Kuomintang KMT - China Policy
The KMT began its own dialogue with Beijing in 2005, and once elected on 22 March 2008, President Ma moved quickly to resume the cross-Strait dialogue, expand charter flights, and take other steps to enhance cross-Strait relations. The United States welcomed and encouraged the cross-Strait dialogue as a process which contributes to a reduction of tension and to an environment conducive to the eventual peaceful resolution of the outstanding differences between the two sides.
Responding to mainland Chinese overtures on holding political and military talks with a view to ending cross-strait hostilities, Taiwan's Presidential Office stressed the island would continue to promote relations between both sides based on the "1992 Consensus." Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said 05 March 2009 that the Ma Ying-jeou administration will maintain the status quo by adhering to its policy of "no unification, no independence and no use of force," implemented after it took office May 20, 2008. "There is little likelihood in the government changing its stance on this policy as it reflects mainstream public opinion in Taiwan," he added.
Daily direct cross-Strait charter flight service began in 2008, and the two sides also began cargo charter flights, direct shipping, direct postal service, and cooperation on food safety issues. To meet rapidly increasing air transport demand, both parties agreed to increase the number of passenger and cargo flights to 270 per week in 2009; carriers from each side operate 135 flights per week. Following an agreement in May 2010 to eventually increase cross-Strait flights to a total of 370 per week, both sides on June 14, 2010 added 14 flights between Shanghai and Taipei. As of November 1, 2010 298 weekly cross-Strait flights were in operation.
On June 29, 2010, following 6 months of negotiations, Taiwan and the P.R.C. signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), aimed at bringing about liberalization of cross-Strait trade in products and services, and eventually creating an essentially free-trade regime. ECFA came into force on September 12, and reduced tariff treatment for the bilateral trade of more than 500 products began on January 1, 2011. Ma administration officials see ECFA as a critical first step in avoiding Taiwan's regional economic marginalization and paving the way for expanded trade relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States, and other major trading partners.
Former Taiwan Vice President Vincent Siew met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia on Sunday, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in Taipei 06 October 2013. Council officials said at a press briefing that Xi told Siew China is "willing to conduct negotiations on political issues with Taiwan on the basis of equality and make fair and sensible arrangements ... In the long run, the political differences both sides of the Taiwan Strait have must be resolved gradually... We cannot leave it to our children and grandchildren to take care of."
The 2008 agreement to allow mainland Chinese to visit Taiwan stoked the island’s service sector. More than two million mainland tourists arrived in 2013. Taiwan would raise its quota in 2014 on independent Chinese travelers from 3,000 to 4,000 per day. Two-way trade following the economic cooperation pact signed in 2010 surpassed $100 billion in 2010. Taiwan has also lowered barriers to mainland Chinese investment.
While noting the achievements already made, it is worth noting that cross-Strait differences in political relations, military security and external affairs are gradually becoming prominent as the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties has entered a consolidation and deepening period. China’s president made a fresh bid for sensitive political talks with Taiwan. However, Taipei’s politically weakened leadership may be unable to deliver. Many Taiwanese remain leery of political agreements that could affect the island’s autonomy. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has been hampered by approval ratings in the teens and low 20s for much of the year. He cannot run for office again in 2016 because of term limits, but to help his ruling Nationalist Party’s reputation he is expected to want broad public support before talking politics with China.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou told a news conference for foreign journalists 22 November 2013 that any political talks must be useful to Taiwan, but that a peace accord can wait. Ma said that Taiwan is not ruling out political dialogue with China, but that any dialogue must be advantageous; Ma also added that he does not see the present as a proper time. He thinks it more helpful to Taiwan’s situation today to go step by step. Taiwan's president conceded that the two sides could talk about a political issue if the two sides consider it singularly urgent. The two sides were talking about the establishment of de facto consulates, he added, and although the content is neutral, the deal itself has a high level of political sensitivity. Ma said that a peace accord would need to pass a voter referendum before negotiations could begin.
Taiwan and China held official talks in February 2014, a historic first for the two governments since a civil war ended more than six decades ago. Political differences still lingered, but some analysts thought the talks could mark a small step toward more normal, official ties - and perhaps even be a prelude to a possible meeting between China's Xi Jinping and Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou later in 2014. The Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation in Beijing in November 2014 would be an ideal place for the two presidents to meet. At such a forum, the two could be referred to as member economies and address each other as leader, sidestepping the politically touchy issue of how to address one another.
Taiwan has ignored a proposal for an $80 billion bridge or tunnel across the 160-kilometer Taiwan Strait by 2030, a symbol of unity. Taiwanese investors prefer the internationalized, developed Shanghai area to nearby Pingtan Island, which Chinese officials have picked as a test case for joint rule. A deal liberalizing service trade with China remained stuck in Taiwan’s parliament in 2013. Taiwanese people oppose plans that breach autonomy.
Western and Taiwan media have reported on various ways the Chinese government may have attempted to influence Taiwan’s elections. leading up to the 2014 local elections, a Chinese state-owned airline, Air China, as well as other Chinese and Taiwan airlines, provided reduced fares for flights from China to Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s United Front Work Department, an organization through which Beijing promotes unification with Taiwan, encouraged Taiwan nationals to return to Taiwan to vote in previous elections.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing on 09 November 2014, Chinese state media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping said that although it is “unavoidable” that the two sides would have differences, they “must respect each other’s choice of development path and social system.”
The Chinese government probably would continue its efforts to win “hearts and minds” in Taiwan. However, Beijing faces a challenge in winning over Taiwan public opinion. Taiwan voters were increasingly concerned that cross-Strait economic ties will harm Taiwan’s economy and political autonomy, and their identification with China continues to decline. Polls [National Chengchi University Election Study Center, July 9, 2014.] in Taiwan indicated a record low number of Taiwan citizens identify as “Chinese and Taiwanese;” the number of citizens who identify only as “Taiwanese” reached a new high of 60.4 percent.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
