policy among General Assembly members. [Full text]

  See also U.S. Opposes Taiwan’s Referendum Bid for UN Membership from the People’s Daily Online.

  » Read more
  • June 19, 2007 11:52 PM

• Access denied for Chinese students - IOL

  

  From iol.co.za:

  Taiwan on Monday indirectly rejected an offer by China to allow Chinese students to study on the island, a day after Beijing extended an olive branch to Taipei during a forum to improve cross-strait ties.

  “For Chinese students to study in Taiwan, it is a complicated issue,” said Chen Ming-tong, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top China policy-planning body. “There must be a set of plans to regulate their stays in Taiwan and resolve the legal restrictions here.”

  He said without proper planning, allowing Chinese students into Taiwan would only exploit the educational resources meant for local students. [Full Text]

  » Read more
  • May 1, 2007 12:13 AM

• Taiwan Will Boycott Beijing Olympics if Belittled

  

  From earthtimes.org:

  Taiwan has threatened to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games if China insults it by treating Taiwan as a Chinese province, a newspaper said Saturday, quoting Premier Su Tseng-chang. “Taiwan’s sovereignty must not be downgraded. If China downgrades the Taiwan team’s status by calling it the ‘China-Taiwan’ team, Taiwan will not attend the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,” the Liberty Times quoted Su as telling the parliament on Friday.

  Su made the threat one day after Taiwan had rejected the 2008 Olympic torch relay, saying the arrangement of the stops on the route treated Taiwan as part of China, not a separate country.

  China wants the torch to come to Taiwan from Vienam’s Ho Chi Minh City and go from Taipei to Hong Kong and Macau before entering China’s interior. But Taiwan wants the torch to come from a third country and go to the third country from Taipei, to show Taiwan is a stop on the international leg - not the domestic leg - of the relay.[Full Text]

  » Read more
  • April 28, 2007 11:11 AM

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